| |
| Hon. James A. Seddon |
| Secretary of War |
| |
| Sir, |
| Since my conversation with you last
evening I have concluded that I knew enough of the equipments of the
various railroads making up the principal lines of the country to
enable me to give you a sufficiently accurate estimate of their
necessities in the way of engines and cars, in order that a
determination be come to as to what shall be done to increase their
efficiency, and, if possible, meet the wants of the country.
Commencing at this city and looking south and west, we have a line
reaching to Middle Tennessee through Lynchburg and Chattanooga and
to Atlanta, Ga., by Dalton. |
The roads making up this line are as follows:
| Name of roads |
Stock
wanted |
| Richmond & Danville, South Side |
2 engines |
50 cars |
| Virginia & Tennessee |
4 engines |
50 cars |
| East Tennessee & Virginia, East
Tennessee & Georgia |
4 or 5 engines |
75 cars |
| Nashville & Chattanooga |
|
50 cars |
| Western & Atlantic |
Can do with present
stock, but wants material |
|
By the southern route we have a line to
Weldon; thence via Wilmington on one hand and via Raleigh on the
other to Kingsville, S. C.; thence to Augusta and Atlanta on one
hand and to Macon and Columbus, Ga., on the other. From Florence
there is a road leading to Charleston, and from thence to Savannah.
There is also a connection with Savannah through Augusta by Millen.
The roads making up this line with the various branches are as
follows:
| Name of roads |
Stock wanted |
| Richmond & Petersburg |
|
5 cars |
| Petersburg |
|
50 cars |
| Wilmington & Weldon |
4 engines |
100 cars |
| Wilmington & Manchester |
1 engine |
100 cars |
| Raleigh & Gaston |
Can get along with present stock |
| North Carolina |
4 engines |
100 cars |
| Charlotte & South Carolina |
2 engines |
50 cars |
| South Carolina |
Can get along with present stock |
| Northeastern |
2 engines |
25 {cars} |
| Georgia |
Can get along with present stock |
| Central of Georgia |
Can get along with present stock |
| Southwestern |
|
50 cars |
| Muscogee |
Can get along with present stock |
|
| The Macon & Western road forms a
connection between Macon and Atlanta. This road ought to have 50
cars in addition to its present stock. |
| From Atlanta and Columbus the Atlanta & La
Grange {Atlanta & West Point}
and Montgomery & West Point roads connect the two places. The
latter road ought to have two engines and fifty cars. The former
road can get along with assistance that it receives from the Georgia
road. |
| From Montgomery to
Mobile the line is made up by the Alabama & Florida road of
Alabama and the Mobile & Great Northern road. Each ought to have
an engine and twenty-five cars. |
| From Mobile to Vicksburg
the Mobile & Ohio and Southern roads form the line. The former
ha{s}
abundant equipment and the latter is at present supplied by the
Memphis & Charleston road, now nearly out of use. |
| In addition to this
route to Vicksburg, we have the Alabama River from Montgomery to
Selma; thence by rail to Demopolis, where there is a portage of four
miles and a half on the Tombigbee River; thence by rail to Meridian
-- eastern end of the Southern road to Vicksburg. This road, from
Selma to Meridian is also supplied with equipments from the Memphis
& Charleston road. The New Orleans, Jackson & Great Northern
and the Mississippi Central roads form a line from Ponchatoula --
forty-seven miles from New Orleans -- to Water Valley, in North
Mississippi. Each of these roads ha{s}
abundant equipment for present use. Much of it, however, is getting
in very bad order, and extensive repairs will be necessary to render
it equal to any great emergency. |
| On our northern border
we have the Virginia Central and Orange & Alexandria roads
connecting this city with Lynchburg. These roads, I think, ought to
have one engine and twenty-five cars. |
| The Richmond,
Fredericksburg & Potomac road connects this city with
Fredericksburg, and, I am informed by its president, ought to have
two engines and twenty-five cars. |
| By this estimate 31
engines and 930 cars are wanted. I have no doubt you will think it a
very large estimate, but I beg to remind you that the deterioration
of both is not much, if any, short of 25 per cent.; and with the
limited means of repairing and impossibility for renewal during the
past two years I am only surprised that the roads of the country
have been able to keep up to the present standard. |
| I have thus, I believe,
given you a correct list of the roads making up the principal lines
in the country, and I do not think I have exaggerated their present
necessities in the way of equipments to enable than to perform
promptly the transportation which the country demands. That more {could
have been} accomplished than has been
done I am free to admit, but that anything like the necessities of
the country can be met without largely increasing their power is, in
my judgment, out of the question. Practical results for a
considerable time should guide us in our judgment as to what may be
expected in the future; and for the last two years the railroads of
the country have been unable to meet the requirements of Government.
Can we expect any better result in the future without some change in
their condition? I think not, and therefore urge the necessity of
prompt action looking to a restoration of the principal roads in the
country to the best possible condition. |
| Should you not consider
this estimate sufficiently accurate, I will take early measures to
obtain more precise information. |
| I am, sir, very respectfully,
your obedient servant |
| Wm. M. Wadley |
| Assistant Adjutant-General |