Confederate States
| Navy Department, Richmond, August 16, 1862 |
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| The President |
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| Sir, |
| I have the honor to report to you the
operations of this department since the 27th of February last, the
date of my last report. |
| *****
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| The want of expert workmen is felt in
every workshop, public and private, some of which have had to
discontinue operations, while others are employing only a third or a
half their productive capacity.
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| The want of expert mechanics and of iron
and the absence of tools and workshops for such work as heavy
ironclad ships require, greatly curtail the ability of the
Confederacy in the construction of this class of vessels.
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| From the want of mechanics, contractors
with this department for steam machinery, ordnance, and ordnance
stores, and the hulls of vessels and for lumber and iron, fail to
fulfill their engagements.
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| The scarcity of mechanics is attributable to the
fact that a large portion of those employed in the Confederacy were
Northern men or foreigners, who have, in consequence of the war,
left the country, while our own mechanics are generally in the Army.
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| *****
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Certain patriotic citizens of Georgia
having constructed a floating battery sheathed with railroad iron
for service in the Savannah River, and tendered her to this
Government, she has been received, armed, manned, and equipped by
this department.
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| *****
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Iron and Coal
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| The appended report {not
posted}, marked "G," of the officer in charge of
ordnance will exhibit the contracts and advances made by this
department for iron and coal. Favorable representations having been
made of iron and coal deposits in Cass and Harrison Counties, Texas,
an agent has been dispatched there empowered to make such contracts
as will encourage their development, and the manufacture of iron
plates and ordnance.
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| In addition to these contracts, in
conjunction with the War Department, the following have been made:
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| F. B. Deane, jr., & Son, of
Lynchburg, Va., for 4,000 tons of shot and shell, to be delivered
within two years.
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| J. R. Anderson & Co., of Richmond,
Va., for cannon, shot, shell, bolt, bar, rod, plate, and boiler
iron, to the amount of $2,000,000 annually, for two years.
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| Messrs. Quinby and Robinson, Etowah
Works, Georgia, for cannon, shot, shell, bolt, bar, rod, plate,
boiler, and railroad iron and car springs to the amount of
$1,500,000 annually for two years.
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| The report of the officer in charge of
ordnance, showing the progress and condition of the ordnance work
shops at Richmond, [Va.], Charlotte, N. C., and Atlanta, Ga., and
the powder mill at Columbia, S. C., is also appended {not
posted}, marked "H."
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| *****
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Production of Iron
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| The want of iron is severely felt
throughout the Confederacy, and the means of increasing its
production demand, in my judgment, the prompt consideration of
Congress.
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| The Government has outstanding contracts
amounting to millions of dollars, but the iron is not forthcoming to
meet the increasing public wants.
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| Scrap iron of all classes is being
industriously collected by agents of the Government, and we are now
rolling railroad iron into plates for covering ships, while the
condition of the roads admonish us that they will soon require
extensive supplies. The freight upon imported rails at this time,
independent of all risks, exceeds three times its original cost.
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| *****
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| I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your
obedient servant,
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| S. R. Mallory
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| Secretary of the Navy
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