| State of Georgia |
| County of Baldwin |
| |
| Personally appeared before me
William H. Scott, Justice of the Inferior Court in & for said
County Andrew T. Anderson who being duly sworn according to law
deposes and says that about the 30th day of January last past, Genl.
Ira R. Foster, Quarter Master General of the State of Georgia, left
deposent at Wilmington N. C. to attend to the State of Georgia
Cotton interest in that City, in connection with George Harris, Agent,
and, to have the cotton removed to some place more out of danger from
the enemy. Two State f Georgia trains (of the Western & Atlantic
rail road) were sent deposent & said Harris from Georgia for that
purpose. Deposent & said Harris commenced moving out the cotton,
which belonged to the State of Georgia, to Florence, S. C. on the said
two trains, intending when the said cotton should be thus all moved to
that point, to reload and move it still further to some still
safer place if necessary, the intention being to get the cotton away
from Wilmington as soon as possible, as that city was deemed in
immediate danger. the trains were run only to Florence, so as to make
as quick trips as possible. |
| On On or about the 15th day of
February, whilst the said two Georgia Trains were at Florence loaded
with Georgia State Cotton and before all the State of Georgia cotton
had been removed from Wilmington, and whilst there were at Charleston
S. C. several hundred bales of cotton belonging to the State of
Georgia waiting for these two trains to be sent for it, the Commandant
of the Post at Florence S. C. Lt. Col.
Williams
being an officer of the Confederate Government, ordered the
impressment of these two State of Georgia Trains for the purpose of
sending them to Charleston for Confederate Government uses. |
| Deposent then appealed to said
Lt. Col. Williams for the release of said two trains, but without
success. Learning that the impressment of the same had been made by
order of Maj. McMickin, Chief Q. M. at Charleston, Deposent then
telegraphed to Maj. McMickin, stating that these two trains had been
sent by order of Governor Brown to remove Quartermaster Stores and
Cotton, belonging to the State of Georgia from Wilmington and
Charleston and begged their release, but said Maj. McMickin refused to
release them. |
| The Confederate authorities
held these two trains under impressment for some two weeks and finally
released them and sent them back to Florence from Cheraw about the 2nd
day of March, which was some three days before the enemy attacked that
place, Florence. After the release of the trains (even at that late
day) deposent could have loaded and moved out of Florence a portion of
the State of Georgia cotton before the attack was made on the place
but deposent learned that the Military Superintendent of the rail road
would not allow the Georgia trains to stand on the Cheraw rail road
track, so as to enable deposent to load the State of Georgia cotton,
(which cotton was piled near the Cheraw {&
Darlington} R. R. track), but ordered the trains to run down
and stand on the North Eastern R. R. track, which was some distance,
about one pile from the place where the Georgia cotton was piled. |
| When the enemy made the raid
on Florence, (about the 45th day of March) all the cotton there was
burned by order of the Confederate officer in Command. In the lot
burned were Sixteen hundred and forty five bales (1645) of the State
of Georgia cotton. Two hundred and five of them were Sea Island Cotton
& fourteen hundred and forty bales were upland cotton. After the
Yankees were repulsed from Florence, the State of Georgia trains were
run out with safety to Manchester, S. C. Had the Cotton not been
destroyed at Florence it could have been run over to Manchester also
and been saved. Said cotton would have been safe even if not removed
from Florence, as the enemy never obtained possession of that place.
So it was lost entirely by the action of the Confederate authorities
in having it burned. |
| Sworn to & subscribed before me this
4th day of April 1865 |
| Andrew T. Anderson |
|