| From the Daily Picayune (New Orleans, La.) |
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| October 27, 1861 |
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| Affairs on the Potomac |
| Latest from the Manassas and Shenandoah Lines |
| [Special Correspondence of the Picayune] |
| Headquarters Army of the Potomac |
| Centreville, Oct. 19, 1861 |
| ***** |
| The real object of the expedition was
two-fold, to keep watch of the enemy in front while the army fell back
to the rear and to tear up the Loudon and Hampshire railroad
{Alexandria, Loudoun & Hampshire RR} and
destroy it. This last was a difficult work, as it is not easy to destroy
iron rails. Our ingenious men, however, soon found out a way to render
them useless, at least to the enemy. For this purpose they first
gathered up the sleepers and ties, which made good kindling wood, on
which they heaped huge piles of green timber cut in the neighboring
forests. This made a very hot fire whereby the rails were heated almost
to a white heat and then bent double and twisted into a thousand shapes,
so that all the rolling mills of the world could scarcely make them
straight again. In some cases the boys twisted them into snakes,
neckties, and other fancy figures, and left them on the ground; in
others they wound them around the trees, or wove them in with the
branches in all sorts of fantastic figures. The companies detailed for
this amusing and interesting work were the Crescent Rifles, Co. C, Capt.
Gillman; Surafield Rangers, Capt. J. More Wilson; Virginia Blues, Capt.
D. A. Wilson, and Irish Volunteers, Lieut. Hewitt commanding. All
together they tore up about four mile of the road, I believe, and curved
the rails in this fashion before they received their orders to retire.
And they did it so effectually that they are now known by the name of
the R. R. T. B., or Railroad Twisting Battalion. The rest of the road
was taken up by detachments from other regiments. But I understand that
Genl. Bonham, who commanded the expedition, paid the 7th Louisiana the
compliment of having done their work best. |
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