| From the Richmond Dispatch |
| |
| October 19, 1861 |
| |
| the Tennessee railroads |
| Richmond, Va. Oct. 17, 1861 |
| Editors of the Richmond Dispatch: In a
recent number of your paper you refer to the fact "that from
three to four hundred car-loads of
clothing, &c., have accumulated at
Chattanooga
and Knoxville." |
| The disloyalty of many of her citizens has
thrown discredit upon the whole of
East Tennessee
, and such statements as the one referred to, unexplained, are
calculated to create the impression that those in control of the
railroads are seeking to embarrass the Confederate Government, by
stopping the army supplies without excuse or justification. |
| We have no excuse or apology to offer for
those born on Southern soil, who are arrayed against the Southern
Confederacy. But it is wrong to confound the innocent with the guilty.
While many
East Tennesseans
have forgotten the allegiance they own to the land of their birth and
adoption, there is in that section as true and gallant a band of
patriots as are to be found in the Confederate States, and among the
latter are the responsible heads of the railroad companies. |
| Our object, however, is to present facts
to the public, through the columns of your paper. |
| There are two railroads in
East Tennessee
1st. The East Tennessee &
Virginia
railroad, which is 130 miles in length, and extends from
Bristol
to Knoxville. 2d The East Tennessee & Georgia railroad, which is 110 miles in
length, and extends from
Knoxville
to Chattanooga
, and Dalton, Ga.
These are separate and distinct roads, owned by different
stockholders, and controlled by different officers. Neither one has
any control over the other. The delay in the transportation of freight
was caused by the first-named road. The President of this road, Col.
John M. Branner, is an energetic business man, and a true friend to
the South. It has never, however, been a first class road. Owing to
the limited amount of stock subscribed, the greatest economy had to be
practiced in its original construction and equipment. With this
economy the road, when completed, was burdened with a heavy floating
debt. Up to the 1st of January last, the income was not more than
sufficient to meet the current expenses and pay the annual interest on
its debt; therefore but little money could be expended in improving
the road and procuring rolling stock. |
| As is well known, this route was selected
last spring, over which troops and supplies were to be transported for
the army in
Virginia
. This road was illy prepared to meet the pressing demand made upon
it; but, through the indefatigable and almost superhuman efforts of
its president, it met the public requirements until the month of
August. In the early part of that month, Colonel Branner was
prostrated on a bed of sickness, and could, give no attention to the
road. During the month, the business largely increased, several
serious accidents occurred, destroying several cars and locomotives,
and, to add to the embarrassment, the superintendent resigned. Thus
was the road left without active officers, or a sufficiency of motive
power, and was forced to suspend operations about the first of
September. This suspension continued about one week. During that
period the "accumulation of freight" referred to occurred. |
| On the 7th of September, the War
Department took possession of the road, and made a requisition upon
Major C. Wallace, President of the East Tennessee &
Georgia
railroad, to work the same, if possible. The position was unsought by
Major Wallace; but, with that self-sacrificing devotion he has ever
exhibited in the cause of the South, he accepted the responsible
trust. There was great wisdom manifested in his selection. It is no
disparagement to others to state, that he is one of the best railroad
officers in the Southern Confederacy. All who have witnessed his
efforts, friends or foes, will bear testimony to the fact that he has
faithfully discharged his duty in the present crisis. All of the
employees on his road are men of the right stamp and well suited for
the positions they respectively hold. |
| He was fully impressed with the importance
to the Confederate States of keeping that line of railway open, and
prepared for efficient service; also, that all its officers and
employees should be prompt, careful, faithful, indefatigable, and
untiring in their efforts to transport, with the greatest possible
dispatch, all troops, munitions of war, and army supplies. The fact
that his road has promptly met every demand made upon it, and that one
hundred thousand troops have passed over it without the slightest
accident to a single individual, which can be traced to the neglect or
misconduct of any of the operatives of his company, affords the
strongest evidence that can be presented of his fidelity and
efficiency. |
| To add to the embarrassment which met him
at the threshold in entering upon the discharge of his new duties, his
superintendent, upon whom he greatly relied, met with a serious
accident, which deprived Maj. Wallace of his valuable services.
Notwithstanding these difficulties, he not only succeeded in promptly
removing all the detained freight, but met the daily demands, and
transported a large number of troops, horses, and artillery for the
army in Virginia and Kentucky. He removed the inefficient, and placed
new and efficient men in the machine and car
shops of the E. T. &
Va.
road. He has succeeded in obtaining the services of Dr. John W. Lewis,
of
Georgia
, as permanent superintendent of that road. He purchased six good
locomotives and thirty-five cars, and has made arrangements for from
twenty to forty more cars to put on that line. He will be able to
surrender the road to Col. Branner, on his restoration to health, in
good working order, and fully prepared to performing share of duty as
one of the links in this important railway line. |
| While, from the causes stated, there was
an unavoidable "accumulation of freight at
Knoxville
and
Chattanooga
," it is not true that soldiers' clothing had been detained.
Major Wallace, notwithstanding the more than double labor
imposed on him, made it his special business to see that soldiers'
clothing, blankets, shoes, guns, and ammunition went forward between
Dalton
and
Chattanooga
and
Bristol
without delay, the truthfulness of which will be attested by all who
passed over those roads in charge of these articles. |
| This statement of facts is made as a
simple act of justice to those who are likely to suffer by the wrongs
of others. |
| S. A. Smith, Geo. W. Bradfield |
|