| From the Richmond Times Dispatch |
| |
| May 29, 1910 |
| |
| Hauled Engines Over Mountains |
| Hunton's Men Took Place of Teams, Flying
Southern Flag on Locomotive |
| By George T. Darracott |
| Corporal Sturdivant's Battery of Light
Artillery, Twelfth Virginia Battalion, A. N. Va. |
| So far as I recall, I have never seen any
account of the capture and removal of the locomotives, cars, etc. by the
Confederate forces in Northern Virginia. As one who participated in the
enterprises, I will state briefly my experience. |
| In June, 1861, I was ordered to report to
Col. T. J. Jackson, near Falling Water, below Martinsburg, now West
Virginia, being furnished with an escort of Ashby's Cavalry and
necessary papers. We impressed, for the use of the quartermaster's
department 75 or 100 four-horse teams. As there were at Martinsburg
fifteen or twenty locomotives belonging to the Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad, we proceeded to disconnect the machinery, and hitching forty
horses to one locomotive, hauled them on the Valley Turnpike through
Winchester to Strasburg. There they were put on the Manassas Gap Road
and were brought to Richmond, where the Confederate States Locomotive
Works were located. Some of the numbers of these locomotives which I
remember were the "76," the "34," the "33" and the "188." |
|
More Captures |
| At Duffield's Depot, between Martinsburg
and Harper's Ferry, we captured five locomotives, which we hauled across
to Halltown, putting them on the Winchester & Potomac Railroad, taking
them to Winchester thence. We then hauled them with horses over the
Valley Turnpike to Strasburg. These were then taken over the Manassas
Gap Railroad to the Confederate States Locomotive Works at Richmond. In
addition, there were a good number of freight cars, which we hauled with
horse over the same route. |
|
And Still Others |
| At Leesburg the Confederate forces
captured two fine locomotives, named the "Lewis McKenzie" and the
"Charles P. Manning." These two locomotives we hauled with horses from
Leesburg to Gainesville, on the Manassas Gap Road, where they we renamed
the "General Joseph E. Johnston" and the "General Beauregard." They were
run on the Virginia Central Railroad, now the Chesapeake & Ohio. It took
a team of forty horses to pull each locomotive. |
| An incident happened in moving one of the
last named locomotives from Leesburg to Gainesville which is worth
recalling. We arrived about dark at a very bad hill and our men and the
horses were very tired. Not knowing how we would get up the hill, we
unhitched and went in camp. Some time during the night the gallant
Eighth Virginia Regiment of Infantry (Col. Hunton) encamped on top of
the hill. The next morning they put a Confederate flag on the
locomotive; they would not let us hitch the horses up, but pulled the
locomotive up the hill themselves. This seemed to be a great frolic for
them. |
| I would like to know if any of that
regiment are living that remember anything about that occurrence. I have
written this brief statement of facts to show how little the Confederate
States had, and how our splendid soldiers not only captured guns and
prisoners, but locomotives, cars, and a great deal of machinery. These
locomotives and cars were used on the roads throughout the South,
hauling supplies to Lee's army, until the close of the war. |
| {Locomotive
Haul Drawing} |
|