Navy Department, C. S. A
| Richmond, Va., February 13, 1863 |
| |
| His Excellency Zebulon B. Vance |
| Governor of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C. |
| |
| Sir, |
| I am informed by Flag-Officer Lynch that
there are at Lawrence-burg, N.C. {on the
Wilmington & Weldon Railroad's Tarboro Branch}, 4,224
bars, or about 707 tons, of railroad iron, and that all operations
upon the extension of the railroad beyond that point have been
suspended and will not be renewed during the war. I have the honor
to request that this iron may be turned over to this Department to
be rolled into plates for protecting the gunboat and battery under
construction on the Roanoke River. The iron will be paid for at its
market value, or the Department will agree to return it six months
after a declaration of peace. All efforts made to obtain iron in
North Carolina and elsewhere have failed, and I beg leave to urge
upon your consideration the expediency of turning over the lot of
iron referred to, with the understanding that it will be used
exclusively for plating gunboats and batteries now nearly ready for
it in your State.
|
| I am, respectfully, your obedient servant |
| S. R. Mallory |
| Secretary of the Navy |
|