| Headquarters Military Division of the West |
| Charleston, S. C., December 20, 1864 |
| |
| Maj. Gen. J. F. Gilmer |
| Chief of Engineer Bureau, Richmond, Va. |
| |
| General, |
| Your telegram and
letter of the 16th instant were duly received, and in reply to the
latter (the former having already been answered) I have the honor to
state that Major Willis, my chief quartermaster, an active and
energetic officer, has been instructed to call on the two railroad
officers mentioned in your letter and to represent to them, in my
name, the importance of the early repair of the roads, and to
proceed to impress the iron from the different branch roads and any
other that may be needed, should the aforesaid railroad officials
fail to comply with the request to use the iron on branch roads to
repair the main lines. Generals Cobb and Fry, at Macon and Augusta,
have been ordered to aid Major Willis in every way in their power,
and His Excellency the Governor of Georgia has also been requested
to lend his aid and influence in carrying out the wishes of the War
Department to avert the disasters which may arise from want of
prompt action in this matter. My quartermaster has also been ordered
to impress all necessary labor and teams, and to make arrangements
to clothe and ration the one and forage the other. This is
absolutely necessary, and it is hoped it will meet with the approval
of the War Department. Further, I have deemed it best to concentrate
the whole labor force now on the two roads (the Georgia and the
Central {of Georgia}) on the line of
communication between West Point, Atlanta, and Augusta, for by so
doing one line, it is hoped, will be opened in four or five weeks,
whereas by distributing the force, neither line would be opened in
double the time. At least ten miles of iron will be required on each
road both east and west of Atlanta. The iron on the Camak branch I
have ordered to be impressed for the road between Augusta and
Atlanta. Major Meriwether, it is understood, has promised iron for
this route beyond Atlanta. I have directed trestle-work to take the
place of bridges destroyed, as it will not require half the time to
put up the trestle that it will to rebuild bridges. I have thus, as
briefly as possible, stated what measures I have adopted to meet the
wishes of the Department, and regret that military operations have
prevented an earlier answer to your letter and prevent me from
giving more of my time to the reopening of communication, the
importance of which I fully appreciate, and had already ordered when
in Macon. |
| Respectfully, general, your obedient servant, |
| P. G. T. Beauregard |
| General |
|