Richmond, March 25, 1862
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| Hon. George W. Randolph |
| Secretary of War |
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| Sir, |
| As requested, I now make to you the following
communication in writing: A connection between the Richmond & Danville Railroad and the railroads of North Carolina
can be made at points exactly midway between Danville and Richmond
and nearly midway between Raleigh and Weldon by completing the
extension of the Roanoke Valley Railroad between Keysville and
Clarksville, it is confidently believed, in less time and at less
cost than can be done by any other means, while no other practicable
means of connection will be at all as effectual or as useful for
transportation. The greater part of the work on the extended
railroad from Clarksville to Keysville has been already done. The
whole distance is thirty miles. The grading and masonry on the line
from Keysville southward have been completed for ten miles, and
three miles and three quarters of the track at that end has been
laid with iron and is now ready for use. The grading and masonry on
two miles from Clarksville northward, including the abutments and
piers of the bridge across the Roanoke River, built of substantial
rock masonry, and the heavy embankments across the valley of the
Roanoke, have also been completed. This leaves only eighteen miles
of the whole line on which the grading and masonry are now to be
finished. This part of the line has been cleared and grubbed out,
and is stated to be the least difficult part of the work, requiring
very few culverts, not perhaps more than two of any size, and the
grading at no place heavy. The sills are procured and placed at
convenient points along the line for the whole distance. If the iron
required to complete the line was furnished and a sufficient force
supplied, it is believed that an active and competent agent might
complete the whole work so as to have it ready for use in thirty or
at most in sixty days from the time it was fairly commenced. The
cost of completing it would be principally that of the iron
required, and it is understood that it may be had on reasonable
terms. The Roanoke Valley Railroad -- which is in operation from
Clarksville to Ridgeway, in North Carolina, on the Raleigh and
Gaston Railroad -- and the Richmond and Danville Railroad Companies
would furnish the rolling stock for the road as soon as it is
completed and ready for use, or for any part of it southward from
Keysville, whenever such part is completed and its use required by
the Government. The Roanoke Valley Railroad Company, which has full
powers for executing the work, will use those powers for the
purpose, under the direction and control of the Government of the
Confederate States, or of any department thereof, in any way which
maybe required, so that no delay need occur for legislation or
contract; and the company will be willing and are ready at once to
execute to the Government its bonds for any sum expended in the
completion of the work, which bonds have been already prepared and
only require to be filled up and executed, and are secured by a
mortgage on the whole railroad from Keysville to Ridgeway, a
distance of fifty-two miles, and all the other works and property of
the company, worth, it is believed, more than three times the amount
of any such sum, after discharging the prior liens to which the
property is subject. It is respectfully submitted that this is a
work of great importance to the Government at this time especially,
and that it ought to be undertaken and completed by the Government
itself as speedily as possible; that it should not be left to the
control of any other railroad company than the Roanoke Valley
Railroad Company, and especially not to that of the Raleigh and
Gaston Railroad Company, who propose to purchase it, and whose
peculiar interests, at any event, would be to defer its completion
as long as possible, or defeat it altogether.
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| With high respect and esteem, yours, etc. |
| Tho. T. Giles |
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| P.S. -- Since the foregoing was written I have been
informed that the station-houses along the extended railroad have
been also completed. A communication was lately addressed to the
President by Henry Wood, esq., president of the Roanoke Valley
Railroad Company, on this subject, which was referred by the
President to your predecessor, and by him referred to the
Quartermaster-General. If that communication is called for and
examined it will be found to set forth the facts herein communicated
in a more authoritative and more particular manner than is herein
done. It is understood that some steps are now being taken, or at
least that it has been contemplated by the Department, to build
boats to form a connection by means of the Staunton and Roanoke
Rivers, or to construct a plank road for that purpose. It is
confidently believed that neither of these schemes would be at all
effectual, the navigation of the rivers being bad at all times, and
for a considerable portion of the year nearly or quite
impracticable, and a plank road destroyed in our climate by heavy
transportation over it almost as speedily as it is built, while
either scheme would probably cost more in time and money than the
completion of the railroad, with no prospect even of any return of
the money to the Government. In view of these considerations it is
submitted that any such schemes, if about to be undertaken, should
be at once abandoned and immediate steps taken to complete the
railroad. This may be done by accepting the offer of the bonds of
the Roanoke Valley Railroad Company; sending an officer at once to
impress a sufficient number of hands for the work in the counties of
Charlotte, Prince Edward, Lunenburg, Brunswick, and Halifax, where
they can readily be obtained and will in many instances be
cheerfully furnished; appointing an active and competent agent to
superintend them, and by having the iron procured, as it is believed
it may now be, in Norfolk and sent to the points required. I will
furnish any other information or give any aid I can to the execution
of the work. |
| T. T. G. |
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