Special Orders No. 36
| Adjt. and Insp. General's Office |
| Richmond, Va., February 12, 1863 |
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| ***** |
| IX. Paragraph V, Special Orders, No. 18, current
series, is hereby revoked, and the following is substituted instead:
For the completion of public vessels, as also for the construction
of certain railroad connections which, as necessary for military
operations, Congress has authorized, and for the repair of other
roads essential to the Government and the public for transportation,
iron being indispensable and not within the reach of the Government
through the ordinary sources, Col. J. F. Gilmer, chief of the
Engineer Bureau, and Maj. I. M. St. John, chief of the Niter and
Mining Bureau, are appointed to act, with an officer to be
designated by the Navy Department, as a commission to examine and
advise on what railroads in the Confederate States the iron on their
tracks can best be dispensed with. In making this inquiry the
commission will be governed by the public interest, and will leave
out of consideration all roads and portions of roads required for
military operations and defenses, and also such as are indispensable
in carrying supplies for the public use. They will also inquire and
report the best means of obtaining the iron suitable for such roads
and apportioning the same, and how the rails removed may be
exchanged for equivalents in value of more defective rails, to be
rolled and used for naval purposes. |
| ***** |
| By command of the Secretary of War |
| John Withers |
| Assistant Adjutant-General |
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