| Confederate States of America |
| Hdqrs. Dept. No. 1, New Orleans, La,
December 16, 1861 |
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| Hon. J. P. Benjamin |
| Secretary of War |
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| Sir,
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I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of yours of the 7th
instant, inclosing a letter from. Dr. Cartwright to the President,
relative to the Mexican Gulf Railroad.
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| I am not
aware that the Government or the parties who claim to have purchased
the road have any intention of using the iron for shipbuilding
purposes, nor do I believe that any such purpose exists. Had any
plan of that railroad been laid before me, I should have weighed the
respective advantages to the Government of using the iron on the
road or on the ships and decided accordingly. I am well satisfied
that the whole scheme is to make a grand speculation for private
purposes, either by selling the iron in this market or by forcing
the road upon the Government at an exorbitant price. I have a work
at Proctorsville, across the railroad, mounting six 32-pounders and
manned by 100 men distant from the city 27 miles, which covers the
valuable plantations along the left bank of the river. To reinforce
this work rapidly I have constructed a switch from the Pontchartrain
{RR} to the Mexican Gulf road at a cost
of $1,600, and am putting up telegraph lines between the city and
Proctorsville which will enable me to receive early notice, and by
using the rolling stock of the Pontchartrain road to send down 4,000
men in four hours {requiring about 50 to 75
cars}. It is this arrangement that I do not wish to be
interfered with by what I consider a "rail speculation."
The only order I have given in the case is to say that the road
shall not be torn up so as to prevent the passage of troops. I have
told them they may take up the present rail and put down the T-rail,
but they decline. Of one thing I am sure---the Government has no
prospective benefit in what the company proposes to do.
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| To avoid, however, the
exercise of military authority, if possible I sought other means of
obtaining the end in view by ordinary process of law. Learning that
the State has mortgages upon the road, I consulted with the
attorney-general, who is now taking the necessary steps to prevent
by an injunction any damages being done to it, so as to preserve it
intact for the better security of the claims that the State has upon
it. I consider it, therefore, hardly necessary to discuss the
propriety of military interference as long as the matter is, or
forthwith will be, with the civil authorities, but have merely
mentioned the foregoing facts to give you the correct data in the
premises.
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| Respectfully, your obedient servant,
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| M. Lovell
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| Major General, Commanding
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