The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 3, Volume 5. Page: 30
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CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.
your dispatch for the Second Division to prepare for the journey, and
they left Nashville on the 4th of January for Baltimore, fully
equipped for any kind of railroad work. Arriving in Baltimore on
the 10th, there was a delay of eight days before a vessel could be
furnished to take them to Savannah. On the 28th they arrived at
Hilton Head, but were not disembarked there. On the 29th General
Sherman gave me orders to proceed with my men to Morehead City,
N. C., and "prepare to make railroad connection to Goldsborough by
the middle of March."
We left Hilton Head on the 3d and arrived off Morehead City on
the 5th of February. The men and railroad supplies brought with
us were landed next day. We found the railroad in running order
from Morehead City to Batchelder's Creek, a distance of forty-four
miles. The track, however, was in bad condition, and the sidings
were entirely inadequate to the business about to be thrown upon the
road. The wharf at Morehead City had not half the capacity required
for unloading vessels, and there was not fifty cords of wood on the
whole road for railroad use. The equipment of the road consisted of
sixty-two cars and three locomotives in running order, and nine cars
and two locomotives unfit for use without repairs. I appointed J. B.
Van Dyne, esq., superintendent of transportation and William Cess-
ford master mechanic, and they went to work at once to organize their
respective departments. The Construction Corps, under Mr. Smeed,
division engineer, was put to work repairing main track and extend-
ing old sidings and laying new ones where required; preparing cross-
ties, bridge timber, saw logs, piles, and wharf timber; building and
repairing water-tanks, and other necessary work preparatory to an
extension of the road and conducting a large business. Arrange-
ments were made for an ample supply of wood. I found Mr. McAlpine
on the road with a small construction force; they had repaired a few
hundred yards of track and almost completed the bridge over Batch-
elder's Creek. He had been sent here by order of General Grant, but
as soon as we arrived he considered himself relieved and returned at
once to Virginia with his men. Mr. McAlpine had brought some
little railroad iron and a few cross-ties with him from Virginia, but
with this exception we found the road destitute of materials and tools
necessary for construction and repairs and for operating it. Accord-
ingly requisitions for the necessary amount of these supplies, together
with the probable additional amount of rolling-stock that would be
required, were sent at once to your office. Having received orders on
the 17th of February to build a new wharf of considerable dimensions
at Morehead City, I also made requisition for two steam pile drivers
and such material for this purpose as could not be procured here.
On the 3d of March General Cox (who was in command of the column
that moved from here) commenced his advance toward Goldsborough.
He was poorly supplied with wagon transportation, and therefore had
to depend upon the railroad almost entirely. The construction of the
railroad kept pace with the advance of the troops, and the supplies
were moved by rail from camp to camp and unloaded from the main
track as the troops marched up the road. Of course track laying
could not advance so rapidly under such circumstances as if the track
had been kept clear for construction purposes; but still the progress
was very satisfactory. This mode of advance and movement of sup-
plies was continued until we reached a point on the railroad opposite
the battle-field of Wise's Cross-Roads. Here we made a temporary
depot, and (a supply of wagon transportation having arrived) stores30
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The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Additions and Corrections to Series 3, Volume 5. (Pamphlet)
Errata sheets for the Records of the War of the Rebellion include additions and corrections to the text and the index for Series 3, Volume 5.
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United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 3, Volume 5., book, 1900; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth139267/m1/39/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.