Civil War Railroad Papers

DID RAILROADS MAKE ANTEBELLUM U.S. BANKS MORE SOUND?
Jeremy Atack
Matthew S. Jaremski
Peter L. Rousseau

Working Paper 20032 http://www.nber.org/papers/w20032

NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH
1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 April 2014

ABSTRACT
We investigate the relationships of bank failures and balance sheet conditions with measures of proximity to different forms of transportation in the United States over the period from 1830-1860. A series of hazard models and bank-level regressions indicate a systematic relationship between proximity to railroads (but not to other means of transportation) and “good” banking outcomes. Although railroads improved economic conditions along their routes, we offer evidence of another channel. Specifically, railroads facilitated better information flows about banks that led to modifications in bank asset composition consistent with reductions in the incidence of moral hazard.


http://www.nber.org/papers/w20032.pdf
370

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USS ALASKA
 

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My profuse apologies to @DaveBrt for not finding this sooner so he wouldn't have to buy it...

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/civil-war-railroad-books.139935/page-5#post-1788116

'The Effects of Southern Railroads on the Interior Lines'

'The purpose of this book is to study the effects of the Southern railroad system on interior lines during the Civil War and determine whether or not the South enjoyed the advantage of interior lines. The use of railroads during this conflict placed an enormous physical strain upon the limited industrial resources of the Confederacy, and a great strain upon the intellectual agility of the Confederate High Command. Based upon the evidence studied, and the time-space comparisons of both Northern and Southern railway operations, several conclusions can be drawn: the South entered the war with a rail system that was unable to meet the demands of modern war; the Confederate leadership understood the importance of the railroad and its importance to strategic operations early in the war, but were unwilling to adopt a course of action that best utilized their scarce assets; Southern railroad speeds decreased dramatically by 1863 due to the inability of Southern railroads owners to perform needed maintenance on their railroad equipment; tactical reverses on the field of battle, especially the losses of both Corinth in Kay of 1862 and Knoxville in September of 1863 increased the distances that re-enforcements would have to travel to fight a mobile intra-theater war; Union control, maintenance, and organization of its railway assets ensured that it would be able to move large numbers of troops at the strategic level efficiently from early 1863 to the end of the war. Based on these conclusions, the Confederacy lost the ability to shift troops on the strategic level more rapidly than the Union by 1863. This was a result of its physically weakened railroad system and military setbacks which caused Southern railroads to move forces over longer distances.'

PDF can be read here -http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a253873.pdf
448

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USS ALASKA
 
The Louisville & Nashville Railroad
By Tim Asher

When the Louisville & Nashville Railroad was chartered in Kentucky in 1850, it was one of the South’s first railroads and one of only a very few to grow into a major system without a name change. The railroad was necessary to help Louisville better compete with Cincinnati, OH for business and commerce. By 1855, those advocating the construction of the L&N had raised nearly $3 million. The first train to operate over the railroad ran on August 25, 1855, when some 300 people traveled eight miles from Louisville at a breakneck speed of 15 mph. Its 185-mile main line between Louisville, Ky. and Nashville, Tenn. opened in 1859. The total cost of this original construction was $7,221,204.91...

http://www.hardinkyhistory.org/historyl&n.pdf
482

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USS ALASKA
 

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The Economic Impact of the Railroads
By Kevin Stein
December 4, 2014
Eco 326

During the 19th century, there were many dramatic changes in technology, and among these was the steam locomotive. Steam engines and locomotives first started to become viable in the 1830s, and steel railroads emerged all across America in the latter half of the 19th century. Although it seems clear that railroads improved efficiency in transporting cargo, a survey published by Robert Whaples in his article "Where Is There Consensus Among American Economic Historians? The Results of a Survey on Forty Propositions" shows that most economic historians believe that the American economy would not have been hindered greatly without the development of the railroad system. To be precise, Whaples asks for responses to the statement, "Without the building of railroads, the American economy would have grown very little during the nineteenth century." For the economists, only 9% fully agree with the statement, 2% agree with provisions added, and 89% disagree. Similarly, 13% of the historians agree, 21% agree with provisions made to the statement, and 66% disagree (Whaples, 143). This demonstrates that there is a near complete consensus that the railroads were not essential to growth, but an inherent second debate arises: How much did the railroads actually contribute?

http://www.oswego.edu/Documents/wac/deans_awards_2015/ECO Stein 3-24-15.pdf
534

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USS ALASKA
 

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The History and Evolution of the American Railroad


by Jeffrey R. Long
A Project in American Studies
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for a Master of Arts Degree
in American Studies
The Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg
May 2016


The onset and evolution of the railroad in the United States had a dynamic impact in American history. This Master’s Thesis covers the major angle of American railroad history and looks forward to the future of high-speed rail. From a humble beginning in the 1830s, the steam locomotive provided a key mode of transportation to meet the needs of far-reaching growth. During the Civil War, the railroad played a definitive role. The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, in 1869, allowed Americans to travel easily from coast to coast. In the 1900s, diesel and diesel-electric locomotives were introduced. Both freight and passenger rail advanced technologically. During the 1950s, the railroads fell into a deep decline with the introduction of interstate highways and improved air travel. American culture changed with a strong preference for individual travel. This thesis examines whether that preference can dovetail with future rail possibilities. Several advanced nations have developed high-speed trains. Will these work for Americans? Research underpinning this project utilizes historical texts, journals, on-line databases, and first-hand responses to questionnaires. These questionnaires were distributed to railroad workers, railroad enthusiasts, and railroad riders.

https://scholarsphere.psu.edu/downloads/tx920fx60r
591

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USS ALASKA
 

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Antebellum Transportation Indices
By Gary Gorton

27.jpg


http://faculty.som.yale.edu/garygorton/documents/AnteBellumTransportationIndices.pdf
631

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USS ALASKA
 

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University of Louisville
ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
5-2004
Breakdown from within : Virginia railroads during the Civil War era.
Larry Edward Johnson 1956-
University of Louisville

This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository.
This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected].

ABSTRACT

This thesis is an examination of the Virginia railroad system during the Civil War. Using extensive and primary secondary sources, the thesis argues that the Virginia General Assembly, the Confederate Government under Jefferson Davis, and the superintendents of Virginia's carriers inadequately utilized one of the state's, and subsequently, the Confederacy's, primary assets. This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter one focuses on the limited historiography of Civil War railroads. Chapter two examines the Confederacy's attempts to find a government-level railroad chief. The efforts by Virginia's railroad superintendents to keep their lines operating during a time of civil war are examined in chapter three. Chapter four is a case study of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, the only Civil War railroad to operate in the Confederacy and the Union. Chapter five consists of conclusions.

https://ir.library.louisville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1694&context=etd
664

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USS ALASKA
 

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Last edited:
Railroad Influence on West Virginia Politics in Civil War America
To what extent did the interests of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad influence the inclusion of Berkeley and Jefferson counties into the new state of West Virginia during the American Civil War?
by Ian Anderson

Evidence regarding the rifts between East and West was examined in conjunction with facts that are specific to economic and social conditions in Berkeley and Jefferson counties. Information on the failure of roads, canals, and steam boats to solve the country’s intercity transportation problems was used to support the idea that the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had enough economic and political power to influence the demarcation of a new state’s borders. Various maps were used to aid in the arguments for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad’s geographic and strategic importance. The works of Festus P. Summers, John Alexander Williams, and Michael P. Riccards are highly important to this essay because they document the proceedings for delineating boundaries of the Wheeling conventions which led to West Virginia separation.

http://greatdecals.com/GreatDecals/WestVirginia.pdf
685

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USS ALASKA
 

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Reporting for Success: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Management Information, 1827-1856
By William D. Samson and Gary John Previts

In 1995, a major collection of nineteenth century annual reports in the Bruno Business Library at The University of Alabama was "rediscovered". These reports had been in the cellar of the previous facility-but had been moved into storage as the Bruno Library was built. When the new library opened the annual report trove reemerged prominently. In this collection, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad [B&O] reports were the oldest and most complete dating back almost to the company's founding in 1827 and continuing through the merger with the Chesapeake and Ohio in 1962. The relative age and completeness of the B&O annual reports aroused an interest as to their content. This, in turn, led the authors to undertake a literature search as to the B&O's importance. Only a few works had begun to focus on the railroads accounting role [Vangermeersc1h9, 79,p p. 318-337Mason, 1933,p . 211; Rosen and DeCoster, 1969,p p. 124-136]. None, however were comprehensive in scope of examination or they failed to identify important antebellum developments in effective railroad management information.What the B&O annual reports availed was a detailed disclosures archive of railroad development financing invention and construction technology progress and economic financial and accounting development of this major corporation in an important infrastructure industry during the years prior to the Civil War.

https://www.thebhc.org/sites/default/files/beh/BEHprint/v028n2/p0235-p0254.pdf
741

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USS ALASKA
 

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  • Reporting for Success The B&O railroad and Management Information 1827-1856.pdf
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Reporting for Success: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Management Information, 1827-1856
By William D. Samson and Gary John Previts

In 1995, a major collection of nineteenth century annual reports in the Bruno Business Library at The University of Alabama was "rediscovered". These reports had been in the cellar of the previous facility-but had been moved into storage as the Bruno Library was built. When the new library opened the annual report trove reemerged prominently. In this collection, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad [B&O] reports were the oldest and most complete dating back almost to the company's founding in 1827 and continuing through the merger with the Chesapeake and Ohio in 1962. The relative age and completeness of the B&O annual reports aroused an interest as to their content. This, in turn, led the authors to undertake a literature search as to the B&O's importance. Only a few works had begun to focus on the railroads accounting role [Vangermeersc1h9, 79,p p. 318-337Mason, 1933,p . 211; Rosen and DeCoster, 1969,p p. 124-136]. None, however were comprehensive in scope of examination or they failed to identify important antebellum developments in effective railroad management information.What the B&O annual reports availed was a detailed disclosures archive of railroad development financing invention and construction technology progress and economic financial and accounting development of this major corporation in an important infrastructure industry during the years prior to the Civil War.

https://www.thebhc.org/sites/default/files/beh/BEHprint/v028n2/p0235-p0254.pdf
741

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USS ALASKA
A very large (complete?) set of B&O annual reports are in the University of Maryland Special Collections library, just north of DC.
 
University of Richmond
UR Scholarship Repository
Master's Theses Student Research
5-1994
The history of the South Side Railroad, 1846-1870
by James M. Bisbee

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected].

Abstract

s.jpg


https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1589&context=masters-theses
793

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USS ALASKA
 

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Southern Adventist Univeristy
Senior Research Projects Southern Scholars
Spring 2010
Confederate Railroads: Changing Priorities During the War Years
by Joel Kurtz

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Southern Scholars at KnowledgeExchange@Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Research Projects by an authorized administrator of KnowledgeExchange@Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected].

Purpose
This paper seeks to sketch the broad picture of Southern railroad stakeholder relationships during the Civil War by looking at how the railroad companies balanced the demands of the Confederate government with their commercial customers at each stage of the conflict. I will begin with a review of the commercial and governmental attitudes toward railroads prior to the Civil War, and then examine how all three of these characters interacted during the initial years of the war, the extended middle period, and the final months of the conflict. What I intend to establish is that the difficult operational circumstances of the war forced railroad companies to prioritize their relationships. As the Civil War progressed, Southern railroads’ enthusiastic support of the Confederacy waned, and they increasingly placed their economic well being above the military success of the Confederate States of America.

https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=senior_research
819

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USS ALASKA
 

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Not the best scan...

Louisiana State University
LSU Digital Commons
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1957
Louisiana's Transportation Revolution: the Railroads, 1830-1850.
by Merl Elwyn Reed
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College

This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected].

ABSTRACT
The story of Louisiana's railroads has for too long been shrouded by half-truth, myth, oral tradition, inaccuracy and glib generality.
Actually, in this period between 1830 and 1850, Louisiana's railroad builders accomplished more than was generally believed, although
the railroad mileage was snail compared with the whole nation, or even the South.


Almost all of Louisiana's pre-1850 railroads were planned, chartered and built in the decade between 1830 and 1840. This fact alone
suggests the inextricable bond between the railroads and the business cycle of that era. Railroad fever came to a climax at the height
of the economic cycle, in 1837, and practically ended after the panic of that year. Prior to the panic of 1837, shortages of supplies,
labor and capital continually hindered the railroad companies in accomplishing their objectives. A few of the railroads that survived
the panic continued their construction during the depression years between 1837 and 1841. They were aided in this pursuit by state
loans enacted after the panic, a fact little known up to this tine. Nevertheless, in spite of state aid, the most important source of
capital was the private stockholder.


https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1222&context=gradschool_disstheses
856

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USS ALASKA
 

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College of William and Mary
W&M ScholarWorks
Undergraduate Honors Theses Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 5-2011
The Richmond & Petersburg Railroad: A Story of Antebellum Southern Success
by John J. Kelly

This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected].

However, on the eve of the Civil War, this line – the Richmond & Petersburg Railroad (R&P) – was the most profitable in Virginia. Of the
state’s fourteen antebellum railroads, only four paid dividends, or portions of a company’s profit paid regularly to its stockholders. From 1856 to 1860, the R&P issued more dividends than any other line.2 “Part of the wonder was that railroads could thrive in a world of plantations and thinly scattered farms,” writes historian Scott Reynolds Nelson.3 Slave plantations needed to ship large quantities of agricultural produce to market, but were largely self-sufficient and consumed few manufactured goods. Therefore,locomotives leaving with trains loaded with produce would return with a string of empty cars. “With limited inbound traffic to carry, many Southern railroads would continually struggle to pay back investors.”4 Historian John Majewski states that the South’s agricultural economy created a low population density, and “Virginia railroads had to zigzag along the country side in a forlorn search for passengers and traffic.”5


The Richmond & Petersburg was different; it connected Virginia’s two largest antebellum cities, both regional trade hubs that provided the railroad with ample traffic. As Olmsted’s chapter title suggests, the R&P was more than just a local line; it was built specifically “to form a link in a continuous line of improvements from the North to the South, ”and competed vigorously for long-distance passengers.6 The railroad also operated two branch lines that funneled freight to a wharf, where it was transferred to ships bound for the Atlantic. Although it carried considerable cargo, the R&P struggled financially into the 1850s, and was repeatedly assisted by the state of Virginia.

Please see attached web page - the file is to large to attach

https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1395&context=honorstheses
915

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
College of William and Mary
W&M ScholarWorks
Undergraduate Honors Theses Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 5-2011
The Richmond & Petersburg Railroad: A Story of Antebellum Southern Success
by John J. Kelly

This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected].

However, on the eve of the Civil War, this line – the Richmond & Petersburg Railroad (R&P) – was the most profitable in Virginia. Of the
state’s fourteen antebellum railroads, only four paid dividends, or portions of a company’s profit paid regularly to its stockholders. From 1856 to 1860, the R&P issued more dividends than any other line.2 “Part of the wonder was that railroads could thrive in a world of plantations and thinly scattered farms,” writes historian Scott Reynolds Nelson.3 Slave plantations needed to ship large quantities of agricultural produce to market, but were largely self-sufficient and consumed few manufactured goods. Therefore,locomotives leaving with trains loaded with produce would return with a string of empty cars. “With limited inbound traffic to carry, many Southern railroads would continually struggle to pay back investors.”4 Historian John Majewski states that the South’s agricultural economy created a low population density, and “Virginia railroads had to zigzag along the country side in a forlorn search for passengers and traffic.”5


The Richmond & Petersburg was different; it connected Virginia’s two largest antebellum cities, both regional trade hubs that provided the railroad with ample traffic. As Olmsted’s chapter title suggests, the R&P was more than just a local line; it was built specifically “to form a link in a continuous line of improvements from the North to the South, ”and competed vigorously for long-distance passengers.6 The railroad also operated two branch lines that funneled freight to a wharf, where it was transferred to ships bound for the Atlantic. Although it carried considerable cargo, the R&P struggled financially into the 1850s, and was repeatedly assisted by the state of Virginia.

Please see attached web page - the file is to large to attach

https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1395&context=honorstheses
915

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
Amazing that the author did not consult the annual reports to the stockholders for this road.
 
Accession Number : ADA407560
Title : The Influence of Confederate Railroad Policy (1861-1864) on the Outcome of the Civil War
Descriptive Note : Student research paper
Corporate Author : MARINE CORPS COMMAND AND STAFF COLL QUANTICO VA
Personal Author(s) : Pollitt, Ian R
Report Date : Jul 2002

Abstract : More efficient management of the Southern rail transportation system would have increased the Confederacy's chances for a favorable negotiated settlement to end the American Civil War. Lackluster strategic direction of railroad policy by the Confederate Executive Legislative branches doomed the railroads to a slow death. As the railroads literally and figuratively ran out of gas, so, too, did the hopes of the Confederacy for lasting independence.

Subject Categories : Humanities and History, Logistics, Military Facilities and Supplies
Military Operations, Strategy and Tactics
Distribution Statement : APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
969

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USS ALASKA
 

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Louisiana State University
LSU Digital Commons
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School
1999

Organizing the South: Railroads, Plantations, and War.
by Steven Gedson Collins

Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected].

ABSTRACT; This work examines the emergence of organizational and bureaucratic ideas in the nineteenth-century South. It shows that organizational thinking took root in the antebellum South and grew during the Civil War. Many Southerners accepted the modern precepts of time, system, and bureaucratic control. They created of modern view of the world while incorporating slavery within this outlook. These same organizational ideals helped create a New South.

The first section of this work examines how southern railroad managers introduced modern bureaucratic structures into their operations. At the same time, they incorporated slavery within this modern corporate structure. The second section examines the acceptance of modern ideas of organization, system, control, and technology by southern planters. Southern reformers transformed organizational ideals in to a unique vision of modernization based on agriculture and slave labor. Agricultural reform, educational reform, and commercial conventions became the clearest manifestations of these new organizational ideals.

The third section of this dissertation studies the growth of organizational and bureaucratic ideas during the Civil War. Southern railroads and the Confederate Ordnance Department reveal the failure and success respectively of organizational ideas during the war. Under the strain of war, southern railroads' bureaucratic structures collapsed. However, the Confederate Ordnance Department represented the greatest success the Confederacy had in organizing for war. The Ordnance Department incorporated the latest ideas of system, uniform ity, and control associated with the American System of Manufacturing. The final section of this study examines how the organizational ideas that emerged during the antebellum period and during the war provided the frame work for creating a New South. Railroad managers, agricultural reformers, and former Confederate Ordnance officers, all played a role in this transformation. Railroad managers continued to improve bureaucratic operations and acted upon the lessons they learned from the war. Many Confederate Ordnance officers became academics after the war and played a significant role in higher education reform. Agricultural reformers continued to preach the need for system, control and organization in southern agriculture. Organizational and bureaucratic ideas associated with railroads, plantations, and war provided the foundations for a New South.

https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=8074&context=gradschool_disstheses

File to large to attach - please see above link.
1013

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
Last edited:
Louisiana State University
LSU Digital Commons
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School
1999

Organizing the South: Railroads, Plantations, and War.
by Steven Gedson Collins

Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected].

ABSTRACT; This work examines the emergence of organizational and bureaucratic ideas in the nineteenth-century South. It shows that organizational thinking took root in the antebellum South and grew during the Civil War. Many Southerners accepted the modern precepts of time, system, and bureaucratic control. They created of modern view of the world while incorporating slavery within this outlook. These same organizational ideals helped create a New South.

The first section of this work examines how southern railroad managers introduced modern bureaucratic structures into their operations. At the same time, they incorporated slavery within this modern corporate structure. The second section examines the acceptance of modern ideas of organization, system, control, and technology by southern planters. Southern reformers transformed organizational ideals in to a unique vision of modernization based on agriculture and slave labor. Agricultural reform, educational reform, and commercial conventions became the clearest manifestations of these new organizational ideals.

The third section of this dissertation studies the growth of organizational and bureaucratic ideas during the Civil War. Southern railroads and the Confederate Ordnance Department reveal the failure and success respectively of organizational ideas during the war. Under the strain of war, southern railroads' bureaucratic structures collapsed. However, the Confederate Ordnance Department represented the greatest success the Confederacy had in organizing for war. The Ordnance Department incorporated the latest ideas of system, uniform ity, and control associated with the American System of Manufacturing. The final section of this study examines how the organizational ideas that emerged during the antebellum period and during the war provided the frame work for creating a New South. Railroad managers, agricultural reformers, and former Confederate Ordnance officers, all played a role in this transformation. Railroad managers continued to improve bureaucratic operations and acted upon the lessons they learned from the war. Many Confederate Ordnance officers became academics after the war and played a significant role in higher education reform. Agricultural reformers continued to preach the need for system, control and organization in southern agriculture. Organizational and bureaucratic ideas associated with railroads, plantations, and war provided the foundations for a New South.

https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=8074&context=gradschool_disstheses

File to large to attach - please see above link.
1013

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
Regarding the railroad chapters: Mr. Collins did a good job in the pre-internet era of locating and identifying many relevant publications. However, it is impossible to believe that he read AND UNDERSTOOD what he located. His Bibliography lists 61 Secondary Articles and 113 Secondary Books -- as well as numerous primary sources, but the railroad chapter footnotes indicate a heavy reliance on only a handful of sources.

Mr. Collins is good at making a story from the quotations from his sources, but does not really understand his material. The author leans heavily on "bureaucratic solutions" (ie paperwork and organization) needed for Confederate railroad success, only just mentioning the successes and deficiencies which vastly overwhelmed the bureaucratic mechanisms. Shortages of labor and materials demanded solutions from the Presidential level, not from the bureaucracy.

The author is also quick to take at face value various statements without considering their contexts. For example, he quotes Pemberton's complaint against the Southern RR regarding his creation of a sufficient store of food in Vicksburg, but the complaint is made AFTER the fall of Vicksburg when Pemberton is trying to salvage his reputation. The author condemns Lee for ordering the complete destruction of the RF&P RR from Fredericksburg to Aquia landing -- ignoring the fact that the Union had already once used that line for supply of forces that could have (and would again in only a month) headed for Richmond.

As a school project, this is worth seeing, but it lacks the maturity needed to be a reliable study -- at least as far as the RRs are concerned.
 
USAWC STRATEGY RESEARCH PROJECT

Civil War Railroads: A Revolution in Mobility
by LIEUTENANT COLONEL IRBY W. BRYAN, JR.
United States Army

Professor Thomas Sweeney
Project Advisor
U.S. Army War College
CARLISLE BARRACKS, PENNSYLVANIA 1701 3

ABSTRACT
DATE: 10 April 2001 PAGES: 31 CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified
The Civil War pitted two armies against each other on a grand battlefield in the East that focused on Virginia and its Border States and an equally demanding battlefield in the West for control of the Mississippi River. Both sides faced the extremely difficult challenges associated with defending key terrain and the need to seize the initiative through offensive maneuvering and engagement. Limited manpower and the operational ambiguities caused by movement (or deployment) to several locations on an ever-changing battlefield caused railroad usage to become a matter of military readiness and national security for both sides. This paper provides a brief review of railroad capabilities of the United States before the Civil War, elaborates on the railroad capabilities and usage of both sides during the war, and discusses instances where the effective use of railroad mobility was the decisive factor in the outcome of the battle. Lastly,
provides an examination of the impact of railroad mobility on the Civil War and warfare.


DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A:
Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.
1046

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USS ALASKA
 

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