Civil War Railroad Videos

Rivers and Rails: Daggers of the Civil War | Tennessee Civil War 150 | NPT

Nashville Public Television

Published on May 30, 2013
As Charles Dickens might have described it, rivers and rails brought the best of times and the worst of times to 19th century Tennessee. "Rivers and Rails: Daggers of the Civil War," the latest episode in the "Tennessee Civil War 150" series, a joint venture between Nashville Public Television (NPT) and The Renaissance Center, explores how transportation by water and steel brought great prosperity to the state just before the Civil War, only to give the invading Union Army a highway directly into the Deep South, eventually helping force the Confederacy to its knees.

"Rivers and Rails: Daggers of the Civil War," co-produced by the Emmy Award-winning team of Stephen Hall and Ken Tucker of The Renaissance Center, is the seventh episode in the "Tennessee Civil War 150" series, a multi-part project coinciding with the Sesquicentennial anniversary of the Civil War. Previous installments include "Secession," "Civil War Songs and Stories," "No Going Back: Women and the War" and "Shiloh: The Devil's Own Day" and "No Looking Back: African American and the War." All have either won or been nominated for regional Emmy Awards.


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USS ALASKA
 
Danny Glover!

Trains at War | Civil War Journal

PANGEA

Published on Mar 9, 2018
During the war, railroads were second only to waterways in providing logistical support for the armies. They were also vital to the economies of the divided nation. A great deal has been written about railroads in the war, and in particular the spectacular engineering feats of the U.S. Military Railroads’ Construction Corps under Herman Haupt. But strangely, the tactical employment of locomotives and rolling stock, which was actually quite widespread, has thus far escaped serious attention.

Large military forces were, of course, the worst danger to railroads. Because they supplied the units that were on campaign, railroads were often major objectives–an army without supplies cannot operate for long. Since the only sure way to deal with large-scale threats was with a force of similar size, armies often stayed near the railroad tracks. While armies campaigned, locomotives and rolling stock provided logistical support, and some also performed tactical missions. These missions included close combat, especially when the situation was fluid or when the railroad provided a convenient avenue of approach to an opponent.

In such situations, commanders sometimes sent locomotives to reconnoiter the terrain and gain information on enemy troop dispositions. While this may seem like a risky venture, gathering information was often worth the risk, and lone locomotives could quickly reverse direction and move as fast as 60 mph, far faster than pursuing cavalry. With such great mobility, locomotives were also useful as courier vehicles when commanders had to rush vital intelligence to headquarters. This communications service was an important advantage in a war where raiders frequently cut or tapped telegraph lines....


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USS ALASKA
 
BLUE RIDGE PBS
Civil War - Episode 10 - Riding the Rails to Victory: Railroads in the Civil War
Jul 5, 2021

Hosted by Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr., Alumni Distinguished Professor of History at Virginia Tech and William C. Davis, the Director of Programs for Virginia's Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech, this episode focuses on the role of the railroads in the Civil War.

The American Civil War was the first modern war of the 19th century. There were many advancements in communication, medicine, and armaments. But the biggest difference maker in the conduct of war was the increased use of the railroads. The railroads changed the strategy and tactics that generals could employ. Railroads were capable of moving thousands of troops and tons of supplies, faster and in all weather conditions. Stonewall Jackson's troops arrived at Manassas via trains to bring the South victory in the first major battle of the war. One of the most exciting railroad tales from the war was "The Great Locomotive Chase" of 1862. We examine these events as well as learn of the railroad leaders of the time and the use of the telegraph.



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USS ALASKA
 
The railroads companies and the US logistical efforts were converging on learning how to manage over distance. Both were becoming imperial and bureaucratic, and less entrepenuerial. For the quartermaster bureau, they found a limit with respect to livestock purchases. Instead of bids and contracts, it was better to have the assistant quartermasters tour the livestock stables and see the actual animals. Inspection did require physical effort in many cases.
But the railroads were semi-permanent and their corporate methods paved the way for trusts as they were known in those days. The army logistical effort was an early demonstration of what bureaucrats could achieve, and the railroads continued the development.
 
Beginning in September of 1863, there was a virtual merger of the larger railroads with the US Army.
The U. S. Government by this time had geared up into a total war effort for manufacturing outputs. They north became united with one purpose, to conquer the rebellion. We did it again in WWII when car factories produced tanks and planes, and army jeeps.
Lubliner.
 
The railroads were one of four bureaucracies that arose during the Civil War. The most important was the Treasury Department which managed the invasive tax system, and collected the money coming in from bond sales.
The second most important was the army quartermaster bureau. The staggering scale on which the quartermaster operated changed the way people of thought of what was possible. I would get Mark Wilson's book The Business of the Civil War to get a sample of the kind of problems that bureaucracy had to deal with.
The third was the blockade. The blockaders were not independent captains. They had assignments and rules and bookkeepers kept track of the capture vessel share and the fleet shares. They reported to their squadron commander and were not free to roam around and make decisions on their own.
But the forth type of bureaucracy were the railroads and they were permanent. They were too big to be sole proprietorships or partnerships, the were companies. They had to have managers to manage the managers. In their consumer markets they tended towards monopoly. But in the capital markets, the labor markets, and even in their vendors markets, they were rivals and competitors.
There was always competition to see who could grow the fastest and who was in the best shape in the inevitable downturns.
Over riding all of it were the big east coast banks, who made fortunes off the war.
 
The railroads were one of four bureaucracies that arose during the Civil War. The most important was the Treasury Department which managed the invasive tax system, and collected the money coming in from bond sales.
The second most important was the army quartermaster bureau. The staggering scale on which the quartermaster operated changed the way people of thought of what was possible. I would get Mark Wilson's book The Business of the Civil War to get a sample of the kind of problems that bureaucracy had to deal with.
The third was the blockade. The blockaders were not independent captains. They had assignments and rules and bookkeepers kept track of the capture vessel share and the fleet shares. They reported to their squadron commander and were not free to roam around and make decisions on their own.
But the forth type of bureaucracy were the railroads and they were permanent. They were too big to be sole proprietorships or partnerships, the were companies. They had to have managers to manage the managers. In their consumer markets they tended towards monopoly. But in the capital markets, the labor markets, and even in their vendors markets, they were rivals and competitors.
There was always competition to see who could grow the fastest and who was in the best shape in the inevitable downturns.
Over riding all of it were the big east coast banks, who made fortunes off the war.
These four bureaucracies were founded upon the administrative genius of Government control and decision-making. The right men were in the right place and time with enough experience to see it through.
Lubliner.
 
The railroads companies and the US logistical efforts were converging on learning how to manage over distance. Both were becoming imperial and bureaucratic, and less entrepenuerial. For the quartermaster bureau, they found a limit with respect to livestock purchases. Instead of bids and contracts, it was better to have the assistant quartermasters tour the livestock stables and see the actual animals. Inspection did require physical effort in many cases.
But the railroads were semi-permanent and their corporate methods paved the way for trusts as they were known in those days. The army logistical effort was an early demonstration of what bureaucrats could achieve, and the railroads continued the development.

One of the major changes / improvements railroads brought to the execution of corporate leadership was communications and the distance of those comms. Unlike a large mill or mine or anything else in a small geographic area, railroads had infrastructure and people spread out over vast distances. Control of assets and operations across their corporate 'landscape' was something that had to be learned, a lot of which by trial and error. Those that didn't learn, disappeared. Even trans-oceanic shipping lines could not and did not have comms like the railroads - at least before the advent of the 'wireless'.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
One of the major changes / improvements railroads brought to the execution of corporate leadership was communications and the distance of those comms. Unlike a large mill or mine or anything else in a small geographic area, railroads had infrastructure and people spread out over vast distances. Control of assets and operations across their corporate 'landscape' was something that had to be learned, a lot of which by trial and error. Those that didn't learn, disappeared. Even trans-oceanic shipping lines could not and did not have comms like the railroads - at least before the advent of the 'wireless'.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
That is what made the railroads and the army quartermasters so similar. There were reporting requirements and the standardization of information.
The difference was that the railroads were private and could be bought out by their better competitors. Army logistics was different because the pressure came from opposition politicians and the public. Most naval operations in that era involved fleet and squadron control. A few naval officers did function with considerable freedom on the high seas.
For instance Raphael Semmes made his decisions on his own, which worked well, until he began to get frustrated by the lack of vulnerable targets.
 
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One of the major changes / improvements railroads brought to the execution of corporate leadership was communications and the distance of those comms. Unlike a large mill or mine or anything else in a small geographic area, railroads had infrastructure and people spread out over vast distances. Control of assets and operations across their corporate 'landscape' was something that had to be learned, a lot of which by trial and error. Those that didn't learn, disappeared. Even trans-oceanic shipping lines could not and did not have comms like the railroads - at least before the advent of the 'wireless'.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
The impact of the railways can be seen in the ghost towns left behind as the advancement of the infrastructure chose its pathways, north, east, south and west.
Lubliner.
 
Sirs, a video to go with thread https://civilwartalk.com/threads/blue-ridge-tunnel-and-stonewall-jackson.144444/

CHARLOTTESVILLE
The Tunnel
American Focus Films

The Tunnel is a new 35-minute documentary film about the creation and the re-creation of the Blue Ridge Railroad Tunnel. In the 1850s, Irish immigrants dug this nearly mile-long tunnel. Many of them were maimed or even died. The story also examines the role of enslaved Black railroad workers. In 1944 the tunnel was closed. But in 2020, it was re-opened to the public as a remarkable historic site and tourist attraction.


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USS ALASKA
 
A video from the gent that wrote these papers...



JULY 22, 2014
The Civil War
Railroads and the Civil War
Christopher Gabel talked about the importance of railroads and steam-powered locomotives to the Union and Confederate armies during the U.S. Civil War. Professor Gabel explained how railroads made the scale of the Civil War possible and described how and why the Confederacy's powerful railroad system broke down as the war progressed. The Kansas City Public Library hosted this event.

Christopher Gabel, Professor, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College



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USS ALASKA
 
@USS ALASKA thanks for finding this video and posting it. It is well worth the 58 minutes as Chris Gabel carries a very interesting lecture to its maximum potential. He also has nearly 10 minutes of questions asked, and he answers each one without fault, hesitation or slip. I highly recommend taking the time to see it.
Lubliner.
 
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