diane, below is an account of Federal cavalry, under the command of Judson Kilpatrick, out destroying railroad around Atlanta in August 1864, recorded in the book;
"Four Years in the Saddle; History of the First Regiment Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, War of the Rebellion 1861 - 1865." , pages 175-177, by Captain W. L. Curry, Columbus, Ohio (1898). The book was written from daily journal entries of Capt. Curry during the war which he later used in writing his book, detailing his experiences. Below he details how he and his regiment went about being ordered to dismount and tear up the railroads around Atlanta during that campaign:
" ...In a few minutes and just as the sun was dropping behind the mountain, the command was given, "right, forward, fours right", and we were off on what proved to be one of the hardest cavalry raids during our four years` service. Soon after dusk we struck the enemy`s pickets, which proved to be the advance of Ross` and Ferguson`s brigades of cavalry, and a brisk skirmish was kept up all night and during the greater part of the time we were dismounted, as the enemy would throw up barricades at every good position at bridges or along the edge of a wood and they gave us so much trouble that instead of reaching the West Point railroad at midnight, as was intended, we did not strike it until just about daybreak of the nineteenth (August 1864).
The regiment, under orders from Col. Long, dismounted, commenced tearing up and destroying the railroad track and succeeded in tearing up about a mile of the track near and south-west of Fairburn. Cavalry, when they became accustomed to this kind of work, would tear up a track very rapidly. When the order is given to dismount, number one, two and three dismount, and number four always holds horses, remains mounted and leads the other three horses. Number three hands his reigns to number four, number two ties his reign to the bit of number three and number one to reign of number two. The men then form along one side of the track in close order and at command grasp the rails and ties and turn the track over and sometimes a half mile of track is turned before a joint is broken, the men move along rapidly and many rods of the track will be standing up on edge. If there is time the rails are then torn loose from the ties by picks and axes, carried for that purpose, the ties are piled up and the rails on top of them and then the ties are fired and, thus the rails are heated and bent out of shape by being twisted around trees or telegraph poles, are left there to cool, and no doubt some of them are there yet to mark the trail of the cavalry raiders. The regiment destroyed about half a mile of the track, when the brigade was attacked by the Cavalry and artillery of the enemy in both the rear and left flank.
We were ordered to mount, and the regiment galloped forward to join the brigade which had crossed the track and had the advance. The brigade formed a line of battle facing toward the left and just as we began to advance a battery galloped into position on a little knoll to the right of our line. The line was advancing at a walk when an officer came dashing down from the battery, who proved to be the dashing dare-devil, Kilpatrick, and he ordered the line forward at a gallop across the field. He was mounted on an Arabian horse and looked the ideal cavalry man as he dashed forward in front of our line, his horse clearing a wide ditch running across the field and into which several horses fell, as they were urged to jump it by their riders. The brigade dashed into the woods and soon routed the enemy, taking a number of prisoners. During all this time Kilpatrick's headquarters band, mounted on white horses, was enlivening the scene by playing some patriotic airs. We soon fell back to the road and the column again moved towards Jonesborough, the Second Brigade having the advance.
We struck the enemy in a short time and attacked them at once, pushing them back slowly, but steadily, all day. The country was thickly wooded and a very bad place for cavalry to operate. The enemy would throw up barricades at every favorable position, such as woods, streams or ravines, firing on the advance from ambuscades, the progress of the column was much retarded, and the enemy made every effort to keep our column back from the railroad until re-enforcements could be moved down from Atlanta. About noon the advance halted and dismounted in a thick piece of woods to let the horses rest, and eat a hard-tack raw pork sandwich. The men were all sitting or lying down when all at once the rebels fired a volley and charged the advance guard, driving them back on the reserve before we could mount.
Colonel Long ordered the First forward dismounted and on double-quick. A part of the regiment was on the right of the road and advanced across a little field in which there was a melon patch and it was amusing to see the boys grab for the melons regardless of the balls that were knocking up the dust on all sides. As it was very hot and the men were almost famished after the long run, the melons were very refreshing after the rebel rear guard was routed. The rebel force was pushed back steadily until we reached Flint River and on the east side of this stream they had thrown up works, dug rifle-pits and had a strong position. As soon as our advance appeared a rebel battery opened up and the Chicago Board of Trade Battery was put in position and after a lively artillery duel the rebel battery was silenced."
In the account above Capt. W. L. Curry was speaking of the fighting which occurred on 18-19 Aug 1864, when they were sent from Sandtown to destroy a section of the West Point R.R. near Fairburn, just west of Atlanta. Here they were aggressively engaged by the cavalry brigades belonging to Brig. General`s Samuel Wragg Ferguson and Lawrence Sullivan Ross, which led to violent and bloody fighting that went on through the night and well into the early hours of the following day. Ferguson`s Cavalry Brigade was comprised of: the 2nd Alabama Cavalry (Col. Richard G. Earle / Col. John N. Carpenter), 56th Alabama Partisan Rangers (Col. William Boyles), 12th Mississippi Cavalry ( Col. William M. Inge), 11th Mississippi Cavalry (Col. Robert O. Perrin) and 9th Mississippi Cavalry ( Col. Horace H. Miller). Ross` Cavalry Brigade was comprised of: the 3rd Texas Cavalry, 6th Texas Cavalry, 9th Texas Cavalry and the 1st Texas Legion.
During the Meridian Campaign, Sherman sent entire infantry regiments out to destroy the railroad while the cavalry protected them as they carried out their work. From 14-18 Feb 1864 in and around Meridian, the Federal cavalry under Col. Edward Winslow, was constantly skirmishing against Maj. General Stephen D. Lee`s Cavalry (Jackson, Ferguson, Adams, Ross and Starke), as the Federal infantry was tearing up the railroads. The infantry could perform more thorough work than the cavalry when it came to tearing up railroads. During the railroad wars in west Tennessee and northern Mississippi, in which Forrest participated, it was his cavalry performing the destruction. And the fact that they were able to tear up the railroads so well is a testament to his command and his men`s commitment, determination and work ethic.