They Moved 18 Locomotives 38 Miles With No Rail! – (1861-2)

Sloan

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They Moved 18 Locomotives 38 Miles With No Rail! – (1861-2) by Jim Surkamp

- See more at: http://civilwarscholars.com/2012/06...861-early-1862/#sthash.77zlZUMF.gzDcfnYL.dpuf

I followed this link from another forum. I had never heard about this action in the aftermath of Harper's Ferry...Ingenious and stubborn those gallant Rebs. What a feat of sheer determination to get locomotives and railroad equipment. I thought we had it bad when we would "liberate" a generator form a neighboring unit when we couldn't get parts to fix ours!
 
Believe it or not, there are several Civil War "historians" who claim this never happened! On my web site, I have transcribed 285 documents that prove that it did -- Southern newspapers, diaries, Northern newspapers, vouchers for labor and materials, Official Records, and -- most importantly -- Baltimore & Ohio RR annual reports.

Check out my web site for more information:

www.csa-railroads.com
 
Mort Kunstler painting Heavy Traffic on the Valley Pike.
923_2.jpg


I've also seen a couple of sources disputing whether the locomotives and other rolling stock were removed. Personally I think an event like that pictured above would not be made up. But rather than take my word for it, we'll cite a primary source.


CAMP NEAR HALLTOWN, JEFFERSON COUNTRY, [
September--, 1861.]

Adjutant-General COOPER:
SIR: Inclosed I send you invoice of goods seized by my order from a store upon the Potomac, in Berkeley County, belonging to A. R. McQulken, who has fled from the Confederacy. He was a member of the Wheeling Convention. I would be pleased to hear from you as to how to dispose of them. I send them to-day to Winchester to be stored until I hear form you, which
directions will find me if directed to Charlestown, Jefferson County. I think it proper to state to you my position. I am in command of a detachment of Colonel McDonald's regiment, together with a force of militia furnished me by General Carson, for the purpose of protecting Mr. Sharpe, Government agent, now removing engines, &c., from Baltimore and Ohio Road to Strasburg. There are now stationed upon the Maryland side of the Potomac, opposite this county, two infantry regiments, guarding the canal, which is transporting coal and other supplies. I am within 1 1\4 miles of the river, and watch their movements daily for the whole distance which these regiments operate. I am confident, if not inconsistent with the present policy of the Government, that I can move over at some convenient point and break the canal, securing a large amount of said to be now in deports opposite this place. The only force above that mentioned by me on the river as far as the Hampshire line is stationed at Williamsport, some 15 miles up the river--about one and a half regiments. I had occasional skirmishes with the enemy in this vicinity, they having crossed twice--once at Harper's ferry and again at Shepherdstown. I have driven them back each time without loss, having only 1 man wounded, and he doing well. I have killed several of them each time. They fire at every man, woman, child, or horse that passes the river upon this side. I have sometimes allowed my men to return their fire with long range (small-arms) guns with some known effect.

I write this to you owing to my peculiar position, acting by order of Colonel McDonald, who is or is to be in a different locality, too far to give his attention to the minute of my movements, and, too, having under my command other forces than from his regiment, with no defined instructions as to policy to be
pursued towards the enemy in this locality. Will you give them to me?

Respectfully,

TURNER ASHBY,
Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding near Harper's Ferry.
 
Believe it or not, there are several Civil War "historians" who claim this never happened! On my web site, I have transcribed 285 documents that prove that it did -- Southern newspapers, diaries, Northern newspapers, vouchers for labor and materials, Official Records, and -- most importantly -- Baltimore & Ohio RR annual reports.

Check out my web site for more information:

www.csa-railroads.com
Dave..Thanks for the post. John
 
Great story! One thing I'm puzzled about, the map in csa-railroads shows a standard-gauge line from Harpers Ferry to Winchester, also shown on another map I have. Seems it would have shortened the "overland" trip - were they not able to use it for some reason? Already destroyed? Or some part of the route covered by Union forces? Thanks.
 
Great story! One thing I'm puzzled about, the map in csa-railroads shows a standard-gauge line from Harpers Ferry to Winchester, also shown on another map I have. Seems it would have shortened the "overland" trip - were they not able to use it for some reason? Already destroyed? Or some part of the route covered by Union forces? Thanks.

"On May 22, 1861, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s troops stopped all trains going East at Martinsburg and Point of Rocks. Once he determined that all of the trains that could be caught had been caught, he blew up the bridges to the West and blew down the rocks on the tracks to the East, and the pirating of the B&O railroad was on. In total, 42 locomotives and 386 cars were stolen and destroyed, 36 and ½ miles of track, 17 bridges, 102 miles of telegraph wire, the “Colonade” Bridge and the B&O roundhouse and machine shops were destroyed."

http://www.martinsburgroundhouse.com/history.html
 
Great story! One thing I'm puzzled about, the map in csa-railroads shows a standard-gauge line from Harpers Ferry to Winchester, also shown on another map I have. Seems it would have shortened the "overland" trip - were they not able to use it for some reason? Already destroyed? Or some part of the route covered by Union forces? Thanks.
Carronade,

There were three reasons for not using the Martinsburg/Harpers Ferry/Winchester rail route.

1. The Winchester & Potomac RR was light strap rail, laid on wooden stringers going the same direction as the rail (and the stringers were laid on ties). This was suitable for the W&P's light trains and locomotives, but the B&O locomotives were heavy enough that they would have crushed the stringers. The W&P was strongly opposed to trying to use their road. (In later 1861, they re-laid their road with removed B&O rails bought from the Confederate Government.)

2. After capturing the rolling stock, and before any was removed, Joe Johnston arrived to take command of the area. A Union movement caused Johnston to vacate the Martinsburg/Harpers Ferry area. During the move, someone destroyed the RR bridge over Opequan Creek. When the Confederates re-occupied the area, it was too dangerous and too time-consuming to rebuild the bridge for this one operation.

3. Even if the Winchester & Potomac RR had been used, you would have still have had to drag the locomotives from Winchester to Strasburg to get to the Manassas Gap RR.
 
This capture and removal was copied in Kentucky when the Confederates retained permanently locomotives and cars of the Louisville and Nashville railroad.
In the short run these actions supplied necessary equipment, in the long run, the railroad industry in the northern and border states had a long memory, both during and after the war.
 
I guess @DaveBrt would know, but I wonder what happened to southern railroad personnel during the sorting period lasting into September of 1861, when people could move north or south depending on their allegiance. I also wonder about the conditional loyalty of the railroad men who remained in the south, and how they rated the Confederate government's odds of success.
 
I guess @DaveBrt would know, but I wonder what happened to southern railroad personnel during the sorting period lasting into September of 1861, when people could move north or south depending on their allegiance. I also wonder about the conditional loyalty of the railroad men who remained in the south, and how they rated the Confederate government's odds of success.
Very few railroad men were Northerners when the war started. Most of the labor force (road maintenance, train crews except engineer, freight agents and hands, most shop men, officers) was either slave or Southern. The loss of men before the start of the war was mostly because of the loss of business by the railroads in the months between Lincoln's rise to prominence and the Lincoln's call for troops. The short sighted railroads refused to spend money retaining men for a few months when the possibility of war was clear. Men who had lost their jobs were quick to join mostly infantry companies and it was a war-long job to get their services back to the railroads. Others who lost their jobs went North for work.

The number of "mechanics" who went North is not clear -- it was large enough to be noticed, but not large enough to get major attention by most railroads in their annual reports. However large the loss to the North and to the army, the Southern railroads and industry could not afford the loss.
 
Didn't Sharp eventually get a job with the B&O? I think he would have tracked down the locomotives as a matter of demonstrating loyalty to his employer.
 
Didn't Sharp eventually get a job with the B&O? I think he would have tracked down the locomotives as a matter of demonstrating loyalty to his employer.
Yes, he worked for the B&O about 4 years after the war -- Superintendent of Transportation. Immediately after the war, Sharp joined a couple of men in opening a machine shop in Delaware.

The B&O sent a man south as soon as Lee surrendered to recover their locomotives, cars and machinery. I have an unpublished manuscript detailing his work, successfully recovering all but one locomotive and most of the machinery. Only a handful of the 100 or so cars were recovered, the rest having been worked to death or lost in accidents or war incidents.
 
I was reading the above link; http://civilwarscholars.com/2012/06/they-moved-18-locomotives-without-rail-38-miles-1861-early-1862/ and noticed about half way down the page the name of Hugh Longest, a Railroad Track Maker from Richmond, highlighted in yellow. In 1971 my first summer job was for Longest Heating and Air Specialist in the vicinity of northern Newport News. He later moved out to the White House area at Cumberland Landing in Virginia on the Pamunkey River. Being married to my cousin I had the good fortune of staying next door with my Aunt and got to explore (my most avid sport) the area in the Fall of 1982 for a week.
Lubliner.
 
I was reading the above link; http://civilwarscholars.com/2012/06/they-moved-18-locomotives-without-rail-38-miles-1861-early-1862/ and noticed about half way down the page the name of Hugh Longest, a Railroad Track Maker from Richmond, highlighted in yellow. In 1971 my first summer job was for Longest Heating and Air Specialist in the vicinity of northern Newport News. He later moved out to the White House area at Cumberland Landing in Virginia on the Pamunkey River. Being married to my cousin I had the good fortune of staying next door with my Aunt and got to explore (my most avid sport) the area in the Fall of 1982 for a week.
Lubliner.
Longest was a carpenter who is mentioned in the 1860 Census as a Passenger Car Builder in Richmond. He had earlier had a contract to rebuild part of the Governor's House in 1850. In 1858, he ran for the office of Commissioner of Revenue for Henrico County. He was Sharp's right-hand-man and ran the locomotive removal operation when Sharp was away on trips or other assignments. He had an active life in railroads after the war.
 
Thank you for filling me in a bit. I hope here soon to find out more by reading Locomotives up the Turnpike by Dave Bright.
Of course I do have a captivating interest to his name.
Lubliner.
 
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