Ulysses S. Grant to D. C. McCallum, May 20, 1865

General D. C. McCallum,

General : I have the honor to submit the following report of oper¬ ations on the U. S. military railroads under my charge since the date of my last report, November 1, 1864.*

After General Sherman’s army was fully supplied at Atlanta he cut loose from his railroad line of supply and we fell back with all rolling-stock and other portable railroad property to Chattanooga, stopping long enough, however, to take up the track between Resaca and Dalton, a distance of eighteen miles, and bring to Chattanooga all the iron rails, including those damaged by the enemy in his last attack on the road. The Construction Corps was then distributed over the lines of military railroads still held by our forces, and employed at various necessary jobs of construction and repairs and in preparing material to reconstruct any portion of the tracks and structures that might again be destroyed. This work was continued until the rebel army under General Hood had advanced so far north of the Tennessee River that it became evident most, if not all, our lines would fall into their hands. The greater part of the corps was then concentrated at certain points from which they could operate to the best advantage when we should again get possession of the roads. One division of trackmen was sent to Louisville to lay additional tracks to hold the large number of cars and engines which we were sending there for safety. On the 15th of December the battle of Nashville commenced, and by the 18th General Thomas had thor¬ oughly defeated Hood and driven his shattered army as far as Franklin. On that day he directed all the damaged railroads to be rebuilt. On the 19th I had four strong working parties at this work — one working from Nashville toward Decatur and following the army as rapidly as possible; another working from Nashville toward Ste¬ venson; a third working from Stevenson toward Nashville, and the fourth working from Stevenson toward Decatur. These lines were all opened up, except a portion of the Nashville and Decatur line, by the 28th of December, the day I received your order to take one division of the Construction Corps and proceed to Savannah to join General Sherman. Orders were immediately given on the receipt of

: *See Inclosnre B to report of General McCallum of November 27, 1864, Vol. IV, this series, p. 957.

I 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 j furnished to take them to Savannah. On the 28th they arrived at! Hilton Head, but were not disembarked there. On the 29th General f Sherman gave me orders to proceed with my men to Morehead City, b N. C., and “prepare to make railroad connection to Goldsborough by I the m’iddle 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 j us were landed next day. We found the railroad in running order i from Morehead City to Batchelder’s Creek, a distance of forty-four i miles. The track, however, was in bad condition, and the sidingsj. were entirely inadequate to the business about to be thrown upon tlieji 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 I 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.j 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 Avharf 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 Batchelder’s Creek. He had been sent here

by order of General Grant, but