Richard Morton to I. M. St. John, November 20, 1864

Chief of Bureau:

COLONEL: Your questions on the iron service are hereinafter replied to in their order:

Eighteen furnaces remain in blast in Virginia, or rather have been able to get in blast at a late day, as follows: Marion Magnetic, Smyth County; Beauregard, Grey Eagle, Barren Springs, Wythe County; Lucy Selina (worked by Government), Rockbridge County; Boyd’s Furnace, Botetourt County; Amherst, Amherst County; Estelino, Augusta County; Victoria, Louisa County; Roaring Run, Alleghany County; Union, Patrick County; Liberty, Shenandoah County; Westham (worked by Government), Henrico County; Catawba, Rebecca, Botetourt County; Glenwood, Rockbridge County; Australia, Alleghany County; Caroline (will suspend under Order 82), Shenandoah County.

” Very few of these eighteen furnaces have seen able, however, to make a full blast. The want of labor and subsistence and the movements af the enemy have operated to prevent work for some time at all of them except three, and one of them has been twice burned by the enemy. They have not averaged more than a half blast, and some of them must cease work unless the contractors are allowed greater facilities for securing supplies.

Second. What available furnaces are out of blast?

Thirteen furnaces are now out of blast, and for the following reasons: Mount Hope, Wythe County, want of labor and supplies; Graham’s, Wythe County, want of labor and stock; California, Rockbridge, ore bank exhausted; Buena Vista, Rockbridge, burned by the enemy; Elizabeth, Augusta, burned by the enemy; Catharine, Spotsylvania, burned by the enemy; Mount Torry, Augusta, burned by the enemy; Columbia, Shenandoah, burned by the enemy (Order enemy (Order 82 would have suspended); Page Iron Works, Shenandoah, suspended by Order 82 after January 1, 1865. Three of these thirteen could not work for lack of labor, and three had to suspend under General Orders, No. 82. Also the Caroline furnace, though still in blast, will soon suspend under this order, a few men being only left to work up the stock on hand. The Elizabeth, Grace, Cloverdale, Mount Torry, Buena Vista, and Catharine are being rebuilt, and if labor can be secured will probably work next year.

the inspection of the furnaces ?

The district superintendents are required to send from each furnace, if possible, a semi-monthly, but certainly a monthly, report of the following character:

Furnace report to

A 4s Tons. ° Force. Q Ss ad ira) a S sg : : Se . a} Petco}

Name of works. ° g 84 Ae Remarks, &c. Tre cael ae s sofas a / Soe) Bulge Be ee eis.

xl ret * SiS Bl aol : Ba so h 3 a o + HS ee > sx iul o }s mw A 4 H oOo n Ril\4/e

In addition to these reports an inspecting officer of special qualifications goes from furnace to furnace, as time will allow, and reports directly to the chief of Bureau upon the general management of the furnaces, their condition, and prospects.

Fourth. Compare furnace results in Virginia and Alabama, and state why at this late day the Alabama system of large furnaces cannot be applied in Virginia, giving instances of the scarcity of ore.

The Alabama furnaces have probably attained a higher daily yield than those in Virginia. In one case the Government furnace in Bibb County, Ala., averaged through the month thirteen tons of iron per day, and at another furnace I think an average of ten tons per day was attained for one month. Still, the difference of yield has not been so great as these cases would indicate. From many disturbing causes incident to war much time has been lost at the Alabama furnaces, and the daily average would scarcely exceed, if equal, four tons per day, which most of the Virginia furnaces aim to reach for such time as they can secure stock to keep in blast. The Alabama iron region is new, and all the furnace localities abound with ore and fuel, and private enterprise, aided in most cases by the Government, availing itself of modern information, has erected large and improved furnaces where fuel, ore, and subsistence are very abundant. The Virginia mineral region, on the other hand, has been worked for many years, and most of its furnaces are old, and hence small; but having been worked so long, fuel has become alarmingly scarce, and many furnaces have a most precarious supply of ore, this article being frequently hauled for miles in wagons—in one case as far as ten miles. Two of the largest furnaces in the State have been idle a long time for want of ore, the banks from which they have heretofore been supplied, and which were considered inexhaustible, having very suddenly given out. It is very doubtful whether the Westham Furnace can be continued in blast, for up to this time no ore bank has been found on the line of the canai which will supply the necessary ore. There are few, if any, mineral veins in Virginia, nearly all of its ores existing in pockets or detailed masses, the size and extent of whicl can only be ascertained by actual experiment; hence all mining is very precarious. Ore banks pronounced by the most experienced miners to be boundless have given out after a few months’ work.

53 R R—SERIES IV, VOL III

When ore happens to be abundant the wood has b««n nearly all cut, and no situation is now known to me in this State where stock—meaning fuel and ore—could be procured for a furnace to make ten tons of iron per day. But were the case otherwise, it would be impossible to maintain the force required for so large a furnace. Each furnace depends upon its own locality for supplies of bread and meat and forage, it being almost impossible to bring them from a distance in the present state of transportation, and no one neighborhood could support so large a force. The small furnaces find it extremely difficult to feed their laborers. If fuel, ore, and food were as convenient and abundant as in Alabama, the large furnace system would even now be adopted; but the scarcity of all these is thought to render it impracticable entirely. ‘The present small furnaces of Virginia would afford an ample supply of iron if the service was placed upon a proper footing, as will be indicated below.

partial yield of furnace.

This plan has been found most advantageous in that while it secures to the Government one-half of all iron made at a very moderate price, it offers to contractors a great stimulus for the largest possible yield. It was absolutely essential that some iron should be put on the market to supply agricultural and other interests. The plan now pursued gives the Government one-half of all iron made at a price not much, if at all, above cost, and a preference over all other purchasers for the remaining half.

demanded to guarantee a supply of iron for the next year.

The iron force was much too small before one-fifth of the men were taken away under General Orders, No. 82. These men must be replaced and an addition of 300 men fully be made to the previous force, with an increase of from 100 to 150 horses or mules. Should this labor’ be furnished promptly, and the service placed upon a proper footing before all army officers, but little apprehension need be felt for the iron supply, for all difficulties of fuel and ore will in that event be overcome. But it is absolutely essential that the iron masters shall have more support from the Government than heretofore. The manufacture of pig-iron in Virginia was a very hazardous enterprise, even before the war, and but two men are known to me who ever met with success. All the difficulties have been much increased by the war, and the much greater difficulty of securing supplies added to them. But all these could have been overcome if the iron masters had been properly protected against the interference of Government officers. Ample general orders exist on this subject, but they are not respected, and it has never been found possible to have any officer punished for their violation. It will suffice to mention one notable case where a quartermaster, Captain Hoof, of General Rosser’s brigade, not only impressed supplies from the contractors, but from the Government furnaces, thereby causing the actual starvation of some of the furnace mules, and making it necessary to hire out the furnace labor to prevent a similar result. On hearing the facts the Secretary of War immediately ordered Captain Hoof to be relieved from duty and to report in Richmond, but this order, now some nine months old, has never- been obeyed, and Captain H. remains on his original duty. The iron master is a necessity, and should be cherished as such, and allowed the same facilities for securing subsistence and forage as are enjoyed by commissaries and quartermasters; and his supplies once secured should not be touched for any other purpose. Unless this encouragement and protection is afforded the contractors will become disheartened and give up. They cannot possibly carry on their operations under the present system of protection, which exists only on paper.

Very respectfully, yours,