Unknown, December 14, 1861
GENERAL “RCRUM HDQRS. ARMY OF NEW MEXICO,
December 14, 1861.
No. 10. Fort Bliss, Tex., December 14, 1861. I. Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley assumes from this date the command of all the forces of the Confederate States on the Rio Grande at and above Fort Quitman and all in the Territory of New Mexico and Arizona. – II. The forces under the orders of Brigadier-General Sibley will hereafter be known and designated as the “Army of New Mexico.”
ILII. Headquarters of this army are temporarily fixed at Fort Bliss, À $5
whither communications will be forwarded until further orders. By order of Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley : A. M. JACKSON, Acting Adjutant- General, Army of New Mexico.
OFFICE TEXAS AND NEW ORLEANS R. R. Co., Houston, Tex., December 16, 1861. General P. O. HÉBERT, Commanding Department of Texas, Galveston, Tex. :
DEAR SIR: I have the honor to report that, on receipt of your telegram and order on Maj. J. B. Likens, commanding at Sabine Pass, received on the 8th instant, p. m., I at once proceeded to Beaumont with a sufficient force of engineers, machinists, laborers, &c., to accomplish the object. The agents of the company there were loth to give any assistance, as they deemed the town (Sabine Pass) -and the railroad perfectly safe from any foray of the enemy. Major Likens promptly co-operated with me in removing the rolling stock up to a point of temporary safety and within reach of protection. The company have so neglected and abused their engines that they are comparatively useless until inthe hands of skillful mechanics for aday or two. The rolling stock
in working order, or which I putin rolling order, consistsof seven platform —
cars and three house cars. I also found eighty-four wheels and axles, and all the furnishings to put them up, sufficient for twenty-one cars, which would give capacity in order for the transportation of from 1,000 to 1,506 men. I removed these wheels and axles 21 miles north of Beaumont. I also towed one engine out of order to a distance of 6 or 7 miles north of Beaumont and the other engine I removed north of Taylors Bayou (a draw-bridge), at which point it broke down or failed to operate. On each engine I left a detail of two men, with a sergeant iu charge, as a guard, furnished by Major Likens, and to report to him. On my return here yesterday I dispatched my master machinist, with some men, to put one engine in order and fix up a train, so that either ^ the Hastern Texas Railroad Company or the military authorities could have some transportation facilities in case of emergency. I am sorry to report that the employés of the road, although they volunteered to assist in the accomplishment of the end desired, evinced a disposition to try and so injure the only engine they had in order to move as to defeat the securing of the rolling stock, and, by carelessness or malignity, partly succeeded ; but by this time it is all rectified by my men. Should – a more detailed report be desired, I will furnish it cheerfully. —
I beg to make two suggestions in the matter. First, that a train be _
put in order on the road, either to be at the order of the commanding officer at Sabine Pass or the railroad company, subject to his protection – and control. Second, that a sufficient amount of rails be shipped from Galveston to Liberty (which the company have in Galveston), to enable them to lay their track up to the junction with the Texas and New Orleans Railroad at Beaumont, which will give you rail connection. from Galveston and this place to Sabine Pass. It will only require about two hundred tons of rails, and the connection ean be made in five or six days after the arrival of iron at Liberty. E I remain, yours, with much respect, A. M. GENTRY, President, &e.
o FOR nne eun Se a EN X ey z S
Col. H. E* McCulloch, First Texas Mounted Rifles, is authorized to receive, for special service on the Rio Grande, troops for twelve months, armed and equipped with such arms as can be procured.
By order of Brig. Gen. P. O. Hébert :
SAML. BOYER DAVIS, Major, and Assistant Adjutant- General.