Confederate Railroad Policy In America
Throughout history there have been wars and conflict. This still reigns true to present day. However, warfare has gone through many changes and still continues to evolve. The change in warfare and combative strategy is a direct result of advancement in technology. One of the major examples of this is shown with the invention of the firearm. As firearms took the place of armor and swords, this revolutionary new weapon also caused the way in which wars were fought to change. The same can be said in regard to other technological advances as well. One prime example of this can be seen with the invention of the railroad. The development of the railroad in America can be attributed to George Stephenson and John Stevens. George Stephenson was a British inventor that took quite a bit of interest in the steam engine. This interest in the steam engine ignited his creativity and thirst for knowledge. Armed with these traits and his successful promotion of his idea, he received a commission to build a steam locomotive. Then on September 27th, 1825, the first use of a steam locomotive to transport people occurred when four hundred and fifty passengers were transported from Darlington to Stockton.9 John Stevens however, contributed to the building of railroads in America.
In 1815 he received a charter from the New Jersey legislature for a railroad after writing the legislature about his ideas. In 1826 he was able to successfully conduct a demonstration showing the possibility of railway transportation at his home in New Jersey. During this demonstration he had about a half mile track laid out in a circular shape and was able to demonstrate the possibilities of railway transportation. Through the efforts by these inventors as well as others, the railroad was able to be developed. Once the railroad took off in the United States, it would play a pivotal role in expansion, industrialization, transportation of goods, and transportation of people but it would also prove to play a vital role in the American Civil War.
The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 between northern and southern states in America. This conflict was started when southern states banded together to secede from the northern states. These southern states that wanted to break away from the union then started what was known as the Confederate States of America, whereas, the northern states made up the Union. Inevitably, war broke out between the two. The Union fought to abolish slavery and the preserve the unity of the states. The Confederacy on the other hand, fought to inherently continue the practice of slavery. The practice of slavery for southern states was a very important mode of labor to aid in the flourishment of their economy because they were an agrarian society and mostly relied on cash crops. Once battles erupted, they were mostly still fought in the traditional European style. This was basically where both sides would line up across from each other on a battlefield and fire weapons at each other. However, technology in the form of the railroad would play a vital role in the war.
The railroad allowed transportation of troops, provisions, and equipment that was nearly impossible with horse drawn wagons. Due to the role in which the railroad was able to assist transporting these items, it would go on to play a critical role in the outcome of the war. The Union realized this fact early on, and the Confederacy learned of their blunders involving the railroad too late in the war. In fact, if the Confederacy made different decisions involving the railroad early on and prior to the start of the war, then the map of the United States could very well have been much different from what it is today.
The fact that logistics plays a crucial role in any war is extremely evident. When a war is fought, battles are waged amongst men fighting on either side. In order for these battles to occur, troops must be transported to the fight along with provisions that they will need to sustain them. In turn, this meant that armies prior to the invention of the railroad would remain near towns and closer to developed areas where resources were readily available to support such large forces which placed limits on battlefields. Troops would have to march to engage the enemy while carrying whatever they could and a caravan of wagons would have to follow to carry supplies they would need. Of course, this method proved to be difficult and took longer to reach a destination. They also had to move often because they would deplete the resources in an area. The railroad however changed this and allowed battles to take place in more remote areas during the Civil War. Railroads enabled troops to not only traverse larger amounts of terrain in less time but also enabled supplies to be transported to where troops were located or at least near their location.
A good example of this can be found in a letter that Union General William Tecumseh Sherman had wrote in regards to the railroad. In this letter he General Sherman wrote:“Four such groups of trains daily made one hundred and sixty cars, of ten tons each, carrying sixteen hundred tons, which exceeded the absolute necessity of the army, and allowed for the accidents that were common and inevitable. But, as I have recorded, that single stem of railroad, found hundred and seventy-three miles long, supplies an army of one hundred thousand men and thirty-five thousand animals for the period of one hundred and ninety-six days, viz., from May 1 to November 12, 1864. To have delivered regularly that amount of food and forage by ordinary wagons would have required thirty-six thousand eight hundred wagons of six mules each, allowing each wagon to have hauled two tons twenty miles each day, a simple impossibility in roads such as then existed in that region of country. Therefore, I reiterate that the Atlanta campaign was an impossibility without theses railroads; and only then, because we had the men and means to maintain and defend them, in addition to what were necessary to overcome the enemy.”
Within this letter, General Sherman expresses just how much more the railroad could transport. He also goes on to add that the Atlanta campaign would have been utterly impossible without the railroad based on the shear amount the railroad could transport as well as the distance to which it could travel in comparison to using wagons alone. This is further evidence that the railroad would allow transportation of troops and equipment which also could affect battle outcomes and strategies. In General Sherman’s letter he emphasized that the Atlanta campaign would have been impossible without the use of the railroad. In short, this showed that the railroad had a major impact on the outcomes of battles as well as the strategy of the war. This however, was not the only case that the railroad had impacted battles.
During the First Battle of Bull Run, the railroad played a critical role in the outcome. Prior to the battle President Abraham Lincoln ordered General McDowell to launch an offensive campaign to attempt to end hostilities quickly. General McDowell then led around thirty five thousand men toward Richmond. They were met by around twenty thousand Confederate troops at Bull Run led by Confederate General Pierre G. T. Beauregard. The troops from both sides then clashed and the battle ensued. Confederate troops were outnumbered by the Union force but the Confederates would soon have the upper hand. A confederate General by the name of General Joseph T. Johnston was stationed in the Shenandoah Valley along with his troops of around ten thousand. They would soon come to the aid of the outnumbered Confederates.
As the battle waged on, General Beauregard asked for help to reinforce his troops. Due to the battle taking place near a railroad junction, aid would come in the form of General Joseph T. Johnston and his men. They loaded up on rail cars and headed for the battle.Once there, they reinforced General Beauregard’s men and swayed the outcome of the battle to a decisive Confederate win. This of course all happened because of the railroad. Without the railroad General Johnston would not have been able to get his men to fight quick enough to affect the outcome. Not to mention, he would have never been able to move as many men in an orderly fashion without the railroad. If the Confederate Army were unable to reinforce the troops at Bull Run then the Union would have more than likely defeated the Confederate Army there. The outcome and events of this battle show further evidence of the crucial role the railroad would play in the war. Although both sides saw the significant impact the railroad played in this battle, there were many shortcomings when it came to railroad use on the Confederate side.
Although both sides seemingly saw the importance the railroad would play with the outcome of the war, decisions and policies proved to play a vital role in its adoption. Both sides took seemingly different approaches when it came to the railroad. These differing approaches would prove to aid the Union and batter the Confederates. The Union was much more industrialized in comparison to the Confederates. Due to the advanced industrialization of the Union, they could produce more iron to not only build railroads but also to maintain them. The Confederates on the other hand, would have to rely more on outsourced iron to fulfill these needs. For instance, the foundries in one state within the Union could produce an estimated two hundred seventy thousand tons of iron. Southern foundries on the other hand could only produce about sixteen thousand tons of iron.
In order to just maintain the railroads the Confederate states would need to have at least fifty thousand tons of iron. The lack of iron that Confederate states were able to produce would cause the railroad to dwindle due to maintenance issues. Economic decisions made by both sides were a direct result of this iron production difference. The Confederacy was mostly agrarian and relied on cash crops in comparison to the heavy industrial economy of the Union. Confederate states mostly relied on the railroad just to transport cash crops, especially to ports to ship overseas. On the other hand, Union states would use railroads to transport goods but also as a means of travel for people. Presidential policy on railroads also greatly affected the railroad. President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act on July 1st, 1862. Within this act, the government gave support for the building and development of the railroad. This decision led to railroad expansion and also aided in establishing more uniformity in railroad building.
Jefferson Davis, who was the acting President of the Confederate States, took a completely different approach. Davis did not want to interfere with private business and maintained this stance. Due to his stance, he did not want to get involved in the railroad because it was ran, developed, and built by private business owners. The competition between business owners caused vast differences amongst railroads in southern states. For example, a standard for track width was never met or agreed upon. Without a track width standard, many of the railways between two competing companies would vary and it caused problems. This would mean that the railcars on one line of track were unable to traverse the railway of the competing business. So, as goods or passengers traveled they would have to switch to a different train when they arrived at varying junctions. The switching from one train to another caused great inefficiency when it came to the railroad. It also isolated southern states due to differences in track gauge between states.
One of the other effects of their differing stances on policy also had huge impact on the amount of land the railroad covered. President Lincoln signing the Pacific Railroad Act encouraged the developing and building of the rail system. The Union would go on to build around twenty two thousand miles of railway. In comparison, the Confederate states would only go on to build around nine thousand five hundred miles of track. Union railroads were then able to cover more ground which would allow troops to be transported by rail over larger amounts of land. Not to mention, they would not have to keep switching trains along the way because their railways were more regulated in regards to track width. This shows evidence in the shortcomings of the railroad in Confederate States as a direct result of government policy.
Another shortcoming of Confederate railroad use due to the lack of government policy was also seen when it came to railroad cooperation with the military. The Union had no problems with being able to utilize the railroad for military transport. The Confederacy on the other hand, had to actually threaten taking over railroads in order to get cooperation from railroad companies. Railroad owners of course were in business to make money and had no government backing in the south. In comparison, northern railroads received support from the government and were more willing to reciprocate the gesture by allowing transportation of troops and supplies by way of the railroad.
In conclusion, the aforementioned evidence shows that railroads had a major impact on the outcome of the Civil War. Without the railroad, the battle maps would have looked very different. The railroad also had proved to be a major factor in deciding the outcome of battles. Leading up to the war as well as during the war, the Union enacted policy that was detrimental in the development of the railroad. This caused the railway to serve as an advantage for the Union. Confederate policy though, assisted with their demise. Although both sides saw the role the railroad could play in battle outcomes, the Union had the upper hand. Their industrialization coupled with governmental policies on the railroad led to a better infrastructure when compared to the southern states. If the Confederates knew the role the railroad would play in the outcome of the Civil War then perhaps different decisions would have been made. Jefferson Davis took a completely different stance on policy and wanted to keep the government out of private business matters. If Jefferson Davis took a similar approach to President Lincoln, then perhaps the railroad in southern states would have been better developed.
The Confederate win at the First Battle of Bull Run showed the southern states just how the railroad could affect the course of battle. Although, the Confederates were outnumbered they were able to reinforce troops and overpower Union troops. With this decisive win, the railroad proved to play an important role in war strategy. If the Confederates had lined out a better railroad infrastructure, could they have leveled the playing field? It very well could have. The use of the railroad had such great effect on the course of battle that their decisions in regards to the railroad helped with their fall. If they had a capable railroad system then they could have transported troops, supported their troops, and pushed farther north. In short, they could have changed the scope of battles if they made different decisions that would have had positive effect on the railroad infrastructure. However, the Union capitalized on the use of the railroad and were able to defeat the Confederates.
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