"right arm" watching and guarding his armies everywhere, night and day, and keeping constantly before his eyes a perfect but everchanging panorama of the vast battle-field of the Union. After the war closed he manifested keen interest in the welfare of his former detachment* and, whenever he met them, gave evidence of strong personal affection. His sentiments were reciprocated, and at the reunions of the United States Military Telegraph Corps, since his death, the members have indulged in loving remembrances of him; and at the Pittsburg reunion of 1896 preliminary steps were taken to raise funds for a monument to commemorate the worth and service of their "former Commanderin-Chief." OFFICE U. S. MILITARY TELEGRAPH, War Department, Washington, July 31, 1866. D. H. BATES, Assistant Manager, Department of the Potomac; ALBERT B. CHANDLER, Cipher and Disbursing Clerk, War Department; A. H. CALDWELL, Chief Operator, Army of the Potomac; FRANK STEWART, Cipher Clerk, War Department; I have been instructed by the Secretary of War to present to each of you one of the SILVER WATCHES, which were purchased and used to establish uniform time in the Army of the Potomac, marked “U. S. MILITARY TELEGRAPH," as an acknowledgment of the meritorious and valuable services you have rendered to the Government during the war, while under my direction, as an employee of the United States Military Telegraph. It gives me great pleasure to comply with these instructions, and I will take this occasion to thank you, for myself, for your faithful performance of the important trusts which have been confided to you in the various capacities in which you have served, and especially as "Cipher Operators." Yours very truly Thos. T. Eckert, Asst. Secretary of War, and Supt. U. S. Military Telegraph. CHAPTER XL. STILL THE AUTOCRAT-MILITARY RAILROADS. The Rebellion was the first great war in which military railways played a conspicuous part, and their feats under Stanton were so remarkable that several European governments called for special reports upon them. They were operated in twelve States and comprised two thousand one hundred and five miles of lines west to Little Rock, south to Holly Springs, Decatur, and Atlanta, and east to Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the seaboard of North Carolina. They gave employment at one time to twenty-four thousand nine hundred and sixty-four persons, who operated four hundred and nineteen locomotives, six thousand three hundred and thirty cars, and thousands of gondolas.* Their crews built twentysix miles of bridges, laid six hundred and forty-two miles of new track, expended forty-three million dollars in cash, and saved the Union arms from many a disaster. Stanton's fifteen years of professional experience with rail and water carriage made him a competent judge of the powers and possibilities of this great branch of human activity. On February 11, 1862, he appointed D. C. McCallum "military director and superintendent of railroads in the United States, with authority to enter upon, take possession of, hold, and use all railroads, engines, cars, locomotives, equipment, appendages, and appurtenances that may be required for the transport of troops, ammunition, and military supplies of the United States," accompanying the order with a letter saying: "I shall expect you to have on hand at all times the necessary men and materials to enable you to comply promptly with this order, and there must be no failure under any circumstances." He decided, before finally determining a policy of land carriage, to call a meeting of railroad presidents and managers in *All sold or returned to original owners by Stanton's order of August 8, 1865. Washington on February 20. At this gathering he made a patriotic address, appealing to the railroads to do their full share toward sustaining the country and putting down the Rebellion. He asked them to prepare a uniform schedule of rates for Government business and to be ready to respond to the sudden calls which emergencies might render necessary. His speech was significant, intimating that no exorbitant bills for transporting army supplies would be allowed, and that any attempt to hinder Government carriage or exact robber charges would result in the seizure of the offending railway; "but," he added, "the better way is for the railways themselves to operate in the public interest, and I expect, of course, they will do so." He also suggested a permanent organization of managers and the appointment of a standing committee with whom he could confer. The suggestion was adopted and Erastus Corning, Thomas L. Jewett, and Samuel M. Felton were appointed and a uniform rate of Government transportation, 10 per cent., under the schedule, was agreed to and maintained for three years. This arrangement materially improved conditions, but as none of the military commanders seemed equal to the task of repairing and managing the railroads which he was seizing, Stanton summo..ed Herman Haupt, a graduate of West Point and a railway builder and manager of the very highest ability, then constructing the Hoosac Tunnel. "What do you want, and how long will I be needed?" he inquired. Stanton replied: McClellan is on the Peninsula operating against Richmond. McDowell has been ordered to join him by forced marches, but he cannot do so before the Fredericksburg railroad has been put in condition to transport munitions and supplies. As soon as he can cooperate with McClellan, Richmond will fall and the war will end. You can return to your work on the Hoosac Tunnel in three or four weeks and if the war is not ended in three months, I shall resign. Haupt answered that he would undertake the task provided he could do so without rank or title; be required to wear no uniform; be allowed no salary or compensation beyond his expenses, and be relieved whenever the exigencies of the time had been provided for. The conditions were satisfactory, and in a few hours (on April 23, 1862) he was steaming down the Potomac to carry out instructions. With crews consisting of fresh details every morning of one hundred men each from three adjoining regiments, he rebuilt the Fredericksburg railroad in twenty days and with like crews astonished the world by erecting a bridge four hundred feet in length. and ninety feet in height over Potomac Creek and crossing it with a locomotive in nine days, taking every timber from its stump in the surrounding forests. On May 28, Stanton, Lincoln, and other officials inspected this achievement, and on returning Lincoln said to the Committee on the Conduct of the War: "That man Haupt has built a bridge four hundred feet long and one hundred feet high, across Potomac Creek, on which loaded trains are passing every hour, and upon my word, gentlemen, there is nothing in it but cornstalks and beanpoles." The Messaponax bridge, six miles from Fredericksburg, was burned Monday morning and at noon Haupt and his men had replaced it. The Confederates exclaimed in astonishment: "The Yankees can build bridges faster than we can burn them." Stanton, on May 28, in recognition of his valuable services, gave to Haupt the rank of colonel and appointed him chief of construction and transportation in the Department of the Rappahannock, and on the following day issued orders making him independent of all authority save that of the Secretary of War. Being thus established as dictator, Haupt promptly raised a corps of his own which was commanded by commissioned and non-commissioned officers and drilled and governed the same as the military forces. His corps constructed, tore down, managed, and operated railways as if he owned them. This annoyed army officers, every one of whom seemed determined to manage and run the railways in his Department to suit himself, which practise invariably resulted in confusion and disaster. At the time he assumed charge, one officer was giving one order and another officer was giving another order on different parts of the same line, so that frequently not a wheel was turning or an empty car available, greatly to Stanton's disgust and the Government's loss. During Pope's long and desperate fight in August, 1862, Stanton found great comfort in his railway autocrat, who acted as president, secretary of war, and military commander, forwarding supplies, issuing orders, carrying off the wounded, advising the War Department, telegraphing to Lincoln, and managing things generally with ability and success never surpassed. He sent operators forward, who, armed with pocket instruments, passed through the lines of conflict and made observations and reports from treetops. "For several days the only information received at Washington," says Haupt, "came through my office." Whenever he brought a person of unusual intelligence out of the heart of the conflict he rushed him by special locomotive to Washington for the purpose of enabling Stanton (who remained in the War Office every night) to secure an inside view of the situation, the doorkeeper having orders to admit Haupt's messengers "at once at any hour." When he returned to Washington the cabinet was in session. "Come in," shouted Stanton, embracing him; "you shall be a brigadier-general." Next day a commission as brigadier-general and director of all military railways in the United States was issued, clothing him with extraordinary powers. A special order declared that "no officer, whatsoever may be his rank," could interfere with Haupt or his men without being "dismissed from the service." Another order recited: "The railroads are entirely under your [Haupt's] control. Your orders are supreme." * * * These "arbitrary methods" were unavoidable, as military commanders proved incapable of railway management and private companies were not always able or willing to furnish promptly the facilities of which the army was frequently in sudden need. When the army had outgrown its transportation equipment, Stanton peremptorily ordered all manufacturers to turn over whatever locomotives and cars they had on hand complete or in process of construction, and thus secured, without negotiation or delay, one hundred and forty new locomotives and two thousand five hundred cars. Cornelius Vanderbilt, of the New York and Harlem Railroad, attempted unsuccessfully to prevent his new locomotives from being thus taken from the Baldwin works. Stanton informed the Baldwins to proceed as ordered and he would protect them from harm, and telegraphed to Mr. Vanderbilt on November 20, 1863: Your letter of the 19th received. The engines referred to were seized by the order of this Department from a paramount necessity for the supply of the armies of the Cumberland. They are absolutely essential to the safety of those armies and the order cannot be revoked. Whatever damages your company may sustain the Government is responsible for, but the military operations are superior to every other consideration. This is a case where the safety and support of an army depend upon the exercise of the authority of the Government and the prompt acquiescence of loyal citi |