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Compiled by the National Archivists before the
microfilming of the Civil War records. |
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Entries in blue are my
additions and references
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Frederick William Sims was born in 1827 in Jones
County (northeast of Macon), Georgia. In
1856, he was an officer in the Union Society (a one hundred year old
benevolent organization); William W. Wadley was also an officer at
the same time. In 1857, he was one of a committee of 3 who audited
the Savannah Treasurer's records. He purchased the Savannah
Republican newspaper in 1858 (he had been a part owner for several
years, editing the business section). He remained the owner until it
was taken from him by General Sherman upon the capture of the city
in late 1864; James R. Sneed was his editor throughout the period of
ownership. Sims married Catherine M. Sullivan in 1850 in Bibb
County, Georgia. The 1860 Census shows him with an 8 year old daughter, Willa (born
in Bibb County -- which contains Macon, Georgia), living
with him, but his wife was not listed. He had real estate valued at
$2,400 and personal property valued at $20,500.
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In 1863, his office in Richmond
was in the Belvin's block, 3rd floor, near Main Street.
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After the war, he
returned to Savannah, becoming an Alderman for 1868-9 and manager of
the Southern Branch office of the Knickerbrocker Life Insurance
Company, of New York, in 1871. He had a wife, Sarah Louis
Monroe, of Macon, who was about 18 in 1858, so she must have been a
second wife. They had one child, daughter Emily Hepsie Sims.
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| Frederick W{illiam} Sims -- Captain &
Assistant Adjutant General; Major & Quartermaster; Lieutenant
Colonel & Quarter Master |
| July 27, 1861 |
Commanded the military/militia
units in Savannah who escorted the body of General Francis S. Bartow,
who had fallen at First Bull Run, from the train station to the
Exchange and, the next day, to the funeral. |
| September 3, 1861 |
Enlisted and recorded as Captain
of the Oglethorpe Light Infantry (Company B of the 1st Regiment of
Georgia Volunteers) in Savannah. Future Quartermaster General A. R.
Lawton was the commanding Colonel of the regiment. |
| September 1861 through April 11,
1862 |
Commanded his company of 65 men
in Savannah, then as part of the Fort Pulaski garrison. Captured
when the fort surrendered. |
| April 13, 1862 |
Placed on board U. S. Steam
Transport Ben Deford |
| June 2, 1862 |
Prisoner at Fort Columbus in New
York Harbor |
| September 1, 1862 |
Prisoner near Sandusky, Ohio |
| September 20, 1862 |
Part of 1,104 men returned to
the South on the Steamer John H. Done, near Vicksburg |
| November 10, 1862 |
Declared exchanged at Aikins
Landing |
| October, 1862 |
At Camp Lover's Lane, commanding
his old company, now Company H |
| November 1862 |
At Camp Olmstead with his
company |
| December, 1862 |
At Camp Neely with his company |
| December 6, 1862 |
1st Lieutenant {actually
Captain} of Georgia Volunteers, ordered to
proceed to Richmond and report to Col. W. M. Wadley, Assistant
Adjutant General. (Had been Captain, Company H, 1st Georgia
Infantry). Was sent on detached duty; was
retained on his company's roll through the rest of the war. |
| February 2, 1863 |
Took inventory of Confederate
Locomotive Shops in Raleigh as part of closing down those shops (See
Biography of Thomas R. Sharp
for various transactions over most of 1863)
|
| June 4, 1863 |
Captain & A. A. G., to assume duties of inspector
and Agent of Railroad Transportation lately held by Col. Wadley
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| June 6, 1863 |
Confirmed rates for
the Macon & Western RR
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| June 18, 1863 |
Requested men for
Virginia Central RR
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| July 9, 1863 |
Appointed Major & Quarter Master, to rank from
July 7, 1863, to report to the Quarter Master General |
| July 9, 1863 |
Appoints Major John D. Whitford
supervisor of transportation at Goldsboro, N. C.
|
| August 1, 1863 |
Buys locomotive
Black Diamond from the Richmond & Petersburg RR
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| August 10, 1863 |
Prints
"Instructions to Railroad Companies"
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| August 3, 1863 to January 13, 1864 |
At Richmond, signing as Major & Q. M.
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| August 19, 1863 |
Major Thomas Peters assigned to
assist him in East Tennessee, Georgia & Alabama
|
| August 31, 1863 |
Reports use of RR
Bureau Agent
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| October 19, 1863 |
Makes contract for
transportation on Mississippi & Tennessee RR
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| October 20, 1863 |
Confirms rates for
the Richmond & York River RR
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| October 23, 1863 |
Instructed that
removed iron will be charged as Government freight
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| October 31, 1863 |
Reports use of RR
Bureau Agent
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| November 30, 1863 |
Reports use of RR
Bureau Agent
|
| December 1, 1863 |
Pays for movement of
5 locomotives from Pollard to Montgomery
|
| December 10, 1863 |
Questions Manassas
Gap RR rolling stock bill
|
| January 8, 1864 |
Arranged for rolling stock for
the Richmond & Danville RR
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| Gave his views on
the appropriate powers for the Chief of Railroads
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| January 9, 1864 |
Was trying to get 150,000
bushels corn through South Carolina to Richmond each month
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| January 14, 1864 |
Was asked to
authorize payment at the Macon rates
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| January 18, 1864 |
Arranged for the East Tennessee
& Virginia RR to be run by the Government through the
Superintendent of the Virginia & Tennessee RR
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| January 24, 1864 |
Raised rental fee
for the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac RR locomotive on the
Petersburg Government track
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| January 26, 1864 |
Suggests that the QM General
does not understand the need for detailed men
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| January 27, 1864 |
Appointed Lieutenant Colonel, Quarter Master
Department, to rank from December 19, 1863, to report to the Quarter
Master General |
| January 28, 1864 |
Sold supplies to the
Charlotte & South Carolina RR
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| January 30, 1864 |
Paid for Richmond
& Petersburg RR maintenance of Government track and locomotive
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| February 4, 1864 |
Recommends seizing the iron and
rolling stock of the Wilmington, Charlotte & Rutherford RR
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| Purchased Manassas
Gap RR locomotive
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| February 5, 1864 |
Requested to help
provide locomotives and rolling stock to the South North
Alabama RR
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| February 15, 1864 |
Requisitioned
lanterns for Military Railroads
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| February 21, 1864 |
Advises on the need for
blacksmiths and mechanics from the army
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| February 22, 1864 |
Advises that only 1 exempted man
per mile of railroad will not be enough
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| February 23, 1864 |
Pleads for detailed men to open
car factory in Petersburg
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| February 24, 1864 |
Saw no solution to the
transportation problem
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| February 27, 1864 |
Recommends the Government own
200 cars
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| February 28?, 1864 |
Approved bill for
rental of Manassas Gap RR locomotive and cars
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| March 4, 1864 |
Requested approval
of a contract with the Norfolk & Petersburg RR
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| March 5, 1864 |
Requested Secretary of War give
him a letter for his trip to North Carolina and meeting with
Governor Vance
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| March 11, 1864 |
Provided 300 kegs of RR spikes
to Maj. Whitfield
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| March 14, 1864 |
Proposes a plan to
the President of the Wilmington & Weldon RR
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| March 15, 1864 |
Began effort to make 225
cars
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| March 19, 1864 |
Requested to
exchange detailed men
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| March 21, 1864 |
Got William Raoul
appointed Captain to Sims in the production of the 225 cars
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| March 22, 1864 |
Receives a call for
a railroad convention
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| March 26, 1864 |
Manassas Gap RR
reports on difficulty in getting locomotives repaired on other roads
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| March 29, 1864 |
Dodamead responds to Sims'
request for help with the cars (perhaps referring to the March 15,
1864 effort)
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| Rice asks help in
getting iron so that 70 to 100 cars can be built
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| April 30, 1864 |
Paid for RR Bureau
Agent in Columbia, S. C.
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| May 16, 1864 |
Maj. Whitfield ordered to report
to Sims as Military Superintendent controlling all rail and water
transportation west of the Alabama River
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| May ?, 1864 |
Thomas Dodamead, Supt. of the
Virginia & Tennessee RR, offers to be Sims' assistant if the
roads south of Richmond are consolidated.
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| June 2, 1864 |
Recommends retaining
the Richmond & York River RR contract
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| June 6, 1864 |
Received request to
extend Details
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| June 9, 1864 |
Tries to get Navy
assistance in repairing locomotives
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| June 27, 1864 |
Requested Secretary of War to
pass the wife of a friend through the lines
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| June 30, 1864 |
Paid for messenger
for the RR Bureau office in Richmond
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| July 16, 1864 |
Asked for copy of
orders assigning John D. Whitford to the Atlantic & North
Carolina RR
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| July 18, 1864 |
Cotton shipment rates set by
Sims
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| Coordinates
ambulance trains on the Richmond & Petersburg RR
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| July 31, 1864 |
Pays for rental of
Manassas Gap rolling stock
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| August 1, 1864 |
Paid for repairs to
2 Atlantic & Gulf RR locomotives
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| August 6, 1864 |
Paid for repairs to
a box car
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| August 8, 1864 |
Received 12 Box cars
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| August 10, 1864 |
Bought right of way
for a railroad in Montgomery, Ala.
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| August 11, 1864 |
Was called on to
help ship commissary supplies
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| August 12, 1864 |
Paid for repairs by
the Manassas Gap RR to a Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac RR
locomotive
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| August 22, 1864 |
Purchased 180 lbs
waste
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| August 29, 1864 |
Directs payment of
Manassas Gap RR at Columbia Rates (1/2 to train & 1/2 to track)
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| August 31, 1864 |
Paid for Agent in
Columbia, S. C.
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| September 6, 1864 |
Attempted to call a convention
of Virginia RRs
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| September 9 |
Paid for renewing RR
Bureau office
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| September 20, 1864 |
Attempted to make
locomotive tires
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| September 30, 1864 |
Received rent for
use of 2 locomotives
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| Sold 2 locomotives,
3 cars and other goods to the Richmond & Petersburg RR
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| October 11, 1864 |
Offered new cars to the North
Carolina RR
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| November 14, 1864 |
Received 4 Box car
bodies
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| October 1863 through
November 30, 1864 |
Paid for messenger
for RR Bureau office
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| December
8, 1864 |
Asked to keep
telegraph station open for Richmond & Petersburg RR
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| Asked for a detail
man
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| December 29, 1864 |
Asks for renewal of
detail of a conscript
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| Receives request for
another detailed man
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| December 30, 1864 |
Accepts
recommendation regarding transferring stores in Charlotte
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| Passes on order
regarding paying transportation accounts
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| January to December 31, 1864 |
At Richmond, signing as Lt. Col. & Q. M. |
| January 4, 1865 |
Left Richmond with powers to act
for the Government in all matters relating to the Piedmont RR
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| January 21, 1865 |
Ordered iron given to Shelby
Iron Works to make cars and reported purchase of a locomotive for
the Montgomery branch
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| January 30, 1865 |
Orders G. A. Cuyler
to execute a contract for Shelby Iron Works to build 200 cars
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| March 23, 1865 |
Mentioned as Lt. Col. & Chief of Rail Road Bureau |
| May 12, 1865 |
Paroled as Lt. Col. at Charlotte, N. C. (Surrendered
April 26, 1865) |
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