| Demopolis, Ala. |
| March 3, 1864
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| Lieut. Col. T. F. Sevier |
| Assistant Inspector-General |
| |
| Colonel, |
| I have the honor to make the following
report of the reconnaissance which I made in obedience to orders
from department headquarters dated February 23: |
| I proceeded down the Mobile & Ohio
Railroad as far as Enterprise, having struck the road at Meridian,
and I found that the enemy had torn up the road in spots from
Lauderdale Springs to the bridge over the Chickasawha, which is a
short distance below Quitman. The damage done to the road extends
over a distance of 48 miles, but not more than about 30 miles of the
road is actually damaged. The damage to the road consists in the
bridges being burned and the cross-ties burned, and the rails bent
for the distance which I have named. The damage done to the Southern
{(of Mississippi)} road was very much the
same as that done to the Mobile & Ohio. The tunnel was damaged
very little, the masonry at each end being simply knocked in. The
Mississippi & Alabama River road was destroyed in the same way
as the other roads for 9 miles. The telegraph wires on the
Mississippi & Alabama River {Alabama &
Mississippi Rivers RR} road were destroyed for 9 miles, the
wire in some places having been burned, a good many of the posts cut
down, and a good many of the glasses broken. Upon the Mobile &
Ohio road the damage to the wires was very much the same as upon the
Mississippi & Alabama River road. |
| When I left Cuba Station, 21 miles this
side of Meridian, last Wednesday morning, the wires were up from
Mobile to Meridian, or within a short distance of it. Nothing,
however, had been done toward repairing the lines from this place to
Meridian. At Meridian I found that the enemy had burned and
destroyed all of the Government houses except one house, in which a
family was living. They also burned a good deal of private property,
consisting of two hotels and all the stores in the place, as well as
the Clarion office. In Enterprise all of the Government houses were
burned, as well as a good deal of private property. The bridge
across the river was also burned. All the cotton along the road was
burned. |
| ***** |
| I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, |
| A. H. Polk |
| First Lieutenant and Actg. Asst. Insp. Gen. |
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