(Received September 14, 1861)
| |
| Hon. L. P. Walker |
| Secretary of War |
| |
| Sir, |
| In accordance with the suggestion made by
you in the interview which General Morton, Judge McGehee, and myself
had with you on Saturday, I submit in writing the substance of the
proposition laid before you. The Pensacola and Georgia Railroad
Company, commencing at Quincy, within twenty miles of the
Chattahoochee River, runs to Lake City, where it connects with
another road running to Jacksonville, on the Saint John's. The
Florida Railroad crosses the latter twenty miles from Jacksonville.
It begins at Fernandina and runs to Cedar Keys. There is a branch
road from the Pensacola and Georgia Railroad which leaves the latter
at Tallahassee and runs to Saint Mark's. Thus the Pensacola and
Georgia Railroad is a link in lines of communication by means of
which troops an material
of war may be transported to and from two points on the Atlantic to
two points on the Gulf, and to a place within twenty miles of the
Chattahoochee, navigable by large steamers from Columbus, Ga., to
Apalachicola. There is now under contract a railroad branching from
the Pensacola and Georgia Railroad and running to the Georgia line,
where it unites with a road branching from Savannah, Albany and Gulf
Railroad. When this extension of the Pensacola and Georgia Railroad
is completed it will unite the whole system of Florida railroads
with those of the other States of the Confederacy, thus enabling the
Government to transport men and material of, war from Richmond to
any point of Florida without breaking bulk. Without this connecting
link to unite the Florida roads with that of Georgia, cannon and
other heavy material will have to be unloaded from the Georgia cars
and transported by wagons over roads almost impassable in winter.
The Pensacola and Georgia Railroad has under contract and ready for
track-laying the road from their main line to the boundary of
Georgia, but the company has not yet purchased the iron for the
road, and in the present state of trade it cannot obtain the means
to make the purchase. The iron is for sale in Savannah for cash, and
if the means to buy it could be obtained the road could be completed
in about two months. The company proposes that the Government shall
contract with them for the transportation of men and munitions of
war, provisions, etc., at a fixed rate, and that an advance be made
of the sum of $70,000 for the purchase of the iron and $15,000 for
spikes and chairs upon such contract, with the agreement that if at
the end of the war the amount of transportation paid by the company
under the contract shall not equal the sum advanced the company
repay the balance due the Government in settlement and give ample
security for the performance of the contract, and that the amount
advanced shall be applied to complete the unfinished road needed to
perfect the connection with the Georgia road. Our road, when this
connection of twenty-two miles to the Georgia line is completed,
will embrace in its entire length, including branches, 176 miles of
road in complete order, laid with heavy iron, well supplied with
rolling-stock, and having the capacity for the transportation of
freight and passengers equal to any road of its length in the
Confederacy, the road and equipments being new. The distance from
Savannah to No. 12 Station, on the Savannah, Albany and Gulf
Railroad, is 130½ miles; from Station 12 to Pensacola and Georgia
Railroad, 47 miles; from Pensacola and Georgia Railroad, at point of
connection, to Quincy, 20 miles; from Chattahoochee River, 106
miles; from Pensacola and Georgia Railroad to Saint Mark's, 104
miles; from Pensacola and Georgia Railroad to Jacksonville, 78
miles; from Pensacola and Georgia Railroad to Fernandina, 105 miles;
from Pensacola and Georgia Railroad to Cedar Keys, 161 miles. A map
is submitted with this communication upon which the roads are laid
down for reference.
|
| All of which is respectfully submitted |
| Pensacola & Georgia R. R. Co. |
| By E. Houstoun, President |
|