President's Office North Eastern RR
| Charleston, Dec. 22nd, 1863 |
| |
| Major F. W. Sims |
| Richmond |
| |
| Dear Sir, |
| I wrote you on 12th Instant as per
copy enclosed and am still without your reply. With much regret I
????? {impressment?} of one of our trains at Wilmington and last evening
telegraphed you in reference to it, asking its immediate return and
protection in the future against any similar interference. The state
of the case was briefly this -- there were some 50 of our cars which
had been for weeks at Florence (the end of our line) loaded
for Wilmington with cotton which the Wilmington & Manchester
Road could not or would not remove. The state of our machinery at
the moment prevented our doing it for them, and these 50 cars so
detained at Florence -- there was no Government cotton,
because when they were loaded, they had none to it. Our yard
in the meanwhile became stacked up with cotton until we refused to
take more as we could not get rid of it. Among this there is no
Government cotton because, while we were receiving this cotton the
Government had none to send. At this state of the case, I
received your dispatch of the 10th Instant, it decided a? so to
modify our trains as to give us the opportunity of moving the cars
then at Florence, and with the aid of several engines, the repairs
of which were drawing to a close, we intended and happened to have
been enabled to transport your cotton, and that of others to
Wilmington, with fair {remaining page of
letter missing} |
| {File data on fold}
Huston Lee Major |
| Chief Quartermaster |
| Charleston, SC |
| 22nd December 1863 |
| Enclosing duplicate of |
| A. J. Ravenel, President |
| North Eastern RR Co. |
| to Major F. W. Sims Richmond |
| Virginia |
| ??? Dec 29/63 |
| Resp. Referred to Maj |
| F. W. Sims |
| By order of QrMasGen |
| N. F. Alexander |
| Major Asst to QrMasGem |
| Received Dec 28, 1863 |
| QrMasGen |
|