The first two holders of the position that would become
known as Chief of the Railroad Bureau, Major Ashe and Colonel Wadley,
spent a large part of their service time traveling on the railroads,
attending to emergent problems. The third Chief, Captain/Major/
Lieutenant-Colonel Sims, spent most of his time in Richmond, attending
to business by letter and telegram, though he made numerous trips to Montgomery, Savannah and
points north. |
Below are the identified trips that each of the three made
during their tenure as Chief of the Bureau. Many additional references
will be found on the biography of each man (William
S. Ashe, William
M. Wadley, Frederick W.
Sims). Exact dates, especially return dates, are frequently not
known and the dates below should not be firmly relied on without
checking the biography of the appropriate man. One must also remember
that letters and telegrams were sent to where the sender thought the
recipient was located -- and they were frequently wrong when the
recipient was traveling. The date gaps indicate a lack of documentation
for the missing dates, and do not imply that the officer was in either
the city of the last date of travel or the first day in the next city.
Travel reimbursement vouchers do not exist for most trips, especially in
late 1864 and early 1865. |
|
Major
William S.
Ashe |
Dates |
Location |
Purpose of the
Trip |
Reference |
1861 |
July 18 |
Wilmington |
Began his duties from this place |
|
July 25 |
Manassas Junction |
Ordered to determine how long it would take to improve travel at
the Junction |
NA, QM 7-25-61 |
August 18 |
Richmond |
Communicated from
Richmond |
GA, W&A
8-18-61 |
August 24 |
Wilmington |
|
NA, QMR 8-26-61 |
August 30 |
Richmond |
|
NA, QMR 8-30-61 |
September 24? |
Atlanta, Mobile?, Memphis |
To obtain locomotives and cars for the East Tennessee & Va. RR |
NA, QM 9-25A-61 |
October 4 |
Chattanooga |
Attended RR
Convention he had called |
NA, RRB 10-4-61 |
October 16 |
Richmond |
|
NA, QMR
10-16-61 |
November 13 |
Weldon |
|
NA, SWR
11-13-61 |
November 27 |
Richmond |
|
NA, G 12-17-61 |
December 23 |
Wilmington |
|
NA, QM 12-23-61 |
|
1862 |
January 8 |
Richmond |
|
NA, QMR 1-8-62 |
February 11 |
may have gone to Wilmington for a
short time, then returned to Richmond |
|
NA, SWR 2-11-62 |
February 28 |
Richmond |
|
NA, RRB
2-28G-62 |
March 3 |
Wilmington |
|
NA, QMR 3-3-62 |
April 1 |
Goldsboro |
Attended RR Convention at Goldsboro, N. C. regarding moving
troops in eastern N. C. |
NCA, RR 4-1-62 |
April 4 |
Wilmington |
|
NA, QM 4-4-62 |
April 15 |
Richmond |
|
NA, RRB 4-15-62 |
April 19 |
Wilmington |
|
NA, W&W 4-19-62 |
June 8 |
"lately" visited Richmond |
|
NA, RRB 6-8-62 |
June 12 |
Wilmington |
|
NA, RRB 6-12A-62 |
June 26 |
Wilmington |
Capt. Morfit assigned to do his duties |
NA, QM 6-26-62 |
|
|
Colonel William M. Wadley |
Dates |
Location |
Purpose of the
Trip |
Reference |
1862 |
December 1 |
Richmond |
Accepted his new
position |
NA, SWR
11-13A-62 |
December 15 |
Augusta |
Attended RR
convention he had called |
NA, RRB
12-15-62 |
|
1863 |
Dates |
Location |
Purpose of the
Trip |
Reference |
January 2 |
Raleigh |
|
NA, RRB 1-2A-63 |
January 5 |
Richmond |
|
NA, QMR 1-5A-63 |
January 9-10 |
Raleigh |
Visiting Locomotive Shops |
Sharp's Diary |
January 12 |
Raleigh |
|
Sharp's Diary |
January 15 |
Charleston |
|
NA, C&S
5-19-63 |
January 17 |
Raleigh |
|
NA, QMR
1-17A-63 |
February 21 |
left Raleigh |
|
Sharp's Diary |
February 22 |
Charlotte |
|
NA,
RRB 2-22-63 |
February 25 |
reported en route from Raleigh to
Augusta and Mississippi |
Responding to Gen. Pemberton's request for his help |
NA, SWT
2-27A-63 |
March 2 |
Augusta |
|
NA, QM 3-2-63 |
March 9 |
Montgomery |
|
NA, QMR 3-9A-63 |
March 13 |
Jackson |
|
NA, SWR 3-13-63 |
March 18 |
Vicksburg |
|
NA, DMEL
3-18-63 |
March 22 |
Jackson |
|
NA, SWR 3-22-63 |
April 4 |
returned to Augusta |
|
UG, RRB 4-8-63 |
April 6 - June 2 |
Richmond |
Running a RR Convention April 22 - 23 |
NA, SWR 4-6-63 |
|
|
Captain/Major/Lieutenant Colonel Frederick W. Sims |
Dates |
Location |
Purpose of the
Trip |
Reference |
1862 |
December 6 |
Camp near Savannah |
Ordered to Richmond to Wadley |
|
December 10 |
Macon |
Married 2nd wife |
|
|
1863 |
February 3 |
Raleigh |
Began inventorying Locomotive Shop |
Sharp's Diary |
February 8 |
Raleigh |
Began receiving Locomotive Shop's material |
NA, RRB 2-8-63 |
February 20 |
Richmond |
|
NA, RRB 2-20-63 |
February 24 - 28 |
Raleigh |
|
NA, RRB 2-24-63 |
March 21 - April 7 |
Raleigh |
|
NA, RRB 3-21-63 |
April 8 |
Augusta |
|
UG, RRB 4-8-63 |
April 30 - May 13 |
Raleigh |
|
NA, LS 4-30-63 |
May 23 |
Richmond |
|
NA, RRB 5-23-63 |
May 26 - 29 |
Raleigh |
|
NA, RRB 5-26-63 |
June 1- July 15 |
Richmond |
|
NA, QMR 6-1A-63 |
July 16 |
Lynchburg |
Checking availability of RRs to move troops to Georgia |
NA, QMR 7-16-63 |
July 19 |
Knoxville |
" |
NA, ENGR
7-19-63 |
July 21 |
Montgomery |
|
LVA, RRB
7-21-63 |
July 31 |
Augusta |
May have escorted his new wife to Richmond |
NA, RRB
7-31D-63 |
August 1 - 14 |
Richmond |
|
NA, QMR 8-1C-63 |
August 16 |
Atlanta |
|
LVA, RRB
8-11-63 |
August 17 |
Petersburg |
|
NA, QMR
8-17B-63 |
August 22 |
Macon |
|
NA, RRB 8-22-63 |
August 26 - September 17 |
Richmond |
Planning and supervising Longstreet's move to Chickamauga |
LVA, RRB
8-26-63 |
September 18 |
Richmond |
Sets up Montgomery meeting to distribute rolling stock |
H, RRB 9-18-63 |
September 19 |
Wilmington |
Enroute to Montgomery to distribute rolling stock |
H, RRB 9-17A-63 |
September 24 |
Montgomery |
" |
H, RRB 9-17A-63 |
October 9 - November 2 |
Richmond |
|
H, RRB 10-9-63 |
November 7 |
Montgomery |
|
NA, QMR 11-7-63 |
November 10 - 22 |
Richmond |
|
VHS, RF&P
11-10-63 |
November 21 - 22 |
Richmond |
|
NA, QMR
11-21-63 |
November 25 - December 2 |
Macon |
Attending RR convention |
NA, RRB
11-25A-63 |
December 2 |
Savannah |
|
NA, QM 12-2-63 |
December 4-7? |
Wilmington |
|
Estimated from need to resolve the cotton detention in
Charleston NA,
QM 12-2-63 and Asst. QMG stating Sims was not in Richmond
yet NA, QM
12-5-63 |
December 8 - 16 |
Richmond |
|
NA, QM 12-8-63 |
December 17 |
Raleigh |
Meeting regarding building Chatham RR, etc. |
Diary of Thomas R.
Sharp 1863 |
December 18 |
Wilmington ? |
|
NA, QMR
12-18F-63 |
December 21 |
Savannah ? |
|
RRBAT 12-21
1863 |
December 22 |
Charleston |
|
RRBAT
12-22-1863 |
December 23 |
Savannah |
|
NA, QM
12-23C-63 |
December 28 |
Savannah ? |
|
NA, QM 12-28-63 |
December 29 - 31 |
Richmond |
|
RRBAT
12-29-1863 |
1864 |
January 1 - 27 |
Richmond |
|
RRBAT
1-1C-1864 |
January 28 |
Raleigh |
|
NA, C&SC
1-28-64 |
January 29 - 30 |
Richmond/Petersburg |
|
NA, RRB
1-29A-64 |
January 30 |
Raleigh |
|
NA, SS 1-30-64 |
January 30 - February 1 |
Richmond |
|
NA, RRB 1-8-64 |
February 2 |
Company Shops/Richmond |
|
NA, QMR 2-2C-64 |
February 3 - 11 |
Richmond |
|
NA, RRB 2-4B-64 |
February 12 |
day trip to Petersburg |
met Pres. R&G RR & Maj J. D. Whitford |
|
February 13 - March 5 |
Richmond |
began processing many requests for details |
|
March 5 - 6 |
Probably took trip to Raleigh to
see Governor Vance |
|
NA,
RRB 3-5-64 |
March 7 - April 9 |
Richmond |
started project to build 225 cars |
|
April 10 - 23 |
Augusta (& Charleston?) |
|
NA, RRB 6-16-64 |
April 23 - June 13 |
Richmond |
|
|
June 13 - 16 |
Danville |
|
NA, RRB 6-16-64 |
June 16 - August 12 |
Richmond |
July 1, first child with 2nd wife born in Richmond |
|
August 13 - September 13 |
? |
|
|
September 13? - 15? |
Danville |
|
NA, QMR
9-14B-64 |
September 16 - October 14 |
Richmond |
|
|
October 14 - ? |
on trip to Macon |
|
NA, QM 10-14-64 |
October 23 |
left Columbus for Montgomery |
|
NA, CS 10-22-64 |
October 27 - 29 |
Montgomery |
RR was not forwarding supplies to army properly |
NA, QM
10-27C-64 |
November 12 - January 4, 1865 |
Richmond |
|
NA, QMR
11-12B-64 |
1865 |
January 4 - 9? |
trip to Danville, Greensboro,
with possible trip to Charlotte to view fire effects |
Charlotte fire; storm on R&D and P RR tracks |
NA, QM 1-3B-65 |
January 9? - 11? |
Richmond |
|
NA, QMR
12-9A-64 |
January 11 - ? |
Company Shops |
|
NA, QM 1-12-65 |
January 20 - ? |
Richmond |
|
NA, RRB 1-10-65 |
February 26 - ? |
Charlotte |
|
D, NC 2-26-65 |
March 7 - April 2 |
Richmond |
|
NA, RRB 3-7-65 |
April 3 - April 26 |
Charlotte |
|
|
|