McCallum's view was that his organization "was a great construction and transportation machine, for carrying out the objects of the commanding generals." for the safe and speedy transport aforesaid," he wrote in his 1866 report. McCallum had authority to "enter upon, take possession of, hold and use all railroads, engines, cars, locomotives, and equipment that may be required for the transport of troops, arms, ammunition, and military supplies of the United States, and to do and perform all acts. McCallum as director and superintendent of U.S. On February 11, 1862, Secretary Stanton appointed Daniel C. Military Railroads during the Civil War is a colorful one, filled alternatively with conflict and cooperation between Union generals and officials of the railroad as they came to understand the uses, capability, and value of railroads. The success of coordinating the government-run railroads and the military was a major factor in the Union victory. Historians generally agree that the most important role of the wartime railroads was in the active supply of the Union armies in the field. The United States Military Railroads, an agency operated by the War Department, ran the railroads captured in the areas of combat, using them as supply lines for Union troops.īy the end of the war, the agency operated 2,105 miles of railroad, with a combined rolling stock of 419 engines and 6,330 cars, 642 miles of track, and 26 miles of bridges built or rebuilt, at a cost of nearly 30 million dollars.įinding the Right Man to Administer the Railroads The Civil War was one of the first wars in which large-scale railroad transportation was used to move and supply armies rapidly over long distances. One of the most significant railroad events of the Civil War was the act of Congress of January 31, 1862, authorizing the President to take possession of the railroads when the welfare and safety of the country required it. The Union clearly understood that controlling railroad logistics could provide the key to winning the war. With reports, correspondence, and detailed histories, these records tell the story of the daily operations of the railroads and how they played a role in transporting troops and supplies during the war. The documentation of how Haupt kept the trains running during the Civil War is part of the records of the Office of the Quartermaster General at the National Archives. In a visit on May 28, Lincoln observed, "That man Haupt has built a bridge four hundred feet long and eighty feet high, across Potomac Creek, on which loaded trains are passing every hour, and upon my word, gentlemen, there is nothing in it but cornstalks and beanpoles." Haupt and the Construction Corps mastered the art of bridge reconstruction during the war. The Civil War through selected records in the National Archives.The National Archives' exhibit, "Discovering the Civil War".
How Lincoln fought a future adversary to get a railroad bridge built across the Mississippi River.
One of his most famous feats was the speedy reconstruction of a railroad bridge a few miles north of Fredericksburg, Virginia, a job that greatly impressed the commander-in-chief, Abraham Lincoln, even though the bridge looked flimsy. He could also get railroads and bridges repaired in short order. Haupt was called to service in early 1862 and put in charge of the operations of military railroads in the Virginia theater of operations. Halleck, that they were not to interfere with him. When Lincoln's generals tried to prevent or delay him from doing his work, he reminded them he had orders, from Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and Army Chief of Staff Gen. His uncompromising approach to his job enabled him to get work done quickly and efficiently. He was an industrious man, a skilled organizer, and an experienced railroad engineer- an important figure for the Union in his job of overseeing the operation and maintenance of the North's military railroads during the Civil War.Īs the man in charge of the operation of the railroads in the field, he seemed to work magic in getting troops and supplies to the battlefields and rapidly reconstructing bridges and tracks.īut he was hard to get along with. As General McCallum's assistant, Herman Haupt preferred being out in the field, and he worked magic in reconstructing bridges and keeping the trains running on time.
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