The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac, 1861-1865

THS RICHMOND, FREDERICKSBURG AND POTOMAC, 1861-1865 Charles W. Turner The War between the States was the first of four wars in which the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad played an outstanding role. Chartered in 1835, the road ran from Richmond to the Potomac River via Fredericksburg. It not only provided transportation between Washington and Richmond but also connected with major lines running south and west of Virginia's capital. Moreover, the railroad was a vital north-south approach to the capitals of the opposing governments, and afforded almost ideal means for carrying troops and supplies to and from the strategic area through which it passed. From the outset of the war both sides realized the value of the R. F. & P. In 1861 eleven locomotives of the line pulled 134 cars of various types over a seventy-five-mile track. The railroad had a capital of more than $2,000,000. Virginia controlled 2,752 shares of the company's stock; the city of Richmond owned 2,300 shares. The remaining stock was in the hands of London financiers and out-of-state residents. A president and four directors, elected annually by the stockholders, were the chief officers of the line. Prior to 1861, the R. F. & P. semiannually paid a 3 per cent dividend to its stockholders.1 The road had able leadership from its inception. The Robinson family (ofAshland) furnished presidents, engineers, and superintendents prior to the War between the States. Peter V. Daniel, Jr., was president when the war started. His re-election throughout the war years reflected his ability. His spirit was best shown in 1861, when he declared: "Whatever sacrifices of profit or convenience we may be called upon to incur either as a company or as citizens it is not doubted that they will be cheerfully borne at the price of the independence and welfare of counCharles W. Turneris professor of history at Washington and Lee University. He is the author of Chessie's Road, a history of the Chesapeake b- Ohio Railroad . !Charles W. Turner, "Virginia Railroads, 1727-1861" (Unpublished dissertation , University of Minnesota, 1946 ), p. 185. 255 256charles w. turner try and future peace and prosperity."2 He labored tirelessly to keep the line open for business, and in the process suffered drastic reduction in personal income. The next most important positions were those of superintendents of transportation and upkeep, held in the war years by Samuel Ruth and William Bragg, respectively. To them came countless complaints over lack of service and high rates. When the war ended, Major E. L. D. Myers served as civil engineer in rebuilding bridges and track beds. Myers was no novice, for in the 1850's he had worked with Claudius Crozet in the construction of the Virginia Central's Blue Ridge tunnel —the largest tunnel in the United States at the time. So well did Myers serve the R. F. & P. that the company subsequently named him general superintendent and president. Other personnel included the faithful treasurer, C. W. MacMurdo, and 190 individuals who served as conductors, train engineers and firemen , baggage men, mechanics, inspectors, carpenters, unskilled laborers, and depot agents at Fredericksburg, Guiney's, Milford, Pole Cat, Chesterfield, Junction, Ashland, and Richmond. The question of securing skilled and unskilled labor was an important problem for Southern railroads in 1861-65. Besides the demand for higher wages, raids took off the Negroes while conscription drained off the white labor supply. Railroad employees were not excused from military service, and the usual procedure was to replace all types of help with disabled veterans. This continued until President Peter V. Daniel, Jr., presented to the Confederate Congress in January, 1864, a remonstrance against indiscriminate conscription of railroad employees. The War Department was asked to take up the matter and grant the railroads some measure of relief. The Confederate Congress passed an act in the spring of 1864 exempting from military service a certain number of skilled laborers for railroad duty, but with a provision that these men might be called back into service if an emergency arose.3 This problem of insufficient manpower remained in spite of this act, and many were the advertisements for help published in local newspapers...