Железные дороги Конфедерации в Гражданской войне: Проблемы и недостатки

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The American Civil War was the first in which large armies depended heavily on railroads to bring supplies. For the Confederate States Army, the system was fragile and was designed for short hauls of cotton to the nearest river or ocean port. The South had very little manufacturing or industrial capacity, and so during the war new parts were hard to obtain, and the system deteriorated from overuse, lack of maintenance, and systematic destruction by Union raiders. The outbreak of war had a depressing effect on the economic fortunes of the Confederate railroad industry. With the cotton crop being hoarded under the "King Cotton" theory, railroads lost their main source of income. Many were forced to lay off employees, and in particular, let go skilled technicians and engineers. Although railroad contracts to port towns had ceased, due to the combined effects of the cotton export policy and the Union naval blockade, lucrative government contracts were doled out to rail operators with lines supplying men and arms to the front line of Tennessee and Virginia. In addition, the Confederacy suffered from two key deficiencies in its rail network. First was the route structure: it was built to serve the coastal shipping industry, and most rail lines connected ports and river terminals to points inland. This lack of inter railway connections made many railroads useless once the Union blockade was in place. Second was break of gauge; much of the Confederate rail network was in the 5 feet broad gauge format, but much of North Carolina and Virginia had lines. Sometimes, as with Montgomery, Alabama, a city was served by two railroads with different gauge and different depots, meaning that through cargo had to be unloaded from one railroad and moved by animal powered transportation to the other company's station, where it would be re loaded. Southern railroads west of the Mississippi were isolated, disconnected, and differed widely in gauge. Several of the Northern railroads, in contrast, were complex networks in themselves, and many cities were served by more than one. The fact that most used the same gauge made transfer even easier.

As troop movement began in earnest in May and June 1861, a crippling problem was discovered; many rail lines terminated in towns without connecting to continuing lines. Instead, cargo would have to be unloaded, driven across town, and then reloaded. Soldiers and other passengers would often have to stay overnight to catch a continuing train the next day. The problem of supplies had become increasingly acute, especially with respect to the already small supply of engines and cars. Stressed by overuse, lacking material to make repairs, and the conscription of men who could make them, rail operators were predicting a breaking point as early as 1862. While railroad operators attempted, throughout the war, to get assistance from the Confederate Congress, the response was either indifferent or hostile. rather than shoring up the weakening economy of the Confederate States of America. New legislation allowed commandeering (under the name of "impressment"), which brought railroads and their rolling stock under the de facto control of the military. Meanwhile, Union victory in the Chattanooga Campaign gave the United States Military Railroad full control of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad which after repairs supplied the Atlanta Campaign.

In March 1864, the Confederate Quartermaster General's Department ordered all passenger trains to give governmental trains the right of way. By mid 1864, all passenger service in the Confederacy had come to a standstill.

As the Union armies pushed further into Confederate territory, they came into possession of former Confederate railway lines, or what was left of them. Confederate troops generally applied a scorched earth policy towards railroads when they were in retreat. Union troops would often have to rebuild an entire line from scratch for it to be usable. Grant later resumed the attack, pursuing the Vicksburg Campaign along the river, where steamboats could bring supplies. Sherman's March to the Sea in late 1864 reversed the roles, the Union army destroying the main line of the Georgia Railroad and others. Due to the vagaries of the war, some lines would be rebuilt six or seven times by differing sides, especially in states like Virginia, where fighting was most intense.

Attempts were made to enlarge the Confederacy's rail system by adding or connecting lines. Of the three major rail projects the Confederate congress proposed and funded, only one of them, a connection between Danville, Virginia, and Greensboro, North Carolina, was completed. Although the Confederate Constitution forbade internal improvements to aid commerce, nothing within it said anything about improvements to aid wartime defense.