Civil War Locomotive
Since
the dawn of history, military strategy had been dominated by logistics. According to an old saying, “Amateurs study
tactics; professionals study logistics.”
During the civil War, railroads were still a military novelty. When Union Army General John Pope needed
critical supplies in August 1862, packed boxcars were sitting in
Washington. The supplies could not be
moved across the Potomac River because authorities were afraid that available locomotives
were too heavy for the rickety railroad bridge across the Potomac.
A single stretch of track of the Orange
and Alexandria railroad connected the Union Army of the Potomac to the vast
supply depots of Washington. Confederate
raiders periodically cut telegraph lines, tore up railroad tracks and destroyed
railway bridges. Keeping the trains
running was an enormous tasks and essential for Union victory.
Civil War railroads
A brief look at the
impact of war on civilians living around Manassas based on first person
narratives and family histories.