Edwin M. Stanton to John W. Garrett, September 23, 1863 – 11:15 p.m.

WAR DEPARTMENT,         

Washington, D. C., September 23, 1863 — 11.15 p.m.

JOHN W. GARRETT,  Esq.,

Baltimore:

Please come to Washington as quickly as you can and bring Smith with you.

EDWIN M. STANTON.

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 29, Part 1 (Serial No. 48), p. 146

William P. Smith to Edwin M. Stanton, September 27, 1863 – Received 11:50 a.m.

CAMDEN STATION,          

Baltimore, Md., September 27, 1863.

(Received 11.50 a.m.)

Hon. E. M. STANTON,

Secretary of War:

At 9.15 this a.m. we had started from Washington for the west 12,600 men, 33 cars of artillery, and 21 cars of baggage and horses. The first four trains, with 2,500 men, reached Benwood, the end of our line, 412 miles from Washington, at 11 this a.m., and continuing to move at the ratio expected by us, or two hours less than our promise of forty-four hours through. At Benwood a substantial and superior bridge of scows and barges, strongly  connected, is in full readiness to make the transfer across the Ohio, and adequate cars are waiting at Bellaire.

W. P. SMITH.

(Same to Major-General-Hooker and to Col. D.C. McCallum.)

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 29, Part 1 (Serial No. 48), p. 167

William P. Smith to Edwin M. Stanton, September 27, 1863 – Received 12:50 p.m.

CAMDEN STATION,          

Baltimore, Md., September 27, 1863.

(Received 12.50, p.m.)

Hon. E. M. STANTON,

Secretary of War:

Our agent at Grafton has orders, he says, to hold all the Third Division, Eleventh Corps there until General Schurz arrives. May I suggest that this kind of thing will cripple your whole movement? I have therefore given a peremptory order to our agent that the trains shall not be so held unless his order comes from you.

W. P. SMITH.

(Same to General Hooker.)

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 29, Part 1 (Serial No. 48), p. 167

Edwin M. Stanton to William P. Smith, September 27, 1863 – 1 p.m.

WAR DEPARTMENT,         

Washington City, September 27, 1863 — 1 p.m.

WILLIAM P. SMITH, Esq.,

Baltimore :

You have done right. Order your men to disregard every order or direction but your own. Report immediately to me any officer that presumes to interfere with you, and let me know who gave the order referred to in your telegram.

EDWIN M. STANTON,       

Secretary of War.

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 29, Part 1 (Serial No. 48), p. 167

William P. Smith to Edwin M. Stanton, September 28, 1863 – 3 p.m.

CAMDEN STATION, September 28, 1863 — 3 p.m.         

(Received 3.30 p.m.)

Hon. E. M. STANTON:

Off our road there is some remissness about the reports, but the first three trains have passed Columbus, and I think I can say all is going well there. I have urged the sending of prompt and regular bulletins, and hope to reply to you on the subject before long.

W. P. SMITH.

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 29, Part 1 (Serial No. 48), p. 172

Diary of Salmon P. Chase: September 28, 1863

I slept pretty well last night, under the hospitable roof of Mr. Garrett.¹ After breakfast, he and Mr. Smith accompanied me to Mr. Swann's, with whom I exchanged kind greetings; thence to the hat-store of Mr. Smith's father-in-law, Mr. Van Zandt, where I supplied myself with something more suitable to the season than my “straw;” thence to the Custom House, where I exchanged salutations with the officers and clerks; and thence to the cars, where I found Judge Jewett, with whom I proceeded to Washington, and resumed my duties at the department.

Mr. Garrett informed me that the movement of the troops was going on successfully, which was confirmed by Mr. Stanton, who is greatly delighted by its success. He told me that the number to be moved had been found to reach 20,000, and yet the whole had been put in motion without disturbance and in perfect order. The last were expected to reach Washington to-day, and would be immediately sent forward. Thus, in five days, the men who, as the President was ready to bet, could not be got to Washington, would be already past that point, on their way to Rosecrans, while their advance had reached the Ohio River. If this whole movement is carried through to the end as well as it has been thus far, it will be an achievement in the transportation of troops unprecedented, I think, in history.

_______________

¹ At Baltimore.

SOURCES: Robert Bruce Warden, An Account of the Private Life and Public Services of Salmon Portland Chase, p. 553; The Salmon P. Chase Papers, Volume 1: Journals, 1829-1872, p. 456-7

William P. Smith to Edwin M. Stanton, September 29, 1863

CAMDEN STATION, Baltimore, Md., September 29, 1863.          

(Received 3.53 p.m.)

Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War:

We are now able to report that our arrangements between Bellaire, our terminus, and Jeffersonville are working out most satisfactorily.

Captain Cole reports that the first trains reached Indianapolis at 3.40 p.m. yesterday (Monday), and have been followed in quick succession and excellent time by others. These trains are, therefore, carrying their masses of men and material from Washington to the western border of Indiana, a distance of 640 miles, with ample intervals for refreshment, in less than three days, say fifty hours, over the Alleghanies, and upon a track three times redeemed from hostile possession, and three times rebuilt by private enterprise since the present war began.

The first trains arrived at Jeffersonville, the end of our charge of them, before midnight, but I will give you fuller reports in a few hours on this point. Our Captain Cole reports that his requisitions were enforced by impressment in some cases, but full provision is at hand to effect our wants to Jeffersonville. Captain Cole is one of our most experienced, practical officers, having occupied the same position in our service that I now hold. We had arranged to aid him by sending other officers out or by going in person, but we feel such confidence now in affairs as to enable us to continue our promise of the best results.

Our reports from our own line and the transfer at Benwood continue most uniformly satisfactory, and indicating a success that is deeply gratifying to us. We are hurrying equipments back from west, and will thus be able to meet further emergencies or requisitions, should such be presented.

W. P. SMITH.

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 29, Part 1 (Serial No. 48), p. 178

From Winchester

WINCHESTER, Va., March 20.

A portion of Gen. Shields’ reconnoisance returned from Strasburg.  Gen. Jackson reported to be near Mt. Jackson.

Gen. Wm. Prescott Smith, with other officers of the Baltimore & Ohio RR., reconnoitered the road on Friday to Martinsburg, and expect that station will be opened by the 1^st of April.  They have also made arrangements to permanently open the Potomac & Winchester Road.

An inch and a half of snow fell here last night, and it is still falling.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, March 22, 1862, p. 1

William P. Smith

WILLIAM P. SMITH, former assessor of Jackson township and an honored veteran of the Civil war, who died at his home in Jackson township in the spring of 1915, was born in that township1 on March 1, 1842, but at the age of four years was taken by his parents to Iowa, the family locating in the vicinity of Keokuk, where he grew to manhood. When the Civil war broke out Mr. Smith enlisted his services in behalf of the Union and went to the front as a member of E Company, Fifteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. Upon the expiration of this term of enlistment he re-enlisted and returned to service as a member of H Company, One Hundred and Sixteenth Iowa [sic] Volunteer Infantry, with which command he remained until mustered out at the close of the war, his total service covering a period of more than four years. Among the notable engagements of the war in which Mr. Smith participated were the battles of Lookout Mountain and Shiloh. In the latter engagement he was severely wounded by being shot in the left leg. The ball was not extracted and he carried it with him to his grave. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Smith returned to the place of his birth and became permanently located in Rush county, becoming engaged in the sawmill business in Jackson township, a vocation which he continued during the remainder of his active life. Mr. Smith was a Republican and served two terms as assessor of Jackson township. He was an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Though not a member of any church he was reared a Baptist and his support was given to the local church of that faith. He died on March 20, 1915. On February 20, 1870, not long after his return to Rush county, William P. Smith married Frances Elizabeth Porter, who was born in this county on January 2, 1848, daughter of John and Sarah (Hilkert) Porter, natives, respectively, of Virginia and Pennsylvania, who had been residents of this county since the days of their youth, their respective parents having been pioneers of the county. John Porter was but six years of age when he came to Rush county with his parents from Virginia and he spent the rest of his life here, a substantial member of the community in which he lived. To William P. and Frances Elizabeth (Porter) Smith were born seven children, Lulu P., Laura E., Mila A., Charles L., Anna (deceased), Hazel M. and Cassius Smith, the latter of whom served as a soldier during the period of America's participation in the World war, going overseas on June 10, 1918, as a member of A Company, Sixty-first Engineers, and returning on September 20, 1919.

SOURCE:  Abraham Lincoln Gary & Ernest B. Thomas, Editors, Centennial History Of Rush County, Indiana, Volume 2, p. 184-5