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Question regarding wording in official correspondence

A

Anonymous

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In reading many of the entries, I have noticed at times the Railroad is simply referred to as "the road" and I am having difficulty determining if road is Railroad or street-type road...For instance..."Gen. So and So will march his division by the (name omitted) Road through (town omitted) and camp on the west side of the bridge and north side of the road, convenient for water, leaving the road clear..." North side of the marching road? or Railroad? I assume it is the marching road, yet at times the railroad is mentioned as the Memphis and Charleston road. Any helpful hints? David? Dave?
 
I believe they are referring to the dirt/plank/etc. road rather than the railroad. Even out here, there were military roads and emigrant trails that were the main routes of travel.
Hope this helps,
Otto...
 
Up until the CW was over, many RR's were called Railways. In the RR collecting community, any relic containing the word Railway is generally worth more. I agree with Otto; they usually refer to roads as just that; roads. Many times however, they used the term; Turnpike or Pike. Roads could be Galvanized (covered with crushed rock and paid for via Toll Gates on these Pikes), Cordoroy'd (mud holes or washouts covered with logs and in some cases rifles, if the Military were in a big hurry), Planked (same as Cordoroy'd but using Oak boards or "planks"). I've read the term: "Rail bed" when refering to taking the RR "road". This would have been a slow moving journey for the Infantry, so unless mandantory, they would have avoided the Rail bed as a travel route. Good hunting, David @ Dixie
 
Good discussion....I guess the only thing we didn't cover is movement of troops by rail but I have never heard of this type of transportation being called "by road". One minor correction and here I harken back to when I worked for the Virginia Dept. of Highways years ago. When roads are covered crushed stone bound with gravel on a firm base of large stones and are given a camber to ensured the rainwater drained off the road and did not penetrate the roadway foundations, it is called MacAdamized after the colonial scottish highway engineer named John MacAdam who invented the process. This way of building roads later became known as the Macadamized system.
The first highway paved in this way in Virginia was the Shenondoah Valley Turnpike which Jackson used many times and probably liked the idea of moving artillery up and down a relatively dry road when it rained. Somehow later on covering the crushed stones with tar was also called macadamized surface. Enough said about road surfaces.
Dave
 
I've run across the mentioning of troop movements stating.........marched to so and so and from such place and returned by railroad, and another says returned by rail. I also read of them returning by taking train. Hope this helps. HH
Scott
 
I have come across 2 different mentions of the Memphis and Charleston Road and the Memphis and Nashville road. Not Railway or railroad. The reason I know in these instances they are about the Railroad is how they are mentioned in directions in relation to other "roads" that are in the same correspondence. One talking about where the Memphis and Nashville "road" meets the "so and so" road. If it had been the main road from Memphis to Nashville, there is no way it would ever meet/intersect the "so and so" road. Same with the Memphis and Charleston "road"...I have yet to find a road of its kind with any relation to Southwestern Tennessee or the State Line road out of the Memphis, Tn area. I highly respect everyone's opinion here, and I popped 6 bullets out of the ground yesterday because of this research and I have such high hopes of finding an untouched camp that I have almost made myself sick.
Happy Hunting and thanks for your responses.
Kent in Memphis
 
Kent: If it works for you use it. Sounds like it is. Be reminded that roads were often named for where they went. I lived in this little town in Missouri for a couple of years till I figured out that one of the main thoroughfares named Providence Road actually went to the town of Providence on the Missouri River. Nothing is left of the town today.
Here's a <FONT COLOR="#ff0000">little railroad/town tip </FONT>that will probably be in my next book: If you have a CW railroad going through a CW aged town that has a creek crossing the rails near the edges of the town search there before anything else. Same reason why you look for water crossings along old roads - water. Sounds like your research is paying off. HH
Dave
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Regarding the creek/railroad/old town connection...that's exactly where I found these bullets. It appears that the area around the creek had some dirt "pushed up" to form a levy of sorts, so I think perhaps they may have come from the adjacent vacant lot. I intend to get back there this weekend.
I have become quite aware of the naming of roads to a place/town...we have many here...Memphis-Arlington, Raleigh-LaGrange, Germantown, Collierville-Arlington, Forest Hill-Irene, Raleigh-Millington. Let me know when your next book is out Dave, you write some great stuff. I am a sponge...
 
Dave makes a good point. Also, if the RR crossed any creek, river or gully, there would have been a bridge. If there was a bridge, it was susceptible to attack/burning. It would have been guarded by a defensible Block House. Always check all four corners of the crossing. Good hunting, David @ Dixie <center><a href="http://www.dixie-metal-detectors.com"><img src="/metal/html/d-m.jpg"></center>
 
Hey Kent; as RR beds were constructed, so would a parallel wagon road have been; to haul RR ties and supplies. It is very possible this is the "road" they are referring to. Trust me, troop movement upon the actual RR bed would have been slow and very rough on the Army issue Brogan's, although they did sometimes use them out of necessity. I've read about new Brogan's (army shoe's) being destroyed in one day while marching over galvanized roads or pikes. But I do imagine they are referring to the road that followed the RR line. If you search both sides of the RR, and I'm speaking of right next to the line, you should find the goods. If you get into a concentration of relics, then starting spreading out into the surrounding fields/landscape. That's where the camp should be. As Dave mentioned, water would normally be near. Hope you find your camp, David @ Dixie
 
I forgot about that one. I've read its mention a number of times. Good hunting, David
 
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