The Chattanooga and Atlanta Railroad was relinquished as a military road and turned over to the State of Georgia, the original owner, September 25, 1865.

THE NASHVILLE AND CLARKSVILLE RAILROAD.

Extends from Nashville to Clarksville, and is sixty-one miles long. It is composed of three links: First, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad from Nashville to Edgefield Junction, ten miles; second, the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad to the State line, thirty-seven miles; and third, the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad to Paris, fourteen miles. On the 4th of August, 1864, I received General Sherman's order directing this road to be opened so as to provide another avenue of supply to the depot at nashville. Having made the necessary arrangements for carrying on the work at the front during my absence, I took the First Division of the Construction Corps, under L. H. Eicholtz, division engineer, and proceeded to Springfield, where we arrived on the 11th of August. I found the road had been repaired and put in running order from Edgefield Junction to this station by Captain C. H. Irvin, assistant quartermaster, who was using it to haul lumber from his numerous saw-mills to Nashville. The portion from State line to Clarksville was in running order and being operated by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company. Putting the construction force to work at once, I made an examination of the line between Springfield and State line and found the work to be done consisted principally of bridging; the track had not been much damaged. Some of the cuts were so filled up that it required the removal of a good deal of material to clear the track. The bridges destroyed were of considerable magnitude and all the timber for their reconstruction had to be cut and prepared. The work was completed and the road opened through to Clarksville on the 16th of September. The construction force remained on the road until October 16, employed in getting our bridge timber and cross-ties, and grading and laying a track with sidings 6,765 feet long main line to the levee at Clarksville. On the 25th of October I appointed W. R. Kingsley, division engineer, engineer of construction and repairs, and he continued to occupy this position while we held and operated the road. The cross-ties were badly decayed in places and many had to be taken out and replaced with new ones. On the 4th of March a freshet carried away the Red River bridge and it was rebuilt by the 25th of same month. Another freshet on the 7th of April again carried away this bridge and it was not rebuilt. Still another freshet occurred on the 20th of May, destroying the Sulphur Fork bridge and doing much additional damage to the road, all of which, however, was quickly repaired. The following tabular statement shows the amount of bridging and trestle-work on this road:

Name. Height. Length. Remarks.

Feet. Feet.

Springfield 44 410

Sulphur Fork 60 433 Partly destroyed and

rebuilt, 150 feet.

Spring Creek 60 560

Red River 85 680 Partly destroyed and

rebuilt, 300 feet.

Clarksville 6-20 900

extension

Total ... 2,983