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diff --git a/42438-0.txt b/42438-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ef488b --- /dev/null +++ b/42438-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16848 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42438 *** + + THE RISE OF RAIL-POWER + IN WAR AND CONQUEST + 1833-1914 + + + + + THE + RISE OF RAIL-POWER + IN WAR AND CONQUEST + 1833-1914 + + WITH A BIBLIOGRAPHY + + BY + EDWIN A. PRATT + Author of "A History of Inland Transport," + "Railways and their Rates," etc. + + LONDON + P. S. KING & SON, LTD. + ORCHARD HOUSE + WESTMINSTER + 1915 + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAP. PAGE + + I A NEW FACTOR 1 + II RAILWAYS IN THE CIVIL WAR 14 + III RAILWAY DESTRUCTION IN WAR 26 + IV CONTROL OF RAILWAYS IN WAR 40 + V PROTECTION OF RAILWAYS IN WAR 54 + VI TROOPS AND SUPPLIES 62 + VII ARMOURED TRAINS 67 + VIII RAILWAY AMBULANCE TRANSPORT 81 + IX PREPARATION IN PEACE FOR WAR 98 + X ORGANISATION IN GERMANY 103 + XI RAILWAY TROOPS IN GERMANY 122 + XII FRANCE AND THE WAR OF 1870-71 138 + XIII ORGANISATION IN FRANCE 149 + XIV ORGANISATION IN ENGLAND 175 + XV MILITARY RAILWAYS 205 + XVI RAILWAYS IN THE BOER WAR 232 + XVII THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR 260 + XVIII STRATEGICAL RAILWAYS: GERMANY 277 + XIX A GERMAN-AFRICAN EMPIRE 296 + XX DESIGNS ON ASIATIC TURKEY 331 + XXI SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 345 + + APPENDIX + INDIAN FRONTIER RAILWAYS 357 + THE DEFENCE OF AUSTRALIA 368 + + BIBLIOGRAPHY 376 + INDEX 398 + + + + +PREFATORY NOTE. + + +The extent to which railways are being used in the present War of the +Nations has taken quite by surprise a world whose military historians, +in their accounts of what armies have done or have failed to do on the +battle-field in the past, have too often disregarded such matters of +detail as to how the armies got there and the possible effect of good or +defective transport conditions, including the maintenance of supplies +and communications, on the whole course of a campaign. + +In the gigantic struggle now proceeding, these matters of detail are +found to be of transcendant importance. The part which railways are +playing in the struggle has, indeed--in keeping with the magnitude of +the struggle itself--assumed proportions unexampled in history. Whilst +this is so it is, nevertheless, a remarkable fact that although much has +been said as to the conditions of military unpreparedness in which the +outbreak of hostilities in August, 1914, found the Allies, there has, so +far as I am aware, been no suggestion of any inability on the part of +the railways to meet, at once, from the very moment war was declared, +all the requirements of military transport. In this respect, indeed, the +organisation, the preparedness, and the efficiency throughout alike of +the British and of the French railways have been fully equal to those of +the German railways themselves. + +As regards British conditions, especially, much interest attaches to +some remarks made by Sir Charles Owens, formerly General Manager of +the London and South Western Railway Company, in the course of an +address delivered by him to students of the London School of Economics +on October 12, 1914. He told how, some five or six years ago, he had +met at a social function the Secretary of State for War, who, after +dinner, took him aside and asked, "Do you think in any emergency which +might arise in this country the railways would be able to cope with it +adequately?" To this question Sir Charles replied, "I will stake my +reputation as a railway man that the country could not concentrate men +and materials half so fast as the railways could deal with them; but the +management of the railways must be left in the hands of railway men." +We have here an affirmation and a proviso. That the affirmation was +warranted has been abundantly proved by what the British railways have +accomplished in the emergency that has arisen. The special significance +of the proviso will be understood in the light of what I record in the +present work concerning the control of railways in war. + +Taking the railways of all the countries, whether friends or foes, +concerned in the present World-War, and assuming, for the sake of +argument, that all, without exception, have accomplished marvels in the +way of military transport, one must, nevertheless, bear in mind two +important considerations:-- + +(1) That, apart from the huge proportions of the scale upon which, +in the aggregate, the railways are being required to serve military +purposes, the present conflict, in spite of its magnitude, has thus far +produced no absolutely new factor in the employment of railways for war +except as regards the use of air-craft for their destruction. + +(2) That when hostilities were declared in August, 1914, the subject +of the employment of railways for the purposes of war had already been +under the consideration of railway and military experts in different +countries for no fewer than eighty years, during which period, and +as the result of vast study, much experience, and many blunders in +or between wars in various parts of the world, there had been slowly +evolved certain fixed principles and, also, subject to constant +amendments, a recognised and comprehensive organisation which, accepted +more or less completely by the leading nations, with modifications to +suit their national circumstances and conditions, was designed to meet +all contingencies, to provide, as far as human foresight could suggest, +for all possible difficulties, and be capable of application instantly +the need for it might arise. + +The time has not yet come for telling all that the railways have thus +far done during the war which has still to be fought out. That story, in +the words of a railway man concerned therein, is at present "a sealed +book." Meanwhile, however, it is desirable that the position as defined +in the second of the two considerations given above should be fully +realised, in order that what the railways and, so far as they have +been aided by them, the combatants, have accomplished or are likely to +accomplish may be better understood when the sealed book becomes an open +one. + +If, as suggested at the outset, the world has already been taken by +surprise even by what the railways are known to have done, it may be +still more surprised to learn (as the present work will show) that +the construction of railways for strategical purposes was advocated +in Germany as early as 1833; that in 1842 a scheme was elaborated for +covering Germany with a network of strategical railways which, while +serving the entire country, would more especially allow of war being +conducted on two fronts--France and Russia--at the same time; and that +in the same year (1842) attention was already being called in the French +Chamber to the "aggressive lines" which Germany was building in the +direction of France, while predictions were also being made that any new +invasion of France by Germany would be between Metz and Strasburg. + +If, again, it is found that a good deal of space is devoted in the +present work to the War of Secession, criticism may, perhaps, be +disarmed by the explanation that the American Civil War was practically +the beginning of things as regards the scientific use of railways for +war, and that many of the problems connected therewith were either +started in the United States or were actually worked out there, +precedents being established and examples being set which the rest of +the world had simply to follow, adapt or perfect. The possibility of +carrying on warfare at a great distance from the base of supplies by +means of even a single line of single-track railway; the creation of +an organised corps for the restoration, operation or destruction of +railways; the control of railways in war by the railway or the military +interests independently or jointly; the question as to when the railway +could be used to advantage and when it would be better for the troops +to march; the use of armoured trains; the evolution of the ambulance or +the hospital train--all these, and many other matters besides, are to +be traced back to the American Civil War of 1861-65, and are dealt with +herein at what, it is hoped, will be found not undue length. + +As for the building up of the subsequent organisation in +Europe--Germany, France and England being the countries selected +for special treatment in relation thereto--this, also, has had to +be described with some regard for detail; and, incidentally, it is +shown (1) that the alleged perfection of Germany's arrangements when +she went to war with France in 1870-71 is merely one of the fictions +of history, so far as her military rail-transport was concerned; (2) +that France learned the bitter lesson taught her by the deplorable and +undeniable imperfections of her own transport system--or no-system--on +that occasion, and at once set about the creation of what was to become +an organisation of the most complete and comprehensive character; and +(3) that the "beginning of things" in England, in the way of employing +railways for the purposes of war, was the direct outcome of the +conditions of semi-panic created here in 1859 by what was regarded as +the prospect of an early invasion of this country by France, coupled +with the then recognised deficiencies of our means of national defence. + +Military railways, as employed in the Crimean War, the Abyssinian +Campaign, the Franco-German War, the Russo-Turkish War and the Sudan +are described; a detailed account is given of the use of railways in +the Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War; and this is followed by a +description of the strategical railways constructed in Germany for the +purpose of facilitating war on the possessions of her neighbours. + +Chapters XIX and XX deal with the building of railways which, +whether avowedly strategical or what I have described as +"economic-political-strategical," are intended to effect the purposes +of conquest, with or without the accompaniment of war. The former of +these two chapters, which shows how, with the help of railways, Germany +proposed to transform the African continent into an African Empire of +her own, should be found deserving of notice, and especially so in view +of the statements quoted (p. 311) as having been made by German officers +in what was then German South-West Africa, to the effect that the main +objective of Germany in going to war would be the conquest of Africa, +"the smashing up of France and Great Britain" being regarded only as +"incidents" which, followed by seizure of the possessions of the smaller +Powers, would make Germany the supreme Power in Africa, and lead to the +whole African continent becoming a German possession. + +From Chapter XX the reader will learn how Germany proposed to employ +railways for the furthering of her aims against, not only Asiatic +Turkey, but Egypt and India, as well. + +The subsidiary articles on "Indian Frontier Railways" and "The Defence +of Australia" have no direct bearing on that _evolution_ of rail-power +in warfare with which it is the special purpose of the present volume +to deal; but in the belief that they are of interest and importance in +themselves, from the point of view of the general question, they have +been given in an Appendix. The difficulties and other conditions under +which the Sind-Pishin State Railway, designed to serve strategical +purposes, was built to the frontiers of Afghanistan are unexampled in +the history either of railways or of war. As regards Australia, the +gravity of the position there was well indicated by Lord Kitchener when +he wrote of the lines running inland that they were "of little use for +defence, although possibly of considerable value to an enemy who would +have temporary command of the sea." + +At the end of the volume there is a Bibliography of books, pamphlets +and review or other articles relating to the use of railways for the +purposes of war. In the first instance this compilation was based on +a "List of References" prepared by the American Bureau of Railway +Economics; but, while many items on that list have here been omitted, a +considerable number of others have been inserted from other sources. The +Bibliography is not offered as being in any way complete, but it may, +nevertheless, be of advantage to students desirous of making further +researches into the matters of history here specially treated. + +The assistance rendered in other ways by the American Bureau of Railway +Economics in the preparation of the present work has been most helpful. +In the writing of the chapters concerning German designs on Africa, Asia +Minor, etc., the resources of the well-arranged and admirably-indexed +library of the Royal Colonial Institute have been of great service. I +have, also, to express cordial acknowledgments to the General Managers +and other officers of various leading railway companies for information +given respecting the organisation of railways in this country for +military purposes. + + EDWIN A. PRATT. + _November, 1915._ + + + + +The Rise of Rail-Power in War and Conquest + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A NEW FACTOR + + +While the original purpose of railways was to promote the arts of +peace, the wide scope of their possibilities in the direction, also, of +furthering the arts of war began to be realised at a very early date +after their success in the former capacity had been assured in Great +Britain. + +Already the canal system had introduced an innovation which greatly +impressed the British public. In December, 1806, a considerable body of +troops went by barge on the Paddington Canal from London to Liverpool, +_en route_ for Dublin, relays of fresh horses for the canal boats being +provided at all the stages in order to facilitate the transport; and in +referring to this event _The Times_ of December 19, 1806, remarked:--"By +this mode of conveyance the men will be only seven days in reaching +Liverpool, and with comparatively little fatigue, as it would take them +above fourteen days to march that distance." + +But when, on the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, in +1830, a British regiment was conveyed thereon, in two hours, a journey +of thirty-four miles, which they would have required two days to +accomplish on foot, far-seeing men became still more impressed, and +began to realise that there had, indeed, been introduced a new factor +destined to exercise a powerful influence on the future conduct of war. + +The geographical position of the United Kingdom led, in those early +days, to greater importance being attached to the conveniences of +railways as a means of transport than to their actual strategical and +tactical advantages; and the issue by the War Office, in 1846, of a +"Regulation Relative to the Conveyance of Her Majesty's Forces, their +Baggage and Stores, by Rail," may have appeared to meet the requirements +of the immediate situation, so far as this country was concerned. + +On the Continent of Europe, however, the rivalry of nations divided from +one another only by a more or less uncertain or varying frontier, and +still powerfully influenced by the recollection of recent conflicts, +resulted in much greater attention being paid to the possibilities of +the new development. + +The first definite proposals for the use of railways for strategical +purposes were advanced, as early as 1833, by Friedrich Wilhelm Harkort, +a Westphalian worthy who came to be better known in his native land +as "Der alte Harkort." A participant in the Napoleonic wars, he had +subsequently shown great energy and enterprise in the development of +steam engines, hydraulic presses, iron-making, and other important +industries in Germany; he had been the first writer in that country to +give an account--as he did in 1825--of the progress England was making +in respect to railways and steamships; and he had, in 1826, placed a +working model of a railway in the garden of the Elberfeld Museum. These +various efforts he followed up, in 1833, by bringing forward in the +Westphalian Landtag a scheme for the building of a railway to connect +the Weser and the Lippe. Later in the same year he published "Die +Eisenbahn von Minden nach Köln," in which he laid special stress on the +value to Germany of the proposed line from a military point of view. +With the help of such a railway, he argued, it would be possible to +concentrate large bodies of troops at a given point much more speedily +than if they marched by road; he made calculations as to what the actual +saving in time, as well as in physical strain, would be in transporting +Prussian troops from various specified centres to others; and he +proceeded:-- + + Let us suppose that we had a railway and a telegraph line + on the right bank of the Rhine, from Mainz to Wesel. Any + crossing of the Rhine by the French would then scarcely be + possible, since we should be able to bring a strong defensive + force on the spot before the attempt could be developed. + + These things may appear very strange to-day; yet in the womb + of the future there slumbers the seed of great developments in + railways, the results of which it is, as yet, quite beyond our + powers to foresee. + +Harkort's proposals gave rise to much vigorous controversy in Germany. +The official classes condemned as "nonsensical fancies" his ideas, not +only as to the usefulness of railways for the conveyance of troops, but, +also, as to the utility of railways for any practical purposes whatever; +and contemporary newspapers and periodicals, in turn, made him the butt +of their ridicule. + +The pros and cons of the use of railways for military purposes were, +none the less, actively discussed in numerous pamphlets and treatises. +Just as, in France, General Rumigny, adjutant to Louis-Philippe, had +already foreshadowed the possibility of a sudden invasion by a German +army reaching the frontier by rail, so, also, in Germany, in the words +of one writer at this period, "anxious spirits shudder at the thought +that, some fine spring morning, a hundred thousand Frenchmen, thirsting +for war, will suddenly invade our peaceful valleys at bird-like speed, +thanks to the new means of locomotion, and begin their old game (_das +alte Spiel_) over again." On the other hand there were military +sceptics--such as the author of a pamphlet "Uber die Militärische +Benutzung der Eisenbahnen" (Berlin, 1836)--who, basing their +calculations on locomotive performances up to that date, asserted that, +although the railway might be of service in the conveyance of supplies, +guns and ammunition, it would be of no advantage in the transport of +troops. These, they declared, would get to their destination sooner if +they marched.[1] + +The most noticeable of the various publications issued in Germany at +this period was a book by Carl Eduard Pönitz ("Pz."), which appeared +at Adorf, Saxony, in 1842, under the title of "Die Eisenbahnen +als militärische Operationslinien betrachtet, und durch Beispiele +erlaütert." The writer of this remarkable book (of which a second +edition was issued in 1853) gave a comprehensive survey of the whole +situation in regard to railways and war, so far as the subject could +be dealt with in the light of railway developments and of actual +experiences of troop movements by rail down to that time; and he argued +strongly in favour of the advantages to be derived from the employment +of railways for military purposes. He even suggested that, in the event +of an inadequate supply of locomotives, or of operations having to be +conducted in a mountainous country where locomotives could not be used +for heavy traffic, the troops might still use their own horses to draw +the coaches and wagons along the railway lines, so that the men would +arrive fresh and fit for immediate fighting at the end of their journey. + +Describing railways as the most powerful vehicle for the advancement of +"Kultur" since the invention of printing, Pönitz showed how Belgium and +Saxony were the two countries which had taken the initiative in railway +construction on the Continent of Europe; and his references to the +former country are especially deserving of being recalled, in view of +recent events. He pointed to the good example which had been set by the +"far-sighted and energetic" King of the Belgians, and continued:-- + + Although, in a land torn asunder by revolutionary factions, + many wounds were still bleeding; and although the newly-created + kingdom was threatened by foes within and without and could + organise means of resistance only with great difficulty, there + was, nevertheless, taken in hand a scheme for the construction + of a network of railways designed to extend over the entire + country, while at the present moment the greater part of + that scheme has, in fact, been carried out. In this way King + Leopold has raised up for himself a memorial the full value + and significance of which may, perhaps, be appreciated only by + generations yet to come. + +While Belgium was thus shown to have been setting a good example, the +only railways which Prussia then had in actual operation (apart from +the Berlin-Stettin and the Berlin-Breslau lines, which had been begun, +and others which had been projected) were the Berlin-Potsdam and the +Berlin-Magdeburg-Leipzig lines; though Saxony had the Leipzig-Dresden +line, and Bavaria the Nüremberg-Fürth and the Munich-Augsburg lines. +Pönitz, however, excused the backwardness of Prussia on the ground +that if her Government had refused, for a long time, to sanction +various projected railways, or had imposed heavy obligations in +regard to them, such action was due, not to prejudice, but to "a wise +foresight"--meaning, presumably, that Prussia was waiting to profit by +the experience that other countries were gaining at their own cost. + +Having dealt with all the arguments he could advance in favour of the +general principle of employing railways for military purposes, Pönitz +proceeded to elaborate a scheme for the construction of a network of +strategical lines serving the whole of Germany, though intended, more +especially, to protect her frontiers against attack by either France +or Russia. Without, he said, being in the secrets of international +politics, he thought he might safely presume that Germany's only fear of +attack was from one of these two directions; and, although the relations +of the Great Powers of Europe were then peaceful, a continuance of those +conditions could not, of course, be guaranteed. So, he proceeded-- + + We have to look to these two fronts; and, if we want + to avoid the risk of heavy losses at the outset, we needs + must--also at the outset--be prepared to meet the enemy there + with an overwhelming force. Every one knows that the strength of + an army is multiplied by movements which are rapid in themselves + and allow of the troops arriving at the end of their journey + without fatigue. + +In a powerful appeal--based on motives alike of patriotism, of national +defence and of economic advantage--that his fellow-countrymen should +support the scheme he thus put forward, Pönitz once more pointed to +Belgium, saying:-- + + The youngest of all the European States has given us an + example of what can be done by intelligence and good will. + The network of Belgian railways will be of as much advantage + in advancing the industries of that country as it will be in + facilitating the defence of the land against attack by France. + It will increase alike Belgium's prosperity and Belgium's + security. And we Germans, who place so high a value on our + intelligence, and are scarcely yet inclined to recognise the + political independence of the Belgian people, shall we remain so + blind as not to see what is needed for our own safety? + +Pönitz could not, of course, anticipate in 1842 that the time would +come when his country, acting to the full on the advice he was then +giving, would have her strategic railways, not only to the French and +the Russian, but, also, to the Belgian frontier, and would use those in +the last-mentioned direction to crush remorselessly the little nation +concerning which he himself was using words of such generous sympathy +and approbation. + +The ideas and proposals put forward by Pönitz (of whose work a French +translation, under the title of "Essai sur les Chemins de Fer, +considérés commes lignes d'opérations militaires," was published by L. +A. Unger in Paris, in 1844) did much to stimulate the discussion of the +general question, while the military authorities of Germany were moved +to make investigations into it on their own account, there being issued +in Berlin, about 1848 or 1850, a "Survey of the Traffic and Equipment of +German and of neighbouring foreign Railways for military purposes, based +on information collected by the Great General Staff."[2] + +In France, also, there were those who, quite early in the days of the +new means of transport, predicted the important service it was likely to +render for the purposes of war no less than for those of peace. + +General Lamarque declared in the French Chamber of Deputies in 1832, or +1833, that the strategical use of railways would lead to "a revolution +in military science as great as that which had been brought about by the +use of gunpowder." + +At the sitting of the Chamber on May 25, 1833, M. de Bérigny, in urging +the "incontestable" importance of railways, said:-- + + From the point of view of national defence, what advantages + do they not present! An army, with all its material, could, in a + few days, be transported from the north to the south, from the + east to the west, of France. If a country could thus speedily + carry considerable masses of troops to any given point on its + frontiers, would it not become invincible, and would it not, + also, be in a position to effect great economies in its military + expenditure? + +In a further debate on June 8, 1837, M. Dufaure declared that railways +had a greater mission to fulfil than that of offering facilities to +industry or than that of conferring benefits on private interests. Was +it a matter of no account, he asked, that they should be able in one +night to send troops to all the frontiers of France, from Paris to +the banks of the Rhine, from Lyons to the foot of the Alps, with an +assurance of their arriving fresh and ready for combat? + +Then, in 1842, M. Marschall, advocating the construction of a line from +Paris to Strasburg, predicted that any new invasion of France by Germany +would most probably be attempted between Metz and Strasburg. He further +said:-- + + It is there that the German Confederation is converging + a formidable system of railways from Cologne, Mayence and + Mannheim.... Twenty-four hours will suffice for our neighbours + to concentrate on the Rhine the forces of Prussia, Austria and + the Confederation, and on the morrow an army of 400,000 men + could invade our territory by that breach of forty leagues + between Thionville and Lauterburg, which are the outposts of + Strasburg and Metz. Three months later, the reserve system + organised in Prussia and in some of the other German States + would allow of a second Army being sent of equal force to the + other. The title of "aggressive lines" given by our neighbours + to these railways leave us with no room for doubt as to their + intentions. Studies for an expedition against Paris by way of + Lorraine and Champagne can hardly be regarded as indicative of a + sentiment of fraternity. + +France, however, had no inclination at that time to build railways +designed to serve military purposes, whether from the point of view of +aggression or even from that of national defence; so that in a letter to +his brother Ludwig, written April 13, 1844, von Moltke, then a member +of the General Staff of the Fourth Army Corps of the Prussian Army, +declared that whilst Germany was building railways, the French Chamber +was only discussing them. This was so far the case that when, later on, +Germany had nearly 3,300 miles of railway France was operating only a +little over 1,000 miles. + +Apart from the experiences, on quite a small scale, which had been +obtained on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the earliest example +of what railways could do in the transport of large bodies of troops +was afforded in 1846, when Prussia's Sixth Army Corps--consisting +of over 12,000 men, together with horses, guns, road vehicles and +ammunition--was moved by rail, upon two lines, to Cracow. In 1849 a +Russian corps of 30,000 men, with all its equipment, was taken by rail +from its cantonments in Poland to Göding, Moravia, whence it effected a +junction with the Austrian army. There was, also, a certain movement of +German troops by rail to Schleswig-Holstein in the troubles of 1848-50; +but of greater importance than these other instances was the transport +of an Austrian army of 75,000 men, 8,000 horses and 1,000 vehicles from +Vienna and Hungary to the Silesian frontier in the early winter of 1850. + +It is true that, owing to the combined disadvantages of single-line +railways, inadequate staff and rolling stock, unfavourable weather, lack +of previous preparations and of transport regulations, and delays from +various unforeseen causes, no fewer than twenty-six days were occupied +in the transport, although the journey was one of only about 150 miles. +It was, also, admitted that the troops could have marched the distance +in the same time. All the same, as told by Regierungsrat Wernekke,[3] +the movement of so large a body of troops by rail at all was regarded +as especially instructive. It was the cause of greater attention being +paid to the use of railways for military purposes, while it further led +(1) to the drawing up, in May, 1851, of a scheme for the construction +throughout the Austrian monarchy of railways from the special point +of view of strategical requirements; and (2) to a reorganisation of +the methods hitherto adopted for the transport of troops by rail, the +result being that the next considerable movement in Austria--in the year +1853--was conducted with "unprecedented regularity and efficiency," and +this, also, without any cessation of the ordinary traffic of the lines +concerned. + +In 1851 a further striking object lesson of the usefulness of railways +was afforded by the moving of a division of 14,500 men, with nearly +2,000 horses, 48 guns and 464 vehicles, from Cracow to Hradish, +a distance of 187 miles, in two days. Reckoning that a large column +of troops, with all its impedimenta, would march twelve miles per +day, and allowing for one day's rest in seven, the movement would, in +this instance, have occupied fifteen days by road instead of two days +by rail. + +It was in the _Italian campaign of 1859_ that railways first played a +conspicuous part in actual warfare, both strategically and tactically. +"In this campaign," said Major Millar, R.A., V.C., of the Topographical +Staff, in two lectures delivered by him at the Royal United Service +Institution in 1861[4]-- + + Railways assisted the ordinary means of locomotion hitherto + employed by armies. By them thousands of men were carried + daily through France to Toulon, Marseilles, or the foot of + Mont Cenis; by them troops were hastened up to the very fields + of battle; and by them injured men were brought swiftly back + to the hospitals, still groaning in the first agony of their + wounds. Moreover, the railway cuttings, embankments and bridges + presented features of importance equal or superior to the + ordinary accidents of the ground, and the possession of which + was hotly contested. If you go to Magenta you will see, close + to the railway platform on which you alight, an excavation full + of rough mounds and simple black crosses, erected to mark the + resting-places of many hundred men who fell in the great fight. + This first employment of railways in close connection with vast + military operations would alone be enough to give a distinction + to this campaign in military history. + +The French railways, especially, attained a remarkable degree of +success. In eighty-six days--from April 19 to July 15--they transported +an aggregate of 604,000 men and over 129,000 horses, including nearly +228,000 men and 37,000 horses sent to Culox, Marseilles, Toulon, +Grenoble and Aix by lines in the south-east. The greatest movements +took place during the ten days from April 20 to April 30, when the +Paris-Lyons Company, without interrupting the ordinary traffic, conveyed +an average per day of 8,421 men and 512 horses. On April 25, a maximum +of 12,138 men and 655 horses was attained. During the eighty-six days +there were run on the lines of the same company a total of 2,636 trains, +including 253 military specials. It was estimated that the 75,966 men +and 4,469 horses transported by rail from Paris to the Mediterranean +or to the frontiers of the Kingdom of Sardinia between April 20 and +April 30 would have taken sixty days to make the journey by road. In +effect, the rate of transit by rail was six times greater than the rate +of progress by marching would have been, and this, again, was about +double as fast as the best achievement recorded up to that time on the +German railways. The Chasseurs de Vincennes are described as leaving +the station at Turin full of vigour and activity, and with none of the +fatigue or the reduction in numbers which would have occurred had they +made the journey by road. + +As against, however, the advantage thus gained by the quicker transport +of the French troops to the seat of war, due to the successful manner +in which the railways were operated, there had to be set some serious +defects in administrative organisation. When the men got to the end +of their rail journey there was a more or less prolonged waiting for +the food and other necessaries which were to follow. There were grave +deficiencies, also, in the dispatch of the subsequent supplies. On June +25, the day after the defeat of the Austrians, the French troops had +no provisions at all for twenty-four hours, except some biscuits which +were so mouldy that no one could eat them. Their horses, also, were +without fodder. In these circumstances it was impossible to follow up +the Austrians in their retreat beyond the Mincio. + +Thus the efficiency of the French railways was to a large extent +negatived by the inefficiency of the military administration; and in +these respects France had a foretaste, in 1859, of experiences to be +repeated on a much graver scale in the Franco-German War of 1870-71. + +As regards the Austrians, they improved but little on their admittedly +poor performance in 1850, in spite of the lessons they appeared to +have learned as the result of their experiences on that occasion. +Government and railways were alike unprepared. Little or no real attempt +at organisation in time of peace had been made, and, in the result, +trains were delayed or blocked, and stations got choked with masses +of supplies which could not be forwarded. At Vienna there was such a +deficiency of rolling stock--accelerated by great delays in the return +of empties--that many of the troop trains for the South could not be +made up until the last moment. Even then the average number of men they +conveyed did not exceed about 360. At Laibach there was much congestion +because troops had to wait there for instructions as to their actual +destination. Other delays occurred because, owing to the heavy gradients +of the Semmering Pass, each train had to be divided into three sections +before it could proceed. Between, again, Innsbruck and Bozen the railway +was still incomplete, and the First Corps (about 40,000 men and 10,000 +horses) had to march between these two points on their journey from +Prague to Verona. Notwithstanding this fact, it was estimated that they +covered in fourteen days a journey which would have taken sixty-four +days if they had marched all the way. From Vienna to Lombardy the Third +Army Corps (20,000 men, 5,500 horses, with guns, ammunition and 300 +wagons) was carried by rail in fourteen days, the rate of progress +attained being four and a half times greater than by road marching, +though still inferior by one and a half times to what the French +troop-trains had accomplished. + +On both sides important reinforcements were brought up at critical +periods during the progress of the war. Referring to the attacks by +the allies on Casteggio and Montebello, Count Gyulai, the Austrian +General, wrote:--"The enemy soon displayed a superior force, which was +continually increased by arrivals from the railway"; and the special +correspondent of _The Times_, writing from Pavia on May 21, 1859, said:-- + + From the heights of Montebello the Austrians beheld a + novelty in the art of war. Train after train arrived by railway + from Voghera, each train disgorging its hundreds of armed men + and immediately hastening back for more. In vain Count Stadion + endeavoured to crush the force behind him before it could be + increased enough to overpower him. + +Then, also, the good use made of the railways by the allies in carrying +out their important flanking movement against the Austrians at Vercelli +gave further evidence of the fact that rail-power was a new force which +could be employed, not alone for the earlier concentration of troops at +the seat of war, but, also, in support of strategic developments on the +battle-field itself. Commenting on this fact the _Spectateur Militaire_ +said, in its issue for September, 1869:-- + + Les chemins de fer ont joué un rôle immense dans cette + concentration. C'est la première fois que, dans l'histoire + militaire, ils servent d'une manière aussi merveilleuse et + entrent dans les combinaisons stratégiques. + +While these observations were fully warranted by the results +accomplished in regard to concentration, reinforcements and tactical +movements by rail, the campaign also brought out more clearly than +ever before the need, if railways were to fulfil their greatest +possible measure of utility in time of war, of working out in advance +all important details likely to arise in connection with the movement +of troops, instead--as in the case of the Austrians, at least--of +neglecting any serious attempt at organisation until the need arose for +immediate action. + +From all these various points of view the Italian campaign of 1859 +marked a further important stage in the early development of that new +factor which the employment of railways for the purposes of warfare +represented; though far greater results in the same direction were to +be brought about, shortly afterwards, by the American Civil War of +1861-65. Not only does the real development of rail-power as a new arm +in war date therefrom, but the War of Secession was to establish in a +pre-eminent degree (1) the possibility, through the use of railways, +of carrying on operations at a considerable distance from the base +of supplies; (2) the need of a special organisation to deal alike +with restoration of railway lines destroyed by the enemy and with the +interruption, in turn, of the enemy's own communications; and (3) the +difficulties that may arise as between the military element and the +technical (railway) element in regard to the control and operation of +railways during war. To each of these subjects it is proposed to devote +a separate chapter. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] In 1847 one of the leading military writers in Germany published a +pamphlet in which he sought to prove that the best-organised railway +could not carry 10,000 Infantry a distance equal to sixty English miles +in twenty-four hours. As for the conveyance of Cavalry and Artillery by +train, he declared that this would be a sheer impossibility. + +[2] "Uebersicht des Verkehrs und der Betriebsmittel auf den inländischen +und den benachbarten ausländischen Eisenbahnen für militärischen Zwecke; +nach dem beim grossen Generalstabe vorhanden Materialen zusammen +gestellt." + +[3] "Die Mitwirkung der Eisenbahn an den Kriegen in Mitteleuropa." +"Archiv für Eisenbahnwesen," Juli und August, 1912. + +[4] "Journal of the Royal United Service Institution," vol. v, pp. +269-308. London, 1861. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +RAILWAYS IN THE CIVIL WAR + + +Such were the conditions under which the War of Secession in the United +States was fought that without the help of railways it could hardly have +been fought at all. + +The area of the military operations, from first to last, was equal in +extent almost to the whole of Europe. The line of separation between the +rival forces of North and South was fully 2,000 miles. Large portions +of this region were then unexplored. Everywhere, except in the towns, +it was but thinly populated. Civilisation had not yet progressed so far +that an advancing army could always depend on being able to "live on the +country." There were occasions when local supplies of food and forage +were so difficult of attainment that an army might be wholly dependent +on a base hundreds of miles distant from the scene of its operations. + +Of roads and tracks throughout this vast area there were but few, and +these were mostly either indifferent or bad, even if they did not become +positively execrable in wet weather or after a considerable force of +troops had passed along them. In the low-lying districts, especially, +the alluvial undrained soil was speedily converted by the winter floods +into swamps and lakes. Further difficulties in the movement of troops +were offered by pathless forests as large as an English county; and +still others by the broad rivers or the mountain ranges it might be +necessary to cross. + +Apart from the deficient and defective roads and tracks, the transport +facilities available for the combatants were those afforded by coastal +services, navigable rivers, canals and railways. Of these it was the +railways that played the most important rôle. + +The American railway lines of those days had, generally speaking, +been constructed as cheaply as possible by the private enterprise +which--though with liberal grants of land and other advantages--alone +undertook their provision, the main idea being to supply a railway of +some sort to satisfy immediate wants and to improve it later on, when +population and traffic increased and more funds were available. The +lines themselves were mostly single track; the ballasting was too often +imperfect; iron rails of inadequate weight soon wore down and got out +of shape; sleepers (otherwise "ties"), which consisted of logs of wood +brought straight from the forests, speedily became rotten, especially in +low-lying districts; while, in the early 'Sixties lumber, used either in +the rough or smoothed on two sides, was still the customary material for +the building of bridges and viaducts carrying the railways across narrow +streams, broad rivers or widespread valleys. + +All the same, these railways, while awaiting their later betterment, +extended for long distances, served as a connecting link of inestimable +advantage between the various centres of population and production, and +offered in many instances the only practicable means by which troops +and supplies could be moved. They fulfilled, in fact, purposes of such +vital importance from a strategical point of view that many battles +were fought primarily for the control of particular railways, for the +safeguarding of lines of communication, or for the possession, more +especially, of important junctions, some of which themselves became the +base for more or less distant operations. + +The North, bent not simply on invasion but on reconquest of the States +which had seceded, necessarily took the offensive; the South stood +mostly on the defensive. Yet while the population in the North was far +in excess of that in the South, the initial advantages from a transport +point of view were in favour of the South, which found its principal +ally in the railways. Generals in the North are, indeed, said to have +been exceedingly chary, at first, in getting far away from the magazines +they depended on for their supplies; though this uneasiness wore off in +proportion as organised effort showed how successfully the lines of +rail communication could be defended. + +In these and other circumstances, and especially in view of the +paramount importance the railway system was to assume in the conduct of +the war, the Federal Government took possession of the Philadelphia, +Wilmington and Baltimore Railway on March 31, 1861. This preliminary +measure was followed by the passing, in January, 1862, by the United +States House of Representatives, of "An Act to authorise the President +of the United States in certain cases to take possession of railroad and +telegraph lines, and for other purposes." + +The President, "when in his judgment the public safety may require it," +was "to take possession of any or all the telegraph lines in the United +States; ... to take possession of any or all the railroad lines in the +United States, their rolling stock, their offices, shops, buildings +and all their appendages and appurtenances; to prescribe rules and +regulations for the holding, using, and maintaining of the aforesaid +telegraph and railroad lines, and to extend, repair and complete the +same in the manner most conducive to the safety and interest of the +Government; to place under military control all the officers, agents +and employés belonging to the telegraph and railroad lines thus taken +possession of by the President, so that they shall be considered as a +post road and a part of the military establishment of the United States, +subject to all the restrictions imposed by the Rules and Articles of +War." Commissioners were to be appointed to assess and determine the +damages suffered, or the compensation to which any railroad or telegraph +company might be entitled by reason of such seizure of their property; +and it was further enacted "that the transportation of troops, munitions +of war, equipments, military property and stores, throughout the United +States, should be under the immediate control and supervision of the +Secretary of War and such agents as he might appoint." + +Thus the Act in question established a precedent for a Government +taking formal possession of, and exercising complete authority and +control over, the whole of such railways as it might require to employ +for the purposes of war; although, in point of fact, only such lines, +or portions of lines, were so taken over by the War Department as were +actually required. In each instance, also, the line or portion of line +in question was given back to the owning company as soon as it was no +longer required for military purposes; while at the conclusion of the +war all the lines taken possession of by the Government were formally +restored to their original owners by an Executive Order dated August 8, +1865. + +Under the authority of the Act of January 31, 1862, the following +order was sent to Mr. Daniel Craig McCallum, a native of Johnstone, +Renfrewshire, Scotland, who had been taken to America by his parents +when a youth, had joined the railway service, had held for many years +the position of general superintendent of the Erie Railroad, and was +one of the ablest and most experienced railway men then in the United +States:-- + + WAR DEPARTMENT. + Washington City, D.C., + _February 11, 1862_. + + _Ordered_, That D. C. McCallum be, and he is hereby, + appointed Military Director and Superintendent of Railroads in + the United States, with authority to enter upon, take possession + of, hold and use all railroads, engines, cars, locomotives, + equipments, appendages and appurtenances that may be required + for the transport of troops, arms, ammunition and military + supplies of the United States, and to do and perform all acts + and things that may be necessary and proper to be done for the + safe and speedy transport aforesaid. + + By order of the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army + and Navy of the United States. + + EDWIN M. STANTON, + Secretary of War. + +McCallum commenced his duties with the staff rank of Colonel, afterwards +attaining to that of Brev.-Brig.-General. The scope of the authority +conferred on him, under the War Department order of February 11, 1862, +was widened a year later, when he was further appointed general manager +of all railways in possession of the Federal Government, or that might +from time to time be taken possession of by military authority, in the +departments of the Cumberland, the Ohio, the Tennessee, and of Arkansas, +forming the "Military Division of the Mississippi." + +The total mileage of the lines taken over by the Federal Government +during the course of the war was 2,105, namely, in Virginia, 611 +miles; in the military division of the Mississippi, 1,201; and in +North Carolina, 293. Much more was involved, however, for the Federal +Government than a mere transfer to themselves of the ownership and +operation of these lines for the duration of the war. + +One of the greatest disadvantages of the American railways at the +time of the Civil War lay in their differences of gauge. The various +companies had built their lines with gauges chosen either to suit local +conditions or according to the views of their own engineers, with little +or no consideration for the running of through traffic on or from other +lines. There were, in fact, at that time gauges of 6 ft., 5 ft. 6 in., +5 ft., 4 ft. 10 in., 4 ft. 9 in., 4 ft. 8½ in. (the standard English +gauge), and various narrower gauges besides. These conditions prevailed +until 1866, when the companies adopted a uniform gauge of 4 ft. 8½ in. + +During the Civil War the lack of uniformity was in full force, and +military transport by rail was greatly complicated in consequence. More +than one-half of the lines taken over and operated had a gauge of 5 ft., +and the remainder had a gauge of 4 ft. 8½ in., except in the case of +one short line, which was 5 ft. 6 in. As locomotives and rolling stock +adapted to one gauge were unsuited to any other, the obligations falling +upon the Director and General Manager of the Federal Military Railways +included that of taking up the lines of certain companies which had +adopted the 5 ft. gauge, and relaying them with the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge, +so that the same rolling stock could be used as on lines connecting with +them. + +Incidentally, therefore, the Civil War in America taught the lesson that +the actual value of rail-power as influencing warfare in one and the +same country, or on one and the same continent, may vary materially +according to whether there is uniformity or diversity of railway gauge. + +In certain instances the lines taken possession of were in so +defective a condition that it was imperatively necessary to relay +them, apart altogether from any question of gauge. When McCallum was +appointed General Manager of Military Railways for the Division of +the Mississippi, the main army was at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and its +supplies were being received from Nashville, 151 miles distant, over +the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. This was necessarily the main +line of supply during the subsequent campaigns from Chattanooga towards +Atlanta, and from Knoxville towards South-western Virginia; yet McCallum +says of it, in the Final Report he presented to the Secretary of War in +1866:-- + + The track was laid originally in a very imperfect manner, + with a light U-rail on wooden stringers which were badly decayed + and caused almost daily accidents by spreading apart and letting + the engines and cars drop through them. + +In still other instances, lines which, though begun, were not finished, +had to be completed; in others new lines had to be constructed +throughout, or extensive sidings provided; so that once more we see +that it was not then simply a question of the Federal Government taking +possession of and operating an existing complete and efficient system of +railways. + +Whatever, again, the condition of the lines when taken over, the +railways of both combatants were subjected to constant attack by the +other side with a view to the interruption of communications, the +destruction of railway track, railway bridges, rolling stock and other +railway property being enormous. + +Reviewing the general situation at this time, McCallum says in his +report:-- + + In the beginning of the war military railroads were an + experiment; and though some light as to their management had + been gleaned by the operations of 1862 and 1863, yet so little + progress had been made that the attempt to supply the army of + General Sherman in the field, construct and reconstruct the + railroad in its rear, and keep pace with its march, was regarded + by those who had the largest experience, and who had become + most familiar with the subject, as the greatest experiment of + all. The attempt to furnish an army of 100,000 men and 60,000 + animals with supplies from a base 360 miles distant by one line + of single-track railroad, located almost the entire distance + through the country of an active and vindictive enemy, is + without precedent in the history of warfare; and to make it + successful required an enormous outlay for labour and a vast + consumption of material, together with all the forethought, + energy, patience and watchfulness of which men are capable. + +To meet the various conditions which had thus arisen, McCallum +was authorised by the Federal Government to create two distinct +departments, destined to bring about a still further development in the +application of rail-power to war by establishing precedents which the +leading countries of the world were afterwards to follow more or less +completely, according to their own circumstances and requirements. + +The departments were known respectively as the "Transportation +Department," embracing the operation and maintenance of all the lines +brought under use by the army of the North; and the "Construction +Corps," which was to repair the damage done by wrecking parties of the +enemy, maintain lines of communication, and reconstruct, when necessary, +railways captured from the enemy as the Federals advanced. + +Concerning the Construction Corps, and the great work accomplished by it +in keeping the lines open, details will be given in the chapter which +follows. + +In regard to the Transportation Department, it may be of interest +to state that this was placed by McCallum in charge of a General +Superintendent of Transportation on United States Railroads in the +Military Division of the Mississippi. For each of the principal lines +there was appointed a Superintendent of Transportation who, acting under +the control of the General Superintendent, was held responsible for the +movement of all trains and locomotives; and these superintendents, in +turn, had under their direction one or more Masters of Transportation, +whose business it was to be constantly moving about over the sections of +line placed under their charge, and see that the railway employés were +attending properly to their duties. + +At each of the principal stations there was an Engine Dispatcher who +was required to see that the locomotives were kept in good order and +ready for immediate use whenever required, to exercise control over the +drivers and firemen, and to assign the requisite "crew" to each engine +sent out. + +Maintenance of road and structures for each line (as distinct from +the reconstruction work left to the Construction Department) was in +charge of a Superintendent of Repairs, assisted by such supervisors, +road-masters and foremen as he needed to control and direct his working +staff; and maintenance of rolling stock was delegated to (1) a Master +Machinist, responsible for repairs to locomotives, and (2) a Master of +Car Repairs. + +These various officers were independent of each other, and all of +them reported direct to the General Superintendent. The maximum force +employed at any one time in the Transportation Department of the +Military Division of the Mississippi (as distinct from the military +lines in Virginia and elsewhere) was about 12,000 men. + +A sufficient staff of competent railwaymen for the operation of the +Military Railways was difficult to get, partly because of the inadequate +supply of such men in the United States at that period, and partly +because those still at work on railways not taken over for military +purposes were unwilling to give up what they found to be exceptionally +good posts; but of the men whose services he was able to secure McCallum +speaks in terms of the highest commendation. + +Having got his Department and Construction Corps into working order, +McCallum had next to turn his attention to ensuring an adequate supply +of locomotives and cars, with the necessary shops, tools and materials +for keeping them in working order. Here the Secretary of War again +came to his help, issuing, on March 23, 1864, an Order addressed to +locomotive manufacturers in which he stated that Colonel McCallum had +been authorised by the War Department to procure locomotives without +delay for the railways under his charge, and proceeded:-- + + In order to meet the wants of the Military Department of + the Government, you will deliver to his order such engines as + he may direct, whether building under orders for other parties + or otherwise, the Government being accountable to you for the + same. The urgent necessity of the Government for the immediate + supply of our armies operating in Tennessee renders the engines + indispensable for the equipment of the lines of communication, + and it is hoped that this necessity will be recognised by you as + a military necessity, paramount to all other considerations.--By + order of the President. + +In January, 1864, McCallum had estimated that he would require 200 +locomotives and 3,000 cars for the lines to be operated from Nashville, +and towards this number he then had only 47 locomotives and 437 cars +available. There was thus a substantial shortage which had to be +made good; but the manufacturers, inspired by "a spirit of zealous +patriotism," responded heartily to the appeal made to them, putting +their full force on to the completion of further supplies. These were +furnished with a speed that surpassed all previous records. + +Then, to maintain the locomotives and cars in good condition--more +especially in view of the constant attempts made by the enemy to destroy +them--extensive machine and car shops were built at Nashville and +Chattanooga. Those at Nashville--the terminal station for 500 miles +of railway running south, east or west--had, at times, as many as 100 +engines and 1,000 cars awaiting repair. + +Next to that insufficiency of engines and rolling stock which hampered +the movements of both combatants came the difficulty in the way of +obtaining further supplies of rails, whether for new lines or to take +the place of those which had either worn out or been so bent and twisted +by the enemy that they could not be used again without re-rolling. +For the Confederates, cut off by the advance of General Grant to the +south and west from their sources of supply, the want of iron for new +rails was declared to be a worse evil than was the lack of gold for the +Federals. + +One expedient resorted to by the Federal Government, on finding they +could not procure from the manufacturers all the rails they wanted, was +to pull up the railway lines that were not wanted for military purposes +and use their rails for relaying those that were. Altogether the rails +on over 156 miles of track in Virginia and the Military Division of the +Mississippi were thus taken up and utilised elsewhere. Later on the +Federal Construction Corps erected at Chattanooga some "very superior" +rolling mills, equipped with all the latest improvements in the way of +machinery and mechanical appliances; though these mills did not actually +get to work until April 1, 1865. Their production of new rails during +the course of six months from that date was 3,818 tons, this supply +being in addition to nearly 22,000 tons which the Federal Government +obtained by purchase. + +These details may convey some idea of all that was involved in the +utilisation of rail-power in the American Civil War under such +development of railway construction as had then been brought about. +Great, however, as was the outlay, the forethought, the energy, the +patience and the watchfulness spoken of by McCallum, the results were no +less valuable from the point of view of the Federals, who could hardly +have hoped to achieve the aim they set before themselves--that of saving +the Union--but for the material advantages they derived from the use of +the railways for the purposes of the campaign. + +Some of the achievements accomplished in the movement of troops from +one part of the theatre of war to another would have been creditable +even in the most favourable of circumstances; but they were especially +so in view alike of the physical conditions of many of the lines, the +inadequate supply of rolling stock, and the risks and difficulties to be +met or overcome. + +One of these achievements, carried out in September, 1863, is thus +narrated in an article on "Recollections of Secretary Stanton," +published in the _Century Magazine_ for March, 1887:-- + + The defeat of Rosecrans, at Chickamauga, was believed at + Washington to imperil East Tennessee, and the Secretary [of War] + was urged to send a strong reinforcement there from the Army + of the Potomac. General Halleck (General-in-Chief of the Army + of the United States) contended that it was impossible to get + an effective reinforcement there in time; and the President, + after hearing both sides, accepted the judgment of Halleck. Mr. + Stanton put off the decision till evening, when he and Halleck + were to be ready with details to support their conclusions. + The Secretary then sent for Colonel McCallum, who was neither + a lawyer nor a strategist, but a master of railway science. He + showed McCallum how many officers, men, horses, and pieces of + artillery, and how much baggage, it was proposed to move from + the Rapidan to the Tennessee, and asked him to name the shortest + time he would undertake to do it in if his life depended on + it. McCallum made some rapid calculations, jotted down some + projects connected with the move, and named a time within that + which Halleck had admitted would be soon enough if it were + only possible; this time being conditioned on his being able + to control everything that he could reach. The Secretary was + delighted, told him that he would make him a Brigadier-General + the day that the last train was safely unloaded; put him on his + mettle by telling him of Halleck's assertion that the thing + was beyond human power; told him to go and work out final + calculations and projects and to begin preliminary measures, + using his name and authority everywhere; and finally instructed + him what to do and say when he should send for him by and + by to come over to the department. When the conference was + resumed and McCallum was introduced, his apparently spontaneous + demonstration of how easily and surely the impossible thing + could be done convinced the two sceptics, and the movement was + ordered, and made, and figures now in military science as a + grand piece of strategy. + +The feat thus accomplished was that of conveying by rail 23,000 men, +together with artillery, road vehicles, etc., a distance of about 1,200 +miles in seven days. It was estimated that if the troops had had to +march this distance, with all their impedimenta, along such roads as +were then available, the journey would have taken them three months. By +doing it in one week they saved the situation in East Tennessee, and +they gave an especially convincing proof of the success with which "a +grand piece of strategy" could be carried out through the employment of +rail transport. + +In December, 1864, General Schofield's corps of 15,000 men, after +fighting at Nashville in the midst of ice and snow, was, on the +conclusion of the campaign in the west, transferred from the valley of +the Tennessee to the banks of the Potomac, moving by river and rail down +the Tennessee, up the Ohio and across the snow-covered Alleghanies, +a distance of 1,400 miles, accomplished in the short space of eleven +days. In 1865 the moving of the Fourth Army Corps of the Federals from +Carter's Station, East Tennessee, to Nashville, a distance of 373 miles, +involved the employment of 1,498 cars. + +What, in effect, the Civil War in America did in furthering the +development of the rail-power principle in warfare was to show that, +by the use of railways, (1) the fighting power of armies is increased; +(2) strategical advantages unattainable but for the early arrival of +reinforcements at threatened points may be assured; and (3) expeditions +may be undertaken at distances from the base of supplies which would +be prohibitive but for the control of lines of railway communication; +though as against these advantages were to be put those considerations +which also arose as to destruction and restoration, and as to the +control of railways in their operation for military purposes. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +RAILWAY DESTRUCTION IN WAR + + +One of the earliest and most obvious criticisms advanced against the +use of railways in war was based on the vulnerability of the iron +road. The destruction of a bridge, the tearing up of a few rails or +the blocking of a tunnel would, it was argued, suffice to cause an +interruption in the transport of troops or supplies which might be of +serious consequence to the combatants prejudiced thereby, though of +corresponding advantage to the other side. By means of such interruption +the concentration of troops on the frontier might be delayed; an army +might be divided into two or more parts, and exposed to the risk of +defeat in detail; the arrival of reinforcements urgently wanted to +meet a critical situation might be prevented until it was too late for +them to afford the desired relief; a force advancing into an enemy's +country might have its rail connection severed and be left to starve +or to surrender at discretion; invaders would find that the force they +were driving before them had taken the precaution to destroy their +own railways as they retreated; or, alternatively, lines of railway +constructed to the frontier, and depended upon to facilitate invasion of +neighbouring territory, might--unless destroyed--be of material service +to the enemy, should the latter become the invaders instead of the +invaded. + +While these and other possibilities--foreshadowed more especially in +the controversies which the whole subject aroused in Germany in the +'Forties--were frankly admitted, it was argued that, however vulnerable +railways might be as a line of communication, it should be quite +possible either to defend them successfully or to carry out on them +such speedy repairs or reconstruction as would, generally speaking, +permit of an early resumption of traffic; though experience was to show +that these safeguards could only be assured through a well-planned and +thoroughly efficient organisation prepared to meet, with the utmost +dispatch and the highest degree of efficiency, all the requirements in +the way of railway repairs or railway rebuilding that were likely to +arise. + +The earliest instance of an attempt to delay the advance of an enemy +by interrupting his rail communications was recorded in 1848, when the +Venetians, threatened with bombardment by the Austrians, destroyed +some of the arches in the railway viaduct connecting their island city +with the mainland. Then in the _Italian campaign of 1859_ the allies +and the Austrians both resorted to the expedient of destroying railway +bridges or tearing up the railway lines; although the allies were able, +in various instances, to repair so speedily the damage done by the +Austrians that the lines were ready for use again by the time they were +wanted. + +It was the _American Civil War_ that was to elevate railway destruction +and restoration into a science and to see the establishment, in the +interests of such science, of an organisation which was to become a +model for European countries and influence the whole subsequent course +of modern warfare. + +The destruction of railways likely to be used by the North for its +projected invasion of the Confederate States was, from the first, +a leading feature in the strategy of the South. Expeditions were +undertaken and raids were made with no other object than that of +burning down bridges, tearing up and bending rails, making bonfires of +sleepers, wrecking stations, rendering engines, trucks and carriages +unserviceable, cutting off the water supply for locomotives, or in +various other ways seeking to check the advance of the Northerners. +Later on the Federals, in turn, became no less energetic in resorting to +similar tactics in order either to prevent pursuit by the Confederates +or to interrupt their communications. + +For the carrying out of these destructive tactics use was generally made +either of cavalry, accompanied by civilians, or of bodies of civilians +only; but in some instances, when it was considered desirable to destroy +lengths of track extending to twenty or thirty miles, or more, the +Confederates put the whole of their available forces on to the work. + +At the outset the methods of destruction were somewhat primitive; but +they were improved upon as the result of practice and experiment. + +Thus, in the first instance, timber bridges or viaducts were destroyed +by collecting brushwood, placing this around the arches, pouring tar or +petroleum upon the pile, and then setting fire to the whole. Afterwards +the Federals made use of a "torpedo," eight inches long, and charged +with gunpowder, which was inserted in a hole bored in the main timbers +of the bridge and exploded with a fuse. It was claimed that with two or +three men working at each span the largest timber bridge could be thrown +down in a few minutes. + +Then the method generally adopted at first for destroying a railway +track was to tear up sleepers and rails, place the sleepers in a heap, +put the rails cross-ways over them, set fire to the sleepers, and heat +the rails until they either fell out of shape or could be twisted around +a tree with the help of chains and horses. But this process was found +to require too much time and labour, while the results were not always +satisfactory, since rails only slightly bent could be restored to +their original shape, and made ready for use again, in much less time +than it had taken for the fire to heat and bend them. A Federal expert +accordingly invented an ingenious contrivance, in the form of iron +U-shaped "claws," which, being turned up and over at each extremity, +were inserted underneath each end of a rail, on opposite sides, and +operated, with the help of a long wooden lever and rope, by half a dozen +men. In this way a rail could be torn from the sleepers and not only +bent but given such a spiral or corkscrew twist, while still in the cold +state, that it could not be used again until it had gone through the +rolling mills. By the adoption of this method, 440 men could destroy +one mile of track in an hour, or 2,200 men could, in the same time, +destroy five miles. + +The most effective method for rendering a locomotive unfit for service +was found to be the firing of a cannon ball through the boiler. +Carriages and wagons which might otherwise be used by the enemy, and +could not be conveniently carried off, were easily destroyed by fire. +In one period of six months the Federals disposed of 400 in this way. +Stations, water-tanks, sleepers, fuel and telegraph poles were also +destroyed or rendered useless by fire or otherwise. + +In the first year of the war--1861--the Confederates gave the Federals a +foretaste of much that was to come by destroying forty-eight locomotives +on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and making a complete wreck of 100 +miles of the North Missouri Railroad track and everything thereon. + +Much more serious than this, however, from a strategical point of +view, was the wholesale destruction carried out by the Confederates, +in April, 1862, on the Fredericksburg Railway, connecting Richmond +and Washington, the immediate result of the mischief done being to +prevent an impending combination between the Federal armies of the +Potomac and the Rappahannock, neither of which could act without the +other, while neither could join the other unless it could make use +of rail communication. There was much that required to be done, for +the Confederates had carried out their work in a most thorough-going +fashion. Several indispensable railway bridges had been destroyed; three +miles of track had been torn up, the rails being carried south and the +sleepers burned; and wharves and buildings had been burned or wrecked. +The whole transportation service, in fact, had been reduced to a state +of chaos. + +At the urgent request of the Secretary of War, the work of restoration +was undertaken by Mr. Herman Haupt, a railway engineer who had already +distinguished himself more especially as a builder of bridges, and was +now to establish a further record as the pioneer of those Construction +Corps of which so much was to be heard later on in connection with +railways and war. + +In carrying out the necessary repairs the only help which Haupt could +obtain, at first, was that of soldiers detailed from the Federal ranks. +Many of these men were entirely unaccustomed to physical labour; others +were sickly, inefficient, or unwilling to undertake what they did not +regard as a soldier's duties, while the Army officers sent in a fresh +lot daily until Haupt's remonstrances led to their allotting certain +men to form a "Construction Corps." Other difficulties which presented +themselves included an insufficient supply of tools, occasional scarcity +of food, and several days of wet weather; yet the work advanced so +rapidly that the Akakeek bridge, a single span of 120 ft., at an +elevation of 30 ft., was rebuilt in about fifteen working hours; the +Potomac Creek bridge, 414 ft. long with an elevation of 82 ft. above +the water, and requiring the use of as much roughly-hewn timber as +would have extended a total length of six and a half miles, if put end +to end, was completed in nine days;[5] and the three miles of track +were relaid in three days, included in the work done in that time being +the preparation of more than 3,000 sleepers from lumber cut down for +the purpose in woods a mile and a half distant from the track. General +McDowell subsequently said, concerning the Potomac bridge:-- + + When it is considered that in the campaigns of Napoleon + trestle bridges of more than one story, even of moderate + height, were regarded as impracticable, and that, too, for + common military roads, it is not difficult to understand why + distinguished Europeans should express surprise at so bold a + specimen of American military engineering. It is a structure + which ignores all rules and precedents of military science as + laid down in the books. It is constructed chiefly of round + sticks cut from the woods, and not even divested of bark; the + legs of the trestles are braced with round poles. It is in four + stories--three of trestle and one of crib work. + +While constructed in so apparently primitive a fashion, the bridge was, +General McDowell further said, carrying every day from ten to twenty +heavy railway trains in both directions, and had withstood several +severe freshets and storms without injury. + +Thus early, therefore, in the more active phases of the Civil War, +evidence was being afforded that, although the railways on which so +much depended might be readily destroyed, they could, also, be rapidly +restored; and subsequent experience was to offer proofs still more +remarkable in support of this fact. + +On May 28, 1862, Haupt was appointed Chief of Construction and +Transportation in the Department of the Rappahannock, with the rank of +Colonel. He was raised to the rank of Brigadier-General in the following +year, and did much excellent construction and other work for the +Government, though mainly in Virginia, down to September, 1863. In his +"Reminiscences" he relates that the supplies of repair or reconstruction +materials, as kept on hand by the Federals, included the interchangeable +parts of bridge trusses, in spans of 60 ft., and so prepared that, taken +on flat cars, by ox-teams or otherwise, to the place where they were +wanted, and hoisted into position by machinery arranged for the purpose, +they could, without previous fitting, be put together with such rapidity +that one of his foremen claimed to be able to build a bridge "about as +fast as a dog could trot." When the Massaponix bridge, six miles from +Fredericksburg, was burned down one Monday morning, a new one was put +up in its place in half a day--a feat which, he says, led some of the +onlookers to exclaim, "The Yankees can build bridges quicker than the +Rebs can burn them down." In May, 1862, five bridges over Goose Creek +which the "Rebs" had destroyed were reconstructed in a day and a half. +In the following month five other bridges, each with a span of from 60 +ft. to 120 ft., were renewed in one day. At the Battle of Gettysburg +Lee's troops destroyed nineteen bridges on the Northern Central Railroad +and did much havoc on the branch lines leading to Gettysburg; but the +Construction Corps was hard at work on the repairs whilst the battle +was still being waged, and rail communication with both Washington and +Baltimore had been re-established by noon of the day after Lee's retreat. + +In some instances railway bridges underwent repeated destruction and +reconstruction. By June, 1863, the bridge over Bull Run, for instance, +had been burned down and built up again no fewer than seven times. Many +of the bridges, also, were swept away by floods, and this even for a +second or a third time after they had been rebuilt. Precautions thus +had to be taken against the destructive forces of Nature no less than +against those of man. + +Haupt's pioneer Construction Corps in Virginia was succeeded by the +one set up on much broader lines by McCallum when, in February, 1864, +he became General Manager of railways in the Military Division of the +Mississippi. This corps eventually reached a total of 10,000 men. + +"The design of the corps," wrote McCallum, in his final report, "was +to combine a body of skilled workmen in each department of railroad +construction and repairs, under competent engineers, supplied with +abundant materials, tools and mechanical appliances." The corps was +formed into divisions the number of which varied from time to time, in +different districts, according to requirements. In the military division +of the Mississippi the corps comprised six divisions, under the general +charge of the chief engineer of the United States military railroads +for that military division, and consisted at its maximum strength of +nearly 5,000 men. In order to give the corps entire mobility, and to +enable it to move independently and undertake work at widely different +points, each of the six divisions was made a complete unit, under +the command of a divisional engineer, and was, in turn, divided into +sub-divisions or sections, with a supervisor in charge of each. The +two largest and most important sub-divisions in any one division were +those of the track-layers and the bridge-builders. A sub-division was, +again, composed of gangs, each with a foreman, while the gangs were +divided into squads, each with a sub-foreman.[6] Under this method of +organisation it was possible to move either the entire division or any +section thereof, with its tools, camp requirements and field transport, +in any direction, wherever and whenever needed, and by any mode of +conveyance--rail, road, with teams and wagons, or on foot. + +To facilitate the operations of the corps, supplies of materials were +kept at points along or within a short distance of the railway lines, +where they would be comparatively safe and speedily procurable in +case of necessity. At places where there was special need for taking +precautionary measures, detachments of the corps were stationed in +readiness for immediate action, while on important lines of railway +Federals and Confederates alike had, at each end thereof, construction +trains loaded with every possible requisite, the locomotives attached +to them keeping their steam up in order that the trains could be +started off instantly on the receipt of a telegram announcing a further +interruption of traffic. + +At Nashville and Chattanooga the Federals built extensive storehouses +where they kept on hand supplies of materials for the prompt carrying +out of railway repairs of every kind to any extent and in whatever +direction. + +On the Nashville and Chattanooga Railway itself the Construction Corps, +from February, 1864, to the close of the war, relaid 115 miles of +track, put in nineteen miles of new sidings, eight miles apart and each +capable of holding from five to eight long freight trains, and erected +forty-five new water tanks. + +The reconstruction of this particular line was more especially needed +in connection with General Sherman's campaign in Georgia and the +Carolinas--a campaign which afforded the greatest and most direct +evidence up to that time alike of the possibilities of rail-power +in warfare, of the risks by which its use was attended, and of the +success with which those risks could be overcome by means of efficient +organisation. + +In that struggle for Atlanta which preceded his still more famous march +to the sea, Sherman had with him a force of 100,000 men, together with +23,000 animals. His base of supplies, when he approached Atlanta, was +360 miles distant, and the continuance of his communications with that +base, not only for the procuring of food, clothing, fodder, ammunition +and every other requisite, but for the transport to the rear of sick +and wounded, refugees, freedmen and prisoners, depended on what he +afterwards described as "a poorly-constructed single-track railroad" +passing for 120 miles of its length through the country of an extremely +active enemy. Yet Sherman is said to have made his advance in perfect +confidence that, although subject to interruptions, the railway in his +rear would be "all right"; and this confidence was fully warranted by +the results accomplished. + +Early in September, 1864, the Confederate General, Wheeler, destroyed +seven miles of road between Nashville and Murfreesboro', on the +Nashville and Chattanooga Railway, and in the following December Hood +destroyed eight miles of track and 530 ft. of bridges between the same +stations; yet the arrangements of the Federal Construction Corps allowed +of the repairs being carried out with such promptness that in each +instance the trains were running again in a few days. + +The Confederate attacks on the Western and Atlantic Railway, running +from Chattanooga at Atlanta, a distance of 136 miles, were more +continuous and more severe than on any other line of railway during +the war; but, thanks again to the speed with which the repair and +reconstruction work was done, the delays occasioned were, as a rule, of +only a few hours, or, at the most, a few days' duration. One especially +remarkable feat accomplished on this line was the rebuilding, in four +and a half days, of the Chattahochee bridge, near Atlanta--a structure +780 ft. long, and 92 ft. high. Hood, the Confederate General, thought +still further to check Sherman's communications by passing round the +Federal army and falling upon the railway in its rear. He succeeded +in tearing up two lengths of track, one of ten miles, and another of +twenty-five miles, in extent, and destroying 250 ft. of bridges; but +once more the work of restoration was speedily carried out, McCallum +saying in reference to it:-- + + Fortunately the detachments of the Construction Corps which + escaped were so distributed that even before Hood had left the + road two strong working parties were at work, one at each end of + the break at Big Shanty, and this gap of ten miles was closed, + and the force ready to move to the great break of twenty-five + miles in length, north of Resaca, as soon as the enemy had left + it. The destruction by Hood's army of our depôts of supplies + compelled us to cut nearly all the cross-ties required to relay + this track and to send a distance for rails. The cross-ties were + cut near the line of the road and many of them carried by hand + to the track, as the teams to be furnished for hauling them did + not get to the work until it was nearly complete. The rails used + on the southern end of the break had to be taken up and brought + from the railroads south of Atlanta, and those for the northern + end were mostly brought from Nashville, nearly 200 miles distant. + + Notwithstanding all the disadvantages under which the labour + was performed, this twenty-five miles of track was laid, and the + trains were running over it in seven and a half days from the + time the work was commenced. + +Concluding, however, that it would be unwise to depend on the railway +during his further march to the sea, Sherman collected at Atlanta, by +means of the restored lines, the supplies he wanted for 600,000 men, +sent to the rear all the men and material no longer required, and +then, before starting for Savannah, destroyed sixty miles of track +behind him in so effectual a manner that it would be impossible for the +Confederates--especially in view of their own great lack, at this time, +of rails, locomotives and rolling stock--to repair and utilise the +lines again in any attempted pursuit. It was, in fact, as much to his +advantage now to destroy the railways in his rear as it had previously +been to repair and rebuild them. + +All through Georgia, for the 300 miles from Atlanta to Savannah (where +he was able to establish communications with the Federal fleet), Sherman +continued the same tactics of railway destruction; and he resumed them +when his army, now divided into three columns, turned northward to +effect a junction with Grant at Richmond. + +On this northward march, also, there was no need for Sherman to make a +direct attack on Charleston. By destroying about sixty miles of track +in and around Branchville--a village on the South Carolina Railroad +which formed a junction where the line from Charleston branched off in +the directions of Columbia and Augusta respectively--one of Sherman's +columns severed Charleston from all its sources of supply in the +interior, and left the garrison with no alternative but to surrender. +Commenting on this event, Vigo-Rouissillon remarks, in his "Puissance +Militaire des États-Unis d'Amérique":-- + + Ainsi il avait suffi de la destruction ou de la possession + de quelques kilomètres de chemin de fer pour amener la chute de + ce boulevard de l'insurrection, qui avait si longtemps résisté + aux plus puissantes flottes du Nord. Exemple frappant du rôle + reservé dans nos guerres modernes à ce precieux et fragile moyen + de communication. + +In the aggregate, Sherman's troops destroyed hundreds of miles of +railway track in their progress through what had previously been +regarded as a veritable stronghold of the enemy's country; though +meanwhile the Construction Corps had repaired and reopened nearly 300 +miles of railway in North Carolina and had built a wharf, covering an +area of 54,000 square feet, at the ocean terminus of the Atlantic and +North Carolina Railroad in order both to facilitate Sherman's progress +northwards, by the time of his reaching the lines in question, and to +enable him to obtain supplies from the fleet. The railways, in fact, +contributed greatly to the brilliant success of Sherman's campaign, and +hence, also, to the final triumph of the Federal cause. + +The total length of track laid or relaid by the Federal Construction +Corps during the continuance of the war was 641 miles, and the lineal +feet of bridges built or rebuilt was equal to twenty-six miles. The +net expenditure, in respect alike to construction and transportation, +incurred by the department in charge of the railways during their +control by the Government for military purposes was close on $30,000,000. + +From this time the interruption of railway communication became a +recognised phase of warfare all the world over; and, not only have +numerous treatises been written on the subject in various languages, but +the creation of special forces to deal alike with the destruction and +the restoration of railways has become an important and indispensable +feature of military organisation. These matters will be dealt with more +fully in subsequent chapters; but it may be of interest if reference +is made here to the experiences of _Mexico_, as further illustrating +the universality of practices with which, in her case, at least, no +effective measures had been taken to deal. + +"How Mexican Rebels Destroy Railways and Bridges" was told by Mr. G. +E. Weekes in the _Scientific American_ for September 13, 1913, and the +subject was further dealt with by Major Charles Hine in a paper on "War +Time Railroading in Mexico," read by him before the St. Louis Railway +Club, on October 10, 1913. The term "rebels" applies, of course, in +Mexico to the party that is against the particular President who is in +office for the time being; and in the revolutionary period lasting from +1910 to 1913 the "rebels" of the moment found plenty to do in the way +of destroying railways not only, as in other countries, in order to +retard the advance of their pursuers, but, also, to spite the national +Government, who control about two-thirds of the stock in the railways of +the Republic. + +Altogether, the mischief done by one party or the other during the +period in question included the destruction of many hundreds of miles of +track; the burning or the dynamiting of hundreds of bridges, according +as these had been built of timber or of steel; and the wrecking of many +stations and over 50 per cent. of the rolling stock on the national +lines. + +Concerning the methods adopted in the carrying out of this work, Mr. +Weekes, who had the opportunity of seeing track and bridge destruction +in full progress, says:-- + + Up to the past six months track destruction had been + accompanied either by the use of a wrecking crane, which lifted + sections of rails and ties (sleepers) bodily and piled them up + ready for burning, or by the slower process of the claw-bar, + wrench and pick. But a Constitutionalist expert devised a new + system. + + A trench is dug between two ties, through which a heavy + chain is passed around two opposite rails and made fast in the + centre of the track. To this one end of a heavy steel cable is + hooked, the other end being made fast to the coupling on the + engine pilot. At the signal the engineman starts his locomotive + slowly backward, and as they are huge 220-ton "consolidations," + with 22-inch by 30-inch cylinders, one can easily imagine that + something has to give. And it does! The rails are torn loose + from the spikes that hold them to the ties and are dragged + closely together in the centre of the road bed. The ties are + loosened from the ballast and dragged into piles, while in many + cases the rails are badly bent and twisted by the force applied. + A gang of men follows the engine, piling ties on top of the line + and leaving others beneath them. These are then saturated with + oil and a match applied. In a short time the ties are consumed + and the rails left lying on the ground twisted and contorted + into all sorts of shapes and of no further use until after they + have been re-rolled. + +As for the bridges, those of timber were saturated with oil and burned, +while in the case of steel bridges rows of holes were bored horizontally +in the lower part of the piers and charged with dynamite, which was then +exploded by means of fuses connected with batteries of the type used in +Mexican coal mines. + +Another favourite method adopted for interfering with transportation +by rail was that of attacking a train, compelling it to stop, taking +possession of the locomotive, and burning the cars. + +There is no suggestion by either of the authorities mentioned above +of any well-organised Construction Corps in Mexico repairing damage +done on the railway almost as quickly as it could be effected by the +destroyers. Mr. Weekes believed, rather, that it would take years to +restore the roads to the condition they were in before the rebellion +against President Diaz, and he further declared that it would cost +the national lines of Mexico many millions of dollars to replace the +destroyed rolling stock, bridges, stations, etc. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] In May, 1864, when this bridge had been again destroyed, it was +rebuilt, ready for trains to pass over, in forty working hours. + +[6] A division, completely organised, consisted of 777 officers and +men, as follows:--Division engineer, assistant engineer, rodman, +clerk, and 2 messengers (6). Sub-division I: Supervisor of bridges and +carpenters' work, clerk and time-keeper, commissionary (taking charge +of transport and issue of rations), quartermaster (in charge of tools, +camp equipment, etc.), surgeon, hospital steward, 6 foremen (1 for +each 50 men), 30 sub-foremen (1 for each 10 men), 300 mechanics and +labourers, blacksmith and helper, and 12 cooks (356). Sub-division II: +Supervisor of track, and remainder of staff as in Sub-division I (356). +Sub-division III: Supervisor of water stations, foreman, 12 mechanics +and labourers, and cook (15). Sub-division IV: Supervisor of masonry, +foreman, 10 masons and helpers, and cook (13). Sub-division V: Foreman +of ox-brigade, 18 ox-drivers, and cook (20). Train crew: 2 conductors, 4 +brakesmen, 2 locomotive engineers, 2 firemen, and cook (11). + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CONTROL OF RAILWAYS IN WAR + + +Curtailment of the efficiency of railways during war may be due to +friend no less than to foe; and there have been occasions when, of the +two, it is the friend who has caused the greater degree of trouble, +hindrance and interruption. + +These conditions have arisen mainly from three causes--(1) questions of +control; (2) irregularities in the employment of railway material; and +(3) absence or inadequacy of organisation for military rail-transport +purposes. + +When the use of railways becomes an essential factor in the conduct of +war, it may appear only natural that the military authority charged with +the duty of furthering or defending national interests should, through +the Government concerned, have power to command the transport facilities +of all railway lines the use of which may be necessary for the movement +of troops or other military purposes. + +Yet, while the soundness of the principle here involved is beyond +dispute, there is much to be said as to the circumstances and conditions +under which a military control of railways should be exercised. + +It is, in the first place, especially necessary to bear in mind that the +railway, as a means of transport, must needs be regarded from a point of +view wholly different from that which would apply to ordinary roads. On +the latter any sort of vehicle can be used, and there are, generally, +alternative roads along which traffic can pass, in case of need. +Railroads are not only available exclusively for vehicles constructed +to run upon them, but the degree of their usefulness is limited by +such considerations as the number of separate routes to a given +destination; the important matters of detail as to whether the lines are +single track or double track and whether they are on the level or have +heavy gradients; the number of locomotives and the amount of rolling +stock available; the extent of the station and siding accommodation; +the provision or non-provision of adequate facilities for loading and +unloading; and, in war time, the damage or destruction of a particular +line or lines by the enemy. The amount of traffic it is possible to +convey between certain points in a given time may thus be wholly +controlled by the physical conditions of the railway concerned, and such +conditions may be incapable of modification by the railway staffs, in +case of a sudden emergency, however great their desire to do everything +that is in their power. + +In the next place, all these physical conditions may vary on different +railway systems, and even on different sections of the same system. +It does not, therefore, necessarily follow that military requirements +which can be complied with on one line or in one district can be +responded to as readily, if at all, under another and totally different +set of conditions elsewhere; though it is conceivable that a military +commander or officer who fails to realise this fact may, if he is +left to deal direct with the railway people, become very angry indeed +at non-compliance with his demands, and resent protests that what he +asks for cannot be done at one place although it may have been done at +another. + +Then a railway must be regarded as a delicate piece of transportation +machinery which can easily be thrown out of order, and is capable +of being worked only by railwaymen as skilled in the knowledge of +its mechanism, and as experienced in the details of its complicated +operation, as military officers themselves are assumed to be in the +technicalities of their own particular duties. The Chief Goods Manager +of a leading line of railway who offered to take the place of a General +at the seat of war would arouse much mirth in the Army at his own +expense. It is, nevertheless, quite conceivable that the General would +himself not be a complete success as a Chief Goods Manager. In the +earliest days of railways it was assumed that the men best qualified +both to manage them and to control the large staffs to be employed would +be retired Army officers. This policy was, in fact, adopted for a time, +though it was abandoned, after a fair trial, in favour of appointing +as responsible railway officers men who had undergone training in +the railway service, and were practically acquainted alike with its +fundamental principles and its technical details. + +In the operation of this delicate and complicated piece of machinery +dislocation of traffic may result from a variety of causes, even +when such operation is conducted by men of the greatest experience +in railway working; but the risk, alike of blocks and interruptions +and of accidents involving loss of life or destruction of valuable +property must needs be materially increased if military commanders, or +officers, themselves having no practical knowledge of railway working, +and influenced only by an otherwise praiseworthy zeal for the interests +of their own service, should have power either to force a responsible +railwayman to do something which he, with his greater technical +knowledge, knows to be impracticable, or to hamper and interfere with +the working of the line at a time of exceptional strain on its resources. + +Under, again, a misapprehension of the exact bearing of the principle +of military control of railways for military operations in time of +war, there was developed in various campaigns a tendency on the part +of commanders and subordinate officers (1) to look upon railways and +railwaymen as subject to their personal command, if not, even, to their +own will, pleasure and convenience, so long as the war lasted; (2) +to consider that every order they themselves gave should be at once +carried out, regardless either of orders from other directions or of +any question as to the possibility of complying therewith; and (3) to +indulge in merciless denunciations, even if not in measures still more +vigorous, when their orders have not been obeyed. + +Apart from other considerations, all these things have a direct bearing +on the efficiency of the railway itself as an instrument in the +carrying on of warfare; and it is, therefore, a matter of essential +importance to our present study to see how the difficulties in question +had their rise, the development they have undergone, and the steps that +have been taken to overcome or to guard against them. + +It was once more in the _American Civil War_ that the control problem +first arose in a really acute degree. + +The fundamental principle adopted for the operation of the railways +taken possession of by the Federal Government for military purposes +was that they should be conducted under orders issued by the Secretary +of War or by Army commanders in or out of the field. It was for the +Quartermaster's department to load all material upon the cars, to direct +where such material should be taken, and to arrange for unloading and +delivery; but _because_ the Government had taken possession of the +railways; _because_ the Quartermaster's department was to discharge the +duties mentioned; and _because_ the railways were to be used during the +war for the transport of troops and of Army supplies, therefore certain +of the officers came to the conclusion that the whole operation of the +particular lines in which they were concerned should be left either to +themselves individually or to the Quartermaster's department. + +Among those holding this view was General Pope, who, on taking over the +command of the Rappahannock Division, on June 26, 1862, disregarded +the position held by Herman Haupt as "Chief of Construction and +Transportation" in that Division, gave him no instructions, and left him +to conclude that the Army could get on very well without his assistance +as a mere railwayman. Thereupon Haupt went home. Ten days afterwards +he received from the Assistant-Secretary of War a telegram which +said:--"Come back immediately. Cannot get on without you. Not a wheel +moving." Haupt went back, and he found that, what with mismanagement of +the lines and the attacks made on them by Confederates, not a wheel was, +indeed, moving in the Division. His own position strengthened by his now +being put in "exclusive charge of all the railways within the limits +of the Army of Virginia," he was soon able to set the wheels running +again; and from that time General Pope exercised a wise discretion in +leaving the details of railway transportation to men who understood them. + +Then there was a General Sturgis who, when Haupt called on him one +day, received him with the intimation, "I have just sent a guard to +your office to put you under arrest for disobedience of my orders in +failing to transport my command." It was quite true. Haupt had failed +to obey his orders. Sturgis wanted some special trains to convey 10,000 +men, with horses and baggage, the short distance of eighteen miles. +The railway was a single-track line; it had only a limited equipment +of engines and cars; there was the prospect of further immediate +requirements in other directions, and Haupt took the liberty of thinking +that he had better keep his transportation for more pressing needs than +a journey to a prospective battle-field only eighteen miles away--the +more so as if the men were attacked whilst they were in the train they +would be comparatively helpless, whereas if they were attacked when on +the road--doing what amounted to no more than a single day's march--they +would be ready for immediate defence. These considerations suggest that, +of the two, the railwayman was a better strategist than the General. + +Sturgis followed up his intimation to Haupt by taking military +possession of the railway and issuing some orders which any one +possessing the most elementary knowledge of railway operation would have +known to be impracticable. Meanwhile Haupt appealed by telegraph to the +Commander-in-Chief, who replied:--"No military officer has any authority +to interfere with your control over railroad. Show this to General +Sturgis, and, if he attempts to interfere, I will arrest him." Told what +the Commander-in-Chief said in his message, Sturgis exclaimed, "He does, +does he? Well, then, take your damned railroad!" + +Haupt found it possible to put at the disposal of Sturgis, early the +following morning, the transportation asked for; but at two o'clock +in the afternoon the cars were still unoccupied. On the attention of +Sturgis being called to this fact he replied that he had given his +orders but they had been disobeyed. Thereupon the cars were withdrawn +for service elsewhere--the more so since no other traffic could pass +until they had been cleared out of the way. The net results of the +General's interference was that traffic on the lines was deranged for +twenty-four hours, and 10,000 men were prevented from taking part in an +engagement, as they might have done had they gone by road. + +Of the varied and almost unending irregularities which occurred in the +working of the lines as military railways during the progress of the +same war a few other examples may be given. + +One prolific source of trouble was the detention or appropriation +of trains by officers who did not think it necessary to communicate +first with the Superintendent of the Line. A certain General who did +inform the Superintendent when he wanted a train was, nevertheless, in +the habit of keeping it waiting for several hours before he made his +appearance, traffic being meanwhile suspended, in consequence. + +Special consideration was even claimed for officers' wives, as well as +for the officers themselves. On one occasion Haupt was much disturbed by +the non-arrival of a train bringing supplies which were urgently wanted +for a body of troops starting on a march, and he went along the line to +see what had happened. Coming at last to the train, which had pulled +up, he made inquiries of the engine-driver, who told him that he had +received instructions to stop at a certain point so that an officer's +wife, who was coming in the train to see her husband on the eve of an +engagement, could go to a neighbouring town to look out for rooms for +herself. At that moment the lady put in an appearance. She took her seat +again and the train then proceeded; but her side-trip in search of rooms +meant a delay of three hours alike for this one train and for three +others following behind. + +The impression seems to have prevailed, also, that officers were at +liberty to make any use of the trains they pleased for the conveyance +of their own belongings. To check the abuses thus developed, Haupt was +compelled to issue, on June 25, 1862, the following notice:-- + + Assistant Quartermasters and Commissaries are positively + forbidden to load on to cars on any of the Military Railroads of + the Department of the Rappahannock any freights which are not + strictly and properly included in Quarter and Commissary stores. + They shall not load or permit to be loaded any articles for the + private use of officers, or other persons, whatever their rank + or position. + +Officers, again, there were who, regardless of all traffic +considerations, would order a train to pull up at any point they thought +fit along the main line in order that they could examine the passes and +permits of the passengers, instead of doing this at a terminal or other +station. In still another instance a paymaster adopted as his office a +box car standing on a main line. He placed in it a table, some chairs, a +money-chest and his papers--finding it either more comfortable or more +convenient than a house alongside--and proceeded with the transaction +of all his Army business in the car. Invited to withdraw, on the +ground that he was holding up the traffic, he refused to leave, and +he persisted in his refusal until troops were called up to remove his +things for him. + +Defective arrangements in regard to the forwarding of supplies were +another cause of traffic disorganisation. The railwayman made from time +to time the most strenuous efforts in getting to the extreme front large +consignments of articles either in excess of requirements or not wanted +there at all. After blocking the line for some days, the still-loaded +cars might be sent back again, no fewer than 142 of such cars being +returned on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad in the course of a single +day. If the excessive supplies so sent were unloaded at the front, they +might have to be loaded into the cars again when the Army moved; or, as +was frequently the case in exposed positions, they might be seized or +destroyed by the enemy. Under a well-organised system an adequate stock +of supplies would, of course, have been kept in stores or on sidings at +some point in the rear, only such quantities being forwarded to the +advanced front as were really needed. + +At the railway stations there were frequent disputes between the +responsible officers as to which should have the first use of such +troop trains as were available, and Haupt found it necessary to ask the +Commander-in-Chief to delegate some one who would decide in what order +the troops should be forwarded. + +Much trouble arose because, in their anxiety to send off as many wounded +as they could, medical officers detained their trains for such periods +as dislocated the service, instead of despatching at schedule time the +men they had ready, and then asking for an extra train for the remainder. + +In other respects, also, the arrangements for the transport of the +sick and wounded were defective. Telegraphing on this subject to the +Assistant Secretary of War on August 22, 1862, Haupt said:-- + + I fear that I may be compelled to-night to do what may + appear inhuman--turn out the sick in the street. Doctors will + persist in sending sick, often without papers, to get them + off their hands, and we cannot send forward the troops if we + must run our trains to Washington with sick to stand for hours + unloaded. My first care is to send forward troops, next forage + and subsistence. + +Still more serious were the irregularities due to delays in the +unloading of trucks and the return of empties. The amount of rolling +stock available was already inadequate to meet requirements; but the +effect of the shortage was rendered still worse by reason of these +delays, due, in part, to the too frequent insufficiency of the force +available for unloading a train of supplies with the expedition that +should have been shown, and in part to the retention of the cars for +weeks together as storehouses; though the main cause, perhaps, was +the inability of military men, inexperienced in railway working, to +appreciate, as railwaymen would do, the need of getting the greatest +possible use out of rolling stock in times of emergency, and not +allowing it to stand idle longer than absolutely necessary. + +How such delays interfered with the efficiency of the railways was +indicated in one of Haupt's oft-repeated protests, in which he wrote:-- + + If all cars on their arrival at a depôt are immediately + loaded or unloaded and returned, and trains are run to schedule, + a single-track road, in good order and properly equipped, may + supply an army of 200,000 men when, if these conditions are not + complied with, the same road will not supply 30,000. + +On July 9, 1863, he telegraphed to General M. C. Meigs:-- + + I am on my way to Gettysburg again. Find things in great + confusion. Road blocked; cars not unloaded; stores ordered + to Gettysburg--where they stand for a long time, completely + preventing all movement there--ordered back without unloading; + wounded lying for hours without ability to carry them off. All + because the simple rule of promptly unloading and returning cars + is violated. + +As for the effect of all these conditions on the military situation as +a whole, this is well shown in the following "Notice," which, replying +to complaints that railwaymen had not treated the military officers with +proper respect, Haupt addressed "To agents and other employés of the +United States Military Railroad Department":-- + + While conscious of no disposition to shield the employés or + agents of the Military Railroads from any censure or punishment + that is really merited, justice to them requires me to state + that, so far, examination has shown that complaints against them + have been generally without proper foundation, and, when demands + were not promptly complied with, the cause has been inability, + arising from want of proper notice, and not indisposition. + + Officers at posts entrusted with the performance of certain + local duties, and anxious, as they generally are, to discharge + them efficiently, are not always able, or disposed, to look + beyond their own particular spheres. They expect demands on + railway agents to be promptly complied with, without considering + that similar demands, at the same time, in addition to the + regular train service and routine duties, may come from + Quartermasters, Commissaries, medical directors, surgeons, + ordnance officers, the Commanding General, the War Department + and from other sources. The Military Railroads have utterly + failed to furnish transportation to even one-fifth of their + capacity when managed without a strict conformity to schedule + and established rules. Punctuality and discipline are even more + important to the operation of a railroad than to the movement of + an army; and they are vital in both. + +It is doubtful if even the Confederate raiders and wreckers had, by +their destructive tactics, diminished the efficiency of the Union +railways to the extent of the four-fifths here attributed to the +irregularities and shortcomings of the Federals themselves. The clearest +proof was thus afforded that, if the new arm in warfare which rail-power +represented was to accomplish all it was capable of doing, it would have +to be saved from friends quite as much as from foes. + +Haupt, as we have seen, suffered much from officers during the time +he was connected with the Military Railroads in Virginia. He had the +sympathetic support of the Commander-in-Chief, who telegraphed to him +on one occasion (August 23, 1862), "No military officer will give any +orders to your subordinates except through you, nor will any of them +attempt to interfere with the running of trains"; and, also, of the +Assistant Secretary of War, who sought to soothe him in a message which +said:--"Be patient as possible with the Generals. Some of them will +trouble you more than they will the enemy." But the abuses which arose +were so serious that, in the interest of the military position itself, +they called for a drastic remedy; and this was provided for by the issue +of the following Order:-- + + War Department, + Adjutant-General's Office, + Washington, + _November 10, 1862_. + + SPECIAL ORDER. + + Commanding officers of troops along the United States + Military Railroads will give all facilities to the officers + of the road and the Quartermasters for loading and unloading + cars so as to prevent any delay. On arrival at depôts, whether + in the day or night, the cars will be instantly unloaded, and + working parties will always be in readiness for that duty, and + sufficient to unload the whole train at once. + + Commanding officers will be charged with guarding the track, + sidings, wood, water tanks, etc., within their several commands, + and will be held responsible for the result. + + Any military officer who shall neglect his duty in this + respect will be reported by the Quartermasters and + officers of the railroad, and his name will be stricken from the + rolls of the Army. + + Depôts will be established at suitable points under the + direction of the Commanding General of the Army of the Potomac, + and properly guarded. + + No officer, whatever may be his rank, will interfere with + the running of the cars, as directed by the superintendent of + the road. Any one who so interferes will be dismissed from the + service for disobedience of orders. + + By order of the Secretary of War. + J. C. KELTON. + +Commenting on this Order, General McCallum says in his report that +it was issued "in consequence of several attempts having been made +to operate railroads by Army or departmental commanders which had, +without exception, proved signal failures, disorganising in tendency and +destructive of all discipline"; and he proceeds:-- + + Having had a somewhat extensive railroad experience, both + before and since the rebellion, I consider this Order of the + Secretary of War to have been the very foundation of success; + without it the whole railroad system, which had proved an + important element in conducting military movements, would have + been, not only a costly but ludicrous failure. The fact should + be understood that the management of railroads is just as much a + distinct profession as is that of the art of war, and should be + so regarded. + +In _Europe_, Germany and Austria-Hungary were the first countries to +attempt to solve problems that seemed to go to the very foundations of +the practical usefulness of rail-transport in war. Various exhaustive +studies thereon were written by railway or military authorities, and +it may be of interest here to refer, more especially, to the views +expressed by an eminent German authority, Baron M. M. von Weber, in "Die +Schulung der Eisenbahnen," published in 1870.[7] + +Railway irregularities peculiar to war service were stated by this +writer to be mainly of three kinds:--(i) Delays from unsatisfactory +arrangements of the service and from the misemployment of rolling +stock; (ii) temporary interruption of traffic owing to the crowding of +transport masses at the stations or sidings; (iii) unsuitableness of the +stations and conveyances for the required military services. The special +reasons for the first of these causes he defined as (_a_) the absence +of sufficient mutual comprehension between the military and the railway +officials; (_b_) the strict limitation of the efficiency of individual +railway authorities to their own lines only; (_c_) the ignorance of +the entire staff of each line with regard to the details and service +regulations of the neighbouring lines; and (_d_) the impracticability +of employing certain modes of carrying on business beyond the circuit +to which they belong. It should, however, be borne in mind that these +criticisms of authorities and their staffs relate to the conditions of +the German railway system in 1870, at which time, as told by H. Budde, +in "Die französischen Eisenbahnen im Kriege 1870-71," there were in +Germany fifteen separate Directions for State railways; five Directions +of private railways operated by the State; and thirty-one Directions of +private railways operated by companies--a total of fifty-one controlling +bodies which, on an average, operated only 210 miles of line each. + +On the general question von Weber observed:-- + + The value in practice of mutual intelligence between + military and railway officials has hitherto been far too + slightly regarded. + + Demands for services from military authorities, + impracticable from the very nature of railways in general or + the nature of the existing lines in particular, have occasioned + confusion and ill-will on the part of the railway authorities + and conductors. On the other hand the latter have frequently + declared services to be impracticable which were really not so. + + All this has arisen because the two parties in the + transaction have too little insight into the nature and + mechanism of their respective callings, and regard their powers + more as contradictory than co-operative, so that they do not, + and cannot, work together. + + If, on the contrary, the nature of the railway service, + with its modifications due to differences in the nature of + the ground, the locality, and the organisation of transport + requirements, is apparent to the military officer, even in a + general way; if he appreciates the fact that the same amount of + transport must be differently performed when he passes from a + level line to a mountain line, from a double line to a single + line, from one where the signal and telegraph system are in use + to one in which these organs of safety and intelligence are + destroyed; if he can judge of the capability of stations, the + length of track, and arrangements for the loading, ordering + and passing of trains, etc., he will, with this knowledge, + and his orders being framed in accordance with it, come much + sooner and with greater facility to an understanding with the + railway executives than if his commands had to be rectified by + contradiction and assertion, frequently carried on under the + influence of excited passions, or attempted to be enforced by + violence. + + The railway official, also, who has some acquaintance with + military science, who understands from practical experience and + inspection, not confined to his own line, the capabilities of + lines and stations in a military point of view, will, at his + first transaction with the military authorities, enter sooner + into an understanding with them than if he were deficient + in this knowledge, and will find himself in a position to + co-operate, and not be coerced. + +Here the suggestion seems to be that the individual Army officer and the +individual railway executive, or railway official, should each become +sufficiently acquainted with the technicalities of the other's business +to be able to conduct their relations with mutual understanding. It +would, however, be too much to expect that this plan could be carried +out as regards either the military element in general or the railway +element in general. + +The real need of the situation was, rather, for some intermediary +organisation which, including both elements, would provide the machinery +for close co-operation between the Army on the one side and the railway +on the other, guiding the Army as to the possibilities and limitations +of the railway, and constituting the recognised and sole medium +through which orders from the Army would be conveyed to the railway, +no individual commander or officer having the right to give any direct +order to the railway executives or staffs on his own responsibility, or +to interfere in any way with the working of the railways, except in some +such case of extreme emergency as an attack by the enemy on a railway +station. + +All these problems were to form the subject of much more controversy, +together with much further practical experience, in various other +countries--and notably in France during the war of 1870-71--before, +as will be told in due course, they were solved by the adoption of +elaborate systems of organisation designed to provide, as far as +possible, for all contingencies. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[7] See Bibliography. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +PROTECTION OF RAILWAYS IN WAR + + +The liability of railway lines to interruption or destruction--whether +by bodies of cavalry sent across the frontier for that purpose, and +aiming at damage on a large scale; by smaller raiding parties operating +in the rear of an advancing army; or by individuals acting on their own +account in a hostile country--rendered necessary from an early date +in the railway era the adoption of protective measures of a type and +character varying according to circumstances; while these, in turn, +introduced some further new features into modern warfare. + +Under the orders given by General McDowell for the guarding of railways +in the Department of the Rappahannock, in the _American Civil War_, +twelve sentinels were posted along each mile of track; block-houses were +constructed at each bridge, at cross-roads, and at intervals along the +track; pickets were thrown forward at various points; bushes and trees +were cleared away from alongside the line, and the men at each post had +flags and lanterns for signalling. General Sherman took similar measures +to guard his rail communications between Nashville and Atlanta. + +Precautions such as these were directed mainly against the enemy in the +field; but an early example was to be afforded of how a civil population +may either concern themselves or be concerned against their will in the +maintenance of rail communication for military purposes. This position +is well shown in the following proclamation, issued July 30, 1863, by +Major-General G. G. Meade from the head-quarters of the Army of the +Potomac at a time when attempts to throw troop trains off the railway +lines were a matter of daily occurrence:-- + + The numerous depredations committed by citizens or rebel + soldiers in disguise, harboured and concealed by citizens, along + the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, and within our lines, call + for prompt and exemplary punishment. Under the instructions of + the Government, therefore, every citizen against whom there is + sufficient evidence of his having engaged in these practices + will be arrested and confined for punishment, or put beyond the + lines. + + The people within ten miles of the railroad are notified + that they will be held responsible, in their persons and + property, for any injury done to the road, trains, depôts or + stations by citizens, guerillas or persons in disguise; and + in case of such injury they will be impressed as labourers to + repair all damages. + + If these measures should not stop such depredations, it will + become the unpleasant duty of the undersigned, in the execution + of his instructions, to direct that the entire inhabitants of + the district of country along the railroad be put across the + lines, and their property taken for Government uses. + +On the Manassas Gap Railway General Auger further sought to protect +Federal army trains against guerilla attacks by placing in a conspicuous +position in each of such trains some of the leading Confederates +residing within Union lines, so that, should any accident happen to the +train, they would run the risk of being among the victims. + +In the _Austro-Prussian War of 1866_ the principle of punishing +the civil population for attacks on the railway lines underwent a +further development. Captain Webber says in reference to the line +through Turnau, Prague and Pardubitz to Brünn[8]: "The Prussians +were fortunate in being able to preserve the line intact from injury +by the inhabitants, partly by the number and strength of the guards +posted along it, and partly from the terror of reprisals which they +had inspired." Captain Webber suggests that, in the face of an active +enemy, and in a country where the population was hostile, it would +have been impossible to depend on the railway as a principal line of +communication; but the significance of his expression, "the terror of +reprisals," as denoting the policy adopted by Prussia so far back as +1866, will not be lost on those who are only too well acquainted with +more recent developments of the same policy by the same country. + +The number of men per mile required for guarding a line of rail +communication is declared by Captain John Bigelow, in his "Principles of +Strategy" (Philadelphia, 1894), to be exceedingly variable, depending +as it does upon the tactical features of the country and the temper of +the inhabitants. According, he says, to the estimate of the Germans for +the conditions of European warfare, the number will average about 1,000 +men for every stretch of fifteen miles. At this rate an army sixty miles +from its base requires about 4,000 men for the protection of each line +of communication. + +With the help of figures such as these one may, perhaps, understand +the more readily how it is that a Commander-in-Chief, of merciless +disposition, and wanting to retain the active services of every soldier +he possibly can in the interests of an early and successful advance +will, by spreading a feeling of "terror" among the civil population, +seek to reduce to as low a figure as circumstances will permit +the number of men he must leave behind to guard his lines of rail +communication. + +These considerations will be found to apply with the greater force +when it is remembered that in the _Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71_ the +Prussians had to adopt an especially elaborate system for safeguarding +their lines of communication with Germany during the time they occupied +French territory. At each railway station they placed a guard formed of +detachments of the Landwehr, while small detachments were stationed in +towns and villages in the neighbourhood. In each signal-box a detachment +of troops was stationed, and the whole line of railway was patrolled +from posts established along it at distances of every three or four +miles. Altogether, the Germans are said to have employed, on over 2,000 +miles of French railway lines controlled by them, as many as 100,000 +troops for protective purposes only; and even then the _franc-tireurs_ +were able to cause many interruptions. + +Under a Prussian regulation dated May 2, 1867, it was laid down that +after the restoration of any lines taken possession of in an enemy's +territory, notice should be given that in the event of any further +damage being done to the railway, the locality would be subject to a +fine of at least 500 thalers, the belongings of the inhabitants would be +liable to seizure, and the local authorities might be arrested. + +As a further precautionary measure in the war of 1870-71, the Germans +took a hint from the example of the Union Generals in the American Civil +War by compelling a leading citizen of the district passed through to +ride on the engine of each train run by them on French soil. In defence +of this practice, the German General Staff say in their handbook on "The +Usages of War"[9]:-- + + Since the lives of peaceable inhabitants were, without any + fault on their part, thereby exposed to grave danger, every + writer outside Germany has stigmatised this measure as contrary + to the law of nations and as unjustified towards the inhabitants + of the country. As against this unfavourable criticism it must + be pointed out that this measure, which was also recognised on + the German side as harsh and cruel, was only resorted to after + declarations and instructions of the occupying authorities had + proved ineffective, and that in the particular circumstances + it was the only method which promised to be effective against + the doubtless unauthorised, indeed the criminal, behaviour of + a fanatical population. Herein lies its justification under + the laws of war, but still more in the fact that it proved + completely successful, and that wherever citizens were thus + carried on the trains ... the security of traffic was assured. + +Writing under date December 16, 1870, Busch offered the following +justification for the course adopted:-- + + They were taken, not to serve as a hindrance to French + heroism, but as a precaution against treacherous crime. The + railway does not carry merely soldiers, ammunition and other + war material against which it may be allowable to use violent + measures; it also conveys a great number of wounded, doctors, + hospital attendants, and other perfectly harmless persons. Is a + peasant or _franc-tireur_ to be allowed to endanger hundreds of + those lives by removing a rail or laying a stone upon the line? + Let the French see that the security of the railway trains is no + longer threatened and the journeys made by those hostages will + be merely outings, or our people may even be able to forgo such + precautionary measures. + +In the _South African War_, Field-Marshal Earl Roberts issued at +Pretoria, on June 19, 1900, a proclamation one section of which +authorised the placing of leading men among the Boers on the locomotives +of the trains run by the British on the occupied territory; but this +particular section was withdrawn eight days afterwards. + +The English view of the practice in question is thus defined in the +official "Manual of Military Law" (Chap. XIV, "The Laws and Usages of +War," par. 463):-- + + Such measures expose the lives of inhabitants, not only + to the illegitimate acts of train wrecking by private enemy + individuals, but also to the lawful operations of raiding + parties of the armed forces of the belligerent, and cannot, + therefore, be considered a commendable practice. + +To guard against the attacks made on the railway lines in the Orange +Free State and the Transvaal during the British occupation, entrenched +posts were placed at every bridge exceeding a 30-feet span; constant +patrolling was maintained between these posts; and the block-houses +introduced (in 1901) by Lord Kitchener were erected along all the +railway lines, at distances of about 2,000 yards. Each block-house, +also, was garrisoned by about ten men, and each was surrounded by wire +entanglements which, together with various kinds of alarm fences, were +also placed between the block-houses themselves in order both to impede +the approach of the enemy and to warn the garrison thereof. + +_Block-houses_ are to-day regarded as one of the chief means of +protecting railways against attacks. Their construction and equipment +are dealt with by Major W. D. Connor, of the Corps of Engineers, U.S.A., +in "Military Railways" (Professional Papers, No. 32, Corps of Engineers, +U.S. Army, Washington, 1910). + +Supplementary to the adoption of this block-house system, in time of +war, is the practice followed in various Continental countries, in +time of peace, of building _permanent fortresses_, in solid masonry, +alongside railway bridges crossing important rivers. In some instances +the fortress is so constructed that the railway lines pass through the +centre of it. Not only, as a rule, are these fortresses extremely solid +and substantial, but they may be provided with bomb-proof covers and +be stocked with a sufficient supply of provisions to be able to stand, +if necessary, a fairly prolonged siege. One can assume, also, that the +garrison would have under its control facilities arranged in advance for +the destruction of the bridge, as a last resort, in case of need. + +The theory is that such fortresses and their garrisons should be of +especial advantage, on the outbreak of war, in checking any sudden +invasion and allowing time for the completion of defensive measures. +Their construction in connection with all the principal railway bridges +crossing the Rhine was especially favoured in Prussia after the war of +1870-1. + +Similar fortresses, or "interrupting forts," as the Germans call them, +are also built for the protection of important tunnels, junctions, +locomotive and carriage works, etc. + +Another method adopted for the safeguarding of railway lines in war is +the use of _armoured trains_; though in practice these are also employed +for the purposes of independent attacks on the enemy, apart altogether +from any question of ensuring the safety of rail communication.[10] + +For the _protection of locomotives and rolling stock_, and to prevent +not only their capture but their use by the enemy, the most efficacious +method to adopt is, of course, that of removing them to some locality +where the enemy is not likely to come. + +When, in 1866, Austria saw that she could not hold back the Prussian +invader, she took off into Hungary no fewer than 1,000 locomotives and +16,000 wagons from the railways in Bohemia and Saxony. Similar tactics +were adopted by the Boers as against ourselves in the war in South +Africa. On the British troops crossing into the Orange Free State, +from Cape Colony, they found that the retreating enemy had withdrawn +all their rolling stock, as well as all their staffs from the railway +stations, leaving behind only a more or less damaged line of railway. +Subsequently, when the forces occupied Pretoria, they certainly did find +there sixteen locomotives and 400 trucks; but the station books showed +that in the previous forty-eight hours no fewer than seventy trains, +many of them drawn by two engines, had been sent east in the direction +of Delagoa Bay. + +When it is not practicable to withdraw locomotives and rolling stock +which it is desired the enemy shall not be able to use, the obvious +alternative is that measures should be taken either to remove vital +parts or to ensure their destruction. Certain of the methods adopted +during the Civil War in America were especially efficacious in attaining +the latter result. In some instances trains were started running and +then--driver and fireman leaping off the engine--were left to go into +a river, or to fall through a broken viaduct. In other instances two +trains, after having had a good supply of explosives put in them, would +be allowed to dash into one another at full speed. Many locomotives +had their boilers burst, and wagons were set on fire after having been +filled up with combustibles. + +Still another method which has been adopted with a view to preventing +an enemy from using the railways he might succeed in capturing is that +of constructing them with a _different gauge_. The standard gauge of +the main-line railways in France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, +Austria-Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, Roumania and Turkey (like that, +also, of railways in Great Britain, Canada and the United States), is +4ft. 8½in., allowing trains to pass readily from one country to the +other with the same rolling stock; but the gauge of the Russian railways +is 5ft., necessitating a transshipment from one train to another when +the frontier is reached. Similar conditions are found in Spain and +Portugal, where the standard gauge is 5ft. 6in.[11] + +Russia adopted her broader gauge so that, in case of invasion, the +invader should not be able to run his rolling-stock over her lines, as +Germany, for instance, would be able to do in the case of the railways +of Belgium and France. Thus far, therefore, Russia strengthened her +position from the point of view of defence; but she weakened it as +regards attack, since if she should herself want, either to become the +invader or to send troop trains over neighbouring territory to some +point beyond, she would be at a disadvantage. In the Russo-Turkish War +of 1877-78, when the Russian forces passed through Roumania on their way +to Turkey, the difference in gauge between the Russian and the Roumanian +railways caused great delay and inconvenience by reason of the necessary +transfer of troops, stores, guns, ammunition, torpedo boats, etc., at +the frontier. + +It should, also, be remembered that the reduction of a broad gauge to a +narrow one is a much simpler matter, from an engineering point of view, +than the widening of a narrower gauge into a broad one. In the former +case the existing sleepers, bridges, tunnels, platforms, etc., would +still serve their purpose. In the latter case fresh sleepers might have +to be laid, bridges and tunnels widened or enlarged, and platforms and +stations altered, use of the broader-gauge rolling stock thus involving +an almost complete reconstruction of the railway lines. To this extent, +therefore, the balance of advantage would seem to be against the country +having the broader gauge. The conclusion may, at least, be formed that +such a country is far more bent on protecting her own territory than on +invading that of her neighbours. + +The course adopted by Germany for overcoming the difficulty which, in +the event of her seeking to invade Russia, the difference of railway +gauge in that country would present, will be told in Chapter XVIII. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[8] "Notes on the Campaign in Bohemia in 1866." By Capt. Webber, R.E. +Papers of the Corps of Royal Engineers, N.S., vol. xvi. Woolwich, 1868. + +[9] "The German War Book. Being the Usages of War on Land"; issued by +the Great General Staff of the German Army. London, 1915. + +[10] The subject of armoured trains will be dealt with more fully in +Chapters VII and XVI. + +[11] See "Field Service Pocket Book, 1914," pp. 151-2. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +TROOPS AND SUPPLIES + + +In the earlier controversies as to the use of railways in war, attention +was almost entirely concentrated on questions relating to the movement +of large masses of troops, the saving of time to be effected, and the +strategic advantages to be gained. These considerations quickly passed +from the theoretical to the practical, and when the results attained +were put against such facts as, for instance, the one that in 1805 +Napoleon's Grand Army of 200,000 men took forty-two days to march the +700 kilometres (435 miles) between Ulm on the Danube and the French camp +at Boulogne, there was no longer any possibility of doubt as to the +services that railways might render from these particular points of view. + +_Quicker transport_ was, however, only one consideration. There was the +further important detail that the movement of troops by rail would bring +them to their point of concentration, not only sooner, but in _more +complete numbers_, than if they had to endure the fatigues of prolonged +marches by road. + +According to German authorities, the falling-out of infantry and cavalry +when marching along good roads under conditions of well-maintained +discipline and adequate food supplies averages three per cent. in cool +and dry weather, and six per cent. in hot or wet weather; while in +unfavourable conditions as regards roads, weather and supplies, the +diminution may be enormous. When, in the autumn of 1799, Suvóroff made +his famous march over the St. Gothard, he lost, in eleven days, no +fewer than 10,000 men owing to the hardships of the journey. In his +invasion of Russia, in 1812, Napoleon's losses in men who succumbed to +the fatigues and trials they experienced on the road were out of all +proportion to the casualties due to actual fighting. It was, too, a +saying of Blücher's that "he feared night marches worse than the enemy." + +An English authority, Lieut.-Col. R. Home, C.B., R.E., wrote in a +paper on "The Organisation of the Communications, including Railways," +published in Vol XIX. of the Journal of the Royal United Service +Institution (1875):-- + + If an army of moderate size, say 50,000 men, simply marches + one hundred miles without firing one shot or seeing an enemy the + number of sick to be got rid of is very great. + + Experience has shown that in a good climate, with abundant + food, easy marches, and fair weather, the waste from ordinary + causes in a ten days' march of such a force would be between + 2,000 and 2,500 men, while the number of galled, footsore + or worn-out horses would also be very large. A few wet days + or a sharp engagement would raise the number of both very + considerably. An inefficient man or horse at the front is a + positive disadvantage. + +Another equally important detail relates to the _provision of supplies_ +for the troops and animals thus transported by rail both more quickly +and with less fatigue. + +In all ages the feeding of his troops in an enemy's country has been +one of the gravest problems a military commander has had to solve; +and though, in some instances, vast armies have succeeded in drawing +sufficient support from the land they have invaded, there have been +others in which an army intending to "live upon the country" has failed +to get the food it needed, and has had its numbers depleted to the +extent of thousands as the result of sheer starvation. This was the +experience of Darius, King of Persia, who, in 513 B.C., crossed the +Bosporus, on a bridge of boats, with an army of 700,000, followed the +retreating Scythians, and lost 80,000 of his men in wild steppes where +no means existed for feeding them. When, also, Alexander the Great was +withdrawing from India, in 325 B.C., two-thirds of his force died on +the desert plains of Beluchistan from thirst or hunger. Lack of the +supplies from which he found himself entirely cut off was, again, a main +cause of the disaster that overtook Napoleon in his Russian campaign. +Even fertile or comparatively fertile lands, satisfying the needs of +their inhabitants in time of peace, may fail to afford provisions for +an invading army, either because of the great number of the latter or +because the retreating population have destroyed the food supplies +they could not take with them into the interior whether for their own +sustenance or with a view to starving the invaders. + +Should the invading army succeed in "living on the country," the effect +of leaving the troops to their own resources, in the way of collecting +food, may still be not only subversive of discipline but of strategic +disadvantage through their being scattered on marauding expeditions at a +time when, possibly, it would be preferable to keep them concentrated. + +General Friron, chief of the staff of Marshal Masséna, wrote concerning +Napoleon's campaign in Portugal:-- + + The day the soldier became convinced that, for the future, + he would have to depend on himself, discipline disappeared + from the ranks of the army. The officer became powerless in + the presence of want; he was no longer disposed to reprimand + the soldier who brought him the nourishment essential to his + existence, and who shared with him, in brotherly goodwill, a + prey which may have cost him incalculable dangers and fatigues. + +The extent to which a combination of physical fatigue and shortness of +supplies in an inhospitable country may interfere with the efficiency of +an army is well shown by Thiers ("Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire") +in regard to the conditions at the very outset of Napoleon's Russian +campaign. The French troops arriving on the Niemen--at which point they +were merely on the frontiers of Russia--were already overcome by the +long marches they had made. They had no bread, no salt, and no spirits; +their craving for food could no longer be satisfied by meat without salt +and meal mixed with water. The horses, too, were out of condition for +want of proper food. Behind the army a great number of soldiers dropped +out of the ranks and had lost their way, while the few people they met +in a scantily-populated district could speak nothing but Polish, which +the wearied and famished men were unable to understand. Yet, under the +conditions of former days, it was by troops thus exhausted by marches of +hundreds of miles, done on, possibly, a starvation diet, that battles +involving the severest strain on human energy were fought. + +When "living on the country" is no longer practicable, the only +alternative for an army is, of course, that of sending supplies after it +for the feeding of the troops; but when, or where, this has had to be +done by means of ordinary road services, it has involved--together with +the transport of artillery, ammunition and stores--(1) the employment +of an enormous number of vehicles and animals, greatly complicating +the movements of the army; and (2) a limitation of the distance within +which a campaign can be waged by an army depending entirely on its own +resources. + +The latter of these conditions was the direct consequence of the former; +and the reason for this was shown by General W. T. Sherman in an article +contributed by him to the _Century Magazine_ for February, 1888 (pp. +595-6), in the course of which he says:-- + + According to the Duke of Wellington, an army moves upon its + belly, not upon its legs; and no army dependent on wagons can + operate more than a hundred miles from its base because the + teams going and returning consume the contents of their wagons, + leaving little or nothing for the maintenance of men and animals + at the front who are fully employed in fighting. + +There was, again, the risk when food supplies followed the army by road +either of perishables going bad _en route_, owing to the time taken in +their transport by wagon, or of their suffering deterioration as the +result of exposure to weather, the consequence in either case being a +diminution in the amount of provisions available for feeding the army. + +All these various conditions have been changed by the railway, the use +of which for the purposes of war has, in regard to the forwarding of +supplies, introduced innovations which are quite as important as those +relating to the movement of troops--if, indeed, the former advantages +are not of even greater importance than the latter. + +Thanks to the railway, an army can now draw its supplies from the +whole of the interior of the home country--provided that the lines of +communication can be kept open; and, with the help not only of regular +rail services but of stores and magazines _en route_ those supplies can +be forwarded to railhead in just such quantities as they may be wanted. +Under these conditions the feeding of an army in the field should +be assured regardless alike of the possible scanty resources of the +country in which it is engaged and of its own distance from the base of +supplies. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +ARMOURED TRAINS + + +In the issue of the now defunct London periodical, _Once a Week_, for +August 13, 1859, there was published an article on "English Railway +Artillery: A Cheap Defence against Invasion," in which it was said, +among other things:-- + + We have hitherto regarded the rail merely as a vehicle + of transport, to carry materials which are not to be set in + work till off the rails. If we look at the rail as part of an + instrument of warfare, we shall be startled at the enormous + means we have at hand, instantly available, from mercantile + purposes, to convert to engines of war. + +The writer was William Bridges Adams (1797-1872), an authority on +railways who had grown up with them, had introduced into their operation +many inventions and improvements (including the fish-joint still used +for connecting rails), and was the author of various books and papers on +railways, transport, and other subjects. His new idea, as set forth in +the article in question, was specially directed to the utilisation of +railways for defending the shores of Great Britain against an invader; +and in developing this idea he was, also, as far as can be traced, the +first to suggest the employment of armoured trains. + +The immediate reason alike for the writing of the article and for the +making of the suggestion was that in 1859 Great Britain appeared to be +faced by the prospect of invasion by France,--a prospect which, in view +of the then admittedly defective condition of the national defences, +led to the creation of the Volunteer Corps, to the appointment of a +Royal Commission to inquire into the question of coast defence, and +to suggestions being put forward by many different authorities as to +what should be done. Among those suggestions was one by the writer in +question for supplementing any system of coast defence that might be +adopted by the mounting of guns on railway trucks protected by armour, +such trucks being moved from point to point along the coast railways to +meet, as far as possible, the needs of the military situation. + +Heavy artillery, wrote Adams, though the most formidable implement of +modern warfare, had the disadvantage of requiring many horses to draw +it. So the problem arose as to how the horses could be dispensed with. +This could best be done, he thought, by putting artillery on "our true +line of defence,--our rails," and having it drawn, or propelled, by a +locomotive. "Mount," he said, "a gun of twenty tons weight on a railway +truck, with a circular traversing platform, and capable of throwing +a shot or shell weighing one hundred to one and a half a distance of +five miles. A truck on eight wheels would carry this very easily, and +there would be no recoil." Such a battery would be "practically a +moving fortress," and, used on the coast railways, which he regarded as +constituting lines of defence, would be "the cheapest of all possible +fortresses--absolutely a continuous fortress along the whole coast." +Communication with coast railways at all strategical points should, +however, be facilitated by the placing of rails along the ordinary +highways. After giving some technical details as to the construction +alike of coast railways and road tramways, he proceeded:-- + + With these roads communicating with the railroads, the whole + railway system becomes applicable to military purposes. + + The railway system is so especially adapted for defence, and + so little adapted to invaders, that it should become at once a + matter of experiment how best to adapt Armstrong or other guns + to its uses. The process of fitting the engines with shot-proof + walls to protect the drivers against riflemen would be very + easy.... Nothing but artillery could damage the engines or + moving batteries, and artillery could not get near them if it + were desirable to keep out of the way. + + One gun transportable would do the work of ten which are + fixtures in forts, and there would be no men to take prisoners, + for no forts would be captured. + + The more this system is thought of the more the conviction + will grow that it is the simplest mode of rendering the country + impenetrable to invaders at a comparatively trifling cost. + +It will be seen that the scheme here proposed included three separate +propositions--(1) the use of railways, as "engines of war," for coast +defence; (2) the mounting of Armstrong or other guns on railway trucks +from which they could be discharged for the purposes of such defence; +and (3) the providing of the engines with "shot-proof walls" for the +protection of the drivers. A similar protection for the men operating +the guns on the trucks was not then, apparently, considered necessary; +but we have here what was clearly the germ of the "armoured train." + +Among the other suggestions advanced on the same occasion were some for +the employment of railways in general for strategical purposes, and more +especially for the defence of London; and here, again, the employment of +armoured trains was advocated. + +"A Staff Officer," writing in _The Times_ of July 16, 1860, declared +that the most efficacious and the most economical line of defence which +London could have would be a circular railway forming a complete cordon +around the Metropolis at a distance of fifteen miles from the centre, +and having for its interior lines of operation the numerous railways +already existing within that radius. On this circular railway there +should be "Armstrong and Whitworth ordnance mounted on large iron-plated +trucks" fitted with traversing platforms in the way already recommended +by W. Bridges Adams, the trucks themselves, however, and not only the +locomotives, being protected by "shot-proof shields." The circular +railway was to be constructed primarily for strategical purposes; but +during peace the line would be available for ordinary traffic, and in +this way it could be made to yield at least some return on the capital +expenditure. + +The writer of this letter, Lieut. Arthur Walker, then an officer of the +79th Highlanders and the holder of a staff appointment at the School +of Musketry, Fleetwood, followed up the subject by reading a paper +on "Coast Railways and Railway Artillery" at a meeting of the Royal +United Service Institution on January 30, 1865.[12] On this occasion +he specially advocated the use of "moveable batteries" for coast +defence in conjunction with railways constructed more or less within +a short parallel distance of the entire coast line. Field artillery, +he recommended, should be mounted on a truck the sides of which would +be "encased in a cuirass of sufficient thickness," while the engine +and tender would also be "protected by an iron cuirass, and placed +between two cupolas for further protection." He considered that "to +attempt to land in face of such an engine of war as this would be simply +impossible." Moving batteries of this kind would be "the cheapest of +all possible fortresses.... We have nothing to do but to improvise +well-adapted gun-carriages for our rails." At the same meeting Mr. T. +Wright, C.E., gave details of a proposed railway train battery for +coast, frontier and inland defence which was designed to carry ten, +twenty or forty guns or mortars. + +Another early advocate of the use of railways as an actual instrument +of warfare was Colonel E. R. Wethered, who, in 1872, wrote to the War +Office suggesting that heavy ordnance should be mounted on wheeled +carriages so constructed that they could be moved along any of the +railways, from point to point. In this way the three-fold advantage +would be gained of (1) utilising the railway system for purposes of +national defence; (2) rendering possible a concentration of artillery +with overwhelming force at any given spot, and, (3) by the use of these +moveable carriages for the conveyance of the guns, exposing the men to +less risk. + +Colonel Wethered further communicated to _The Times_ of May 25, 1877, +a letter on "Portable Batteries" in which he declared that if, before +an enemy could effect a landing, we were to provide the means of +concentrating, with unerring certainty, on any given points of the +coast, a crushing force of artillery, with guns of heavier calibre than +even the warships of the invader could command, it would be impossible +for the vessels of an invading force to approach near enough to effect +the landing of their men. He continued:-- + + My proposal is to take the full advantage which our railway + system, in connection with our insular position, affords, and + provide powerful moveable batteries which can be sent fully + equipped in fighting order direct by railway to any required + point; and the recent experimental trials of the 81-ton gun + have proved that the heaviest ordnance can be moved and fought + on railway metals with considerable advantage.... In connection + with our present main lines of railway, which probably would + require strengthening at certain points, I would construct + branch lines or sidings leading to every strategical point + of our coast and into every fort, as far as possible, with + requisite platforms.... These branch lines during peace would, + doubtless, be of some small commercial value.... I would mount + as many of our heaviest guns as practicable on railway gun + carriages so that they could be moved by rail from one face of a + front to another, and from one place to another. + +He also recommended that guns thus mounted, fully equipped, and ready +for use, should be kept at three large central depôts which might be +utilised for the defence of London. At each of them he would station (1) +Militia and Volunteer Artillery able not only to work the guns but to +construct, repair or destroy railway lines, and (2) a locomotive corps +specially trained in the working of traffic under war conditions. + +By reading a paper at the Royal United Service Institution on April +24, 1891, on "The Use of Railways for Coast and Harbour Defence,"[13] +Lieut. E. P. Girouard, R.E. (now Major-General Sir E. Percy C. Girouard, +K.C.M.G.), made what was, at that time, an important contribution to a +subject on which there was then still much to be learned. Sketching a +detailed scheme comprising the employment of all the coastal railways +for the purposes of national defence, he emphasised the value of +Britain's "enormous railway power" as the strong point of her defensive +position, whether regarded from the point of view of (1) railway mileage +open as compared with the square mile of coastal area to be defended, +or (2) the length of coast line compared with the railway mileage at or +near that coast line, and, therefore, locally available for its defence. +"Why," he asked, "should we not turn to account the enormous advantage +which our great railway power gives us to concentrate every available +gun at a threatened point in the right and the proper time, which the +proper utilisation of our railways can and will do, thereby practically +doubling or quadrupling our available gun power?" + +Whilst the subject had thus been under discussion in the United Kingdom, +America, in her _Civil War of 1861-65_, had set the rest of the world an +example by actually introducing armoured-protected gun-carrying trucks +into modern warfare. + +Writing from Washington, under date August 29, 1862, to Colonel Herman +Haupt, then Chief of Construction and Transportation in the Department +of Rappahannock, Mr. P. H. Watson, Assistant-Secretary of War, +said:--"An armour-clad car, bullet proof, and mounting a cannon, has +arrived here and will be sent down to Alexandria." A later message, on +the same date added:--"After you see the bullet-proof car, let me know +what you think of it. I think you ought at once to have a locomotive +protected by armour. Can you have the work done expeditiously and well +at Alexandria, or shall I get it done at Philadelphia or Wilmington?" +The car was duly received; but Haupt's comments in respect to it, as +recorded in his "Reminiscences," show that he was not greatly impressed +by the innovation. "P. H. Watson, Assistant-Secretary of War, sent me," +he says, "an armour-clad, bullet-proof car, mounting a cannon. The +kindness was appreciated, but the present was an elephant. I could not +use it, and, being in the way, it was finally side-tracked on an old +siding in Alexandria." + +It would seem, however, that other armour-clad cars were brought into +actual use during the course of the Civil War. + +In the _Railway Age Gazette_ (Chicago) for January 22, 1915, Mr. +Frederick Hobart, associated editor of the New York _Engineer and Mining +Journal_, writes, from personal knowledge, of two armoured cars which +were in use in the Civil War. One of these, formed by heavy timbers +built up on a flat car, was put together in the shops of the Atlantic +and North Carolina Railroad Company at Newberne, N.C., in 1862, about +two months after the city had been captured by the Burnside expedition. +The armour consisted of old rails spiked on the outside of the planking +composing the sides and front of the car. Along the sides there were +slits for musketry fire, and at the front end there was a port hole +covered with a shutter behind which a gun from one of the field +batteries was mounted. The second car was similarly constructed, but was +armed with a naval howitzer. The cars were run ahead of the engine, and +were used in reconnoitring along the railroad line west of Newberne. Mr. +Hobart adds that he was quite familiar with the cars, having assisted in +the design and construction of both. + +In the _Century Magazine_ for September, 1887 (page 774), there is given +an illustration ("from a photograph") of an armour-clad car described as +"the Union Railroad Battery" which was, apparently, used in connection +with the springing of the mine in front of Petersburg on July 30, 1864. +The car is shown to have consisted of a low truck with, at one end, a +sloping armour plate coming down almost to the rails, and having a hole +through which the gun placed behind it on the truck could be fired. The +sides of the truck were protected from the top of the sloping armour +downwards, but the back was open. The car was, of course, designed to be +pushed in front of the locomotive. + +Mr. L. Lodian, also, contributed to the issue of the American +periodical, _Railway and Locomotive Engineering_, for May, 1915, a +communication, under the title of "The Origin of Armoured Railroad +Cars Unquestionably the Product of the American Civil War," in which, +claiming that "our own Civil War" originated those cars, he said:-- + + Attached is a picture of one in use on the old + Philadelphia-Baltimore Railroad. The illustration appeared in + Frank Leslie's illustrated periodical on May 18, 1864. No better + proof could be furnished of the authenticity of the fact that + such a car was in use at that time.... There appears to be no + great variation even to-day in armoured car design from the + initial effort of half a century ago. Pictures are appearing + in numerous periodicals, at the period of writing, of those in + use by the European belligerents, and in general appearance + and outline they are about the same as the original, the chief + variation in their use being that the war-going locomotive is + also sheathed in armour, whereas that in use in the sixties was + entirely unprotected, except in front, and then only by reason + of the mailclad car being placed in front to do the fighting. + +As against this suggestion, there is the undoubted fact that in the +American Civil War the plan was adopted of having the locomotives +of ordinary troop or supply trains protected by armour-plating as a +precaution against attack when there was no armoured car in front of +them. Writing to the Director of Military Railroads on October 8, 1862, +Haupt said:-- + + I have been thinking over the subject of locomotives. It + is one which, at the present time, and in view of the future + requirements of the service, demands especial attention. + Experience has shown that on engines men are targets for + the enemy; the cabs where they are usually seated have been + riddled by bullets, and they have only escaped by lying on the + footboard. It will be necessary to inspire confidence in our men + by placing iron cabins (bullet proof) upon all or nearly all our + engines, and the necessity will increase as we penetrate further + into the enemy's country. + + Again, it is desirable that the smaller and more delicate + portions of the apparatus should be better protected than at + present, and I would be pleased if you would give to the plans, + of which I spoke to you recently, a careful consideration. It + seems to me that they are peculiarly well adapted to military + service. + +Haupt adds that "protected locomotives and bullet-proof cabs were soon +after provided, as recommended"; and elsewhere in his "Reminiscences" he +says, on the same subject:-- + + The bullet-proof cabs on locomotives were very useful--in + fact, indispensable. I had a number of them made and put on + engines, and they afforded protection to engineers and firemen + against the fire from guerillas from the bushes that lined the + road. + +In the _Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71_ guns mounted on four +armour-plated trucks, fitted up in the workshops of the Orléans Company, +under the supervision of M. Dupuy de Lorme, Engineer-in-Chief for Naval +Construction, were taken into action on four occasions during the siege +of Paris, namely, at Choisy-le-Roi, for the sortie preceding the one +from Champigny; near Brie-sur-Marne, to support the Champigny sortie; +at Le Bourget, for one of the attempts to recapture that position; and +at La Malmaison, to support the Montretout sortie. The wagons were +protected by a covering which consisted of five plates of wrought +iron, each two-fifths of an inch thick, and giving, therefore, a total +thickness of two inches. The two engines used were also protected by +armour-plating. One or two of the wagons were struck by field-gun shells +without, however, sustaining further damage than the denting of their +plates. The engines escaped damage altogether. On going into action the +armoured wagons were followed by another bullet-proof engine conveying a +party of men with tools and materials to repair any interruption of the +lines that might interfere with the return of the trains; but the only +damage done was so slight that it was remedied in about a quarter of an +hour.[14] + +Further use was made of armoured trains in the _Egyptian Campaign of +1882_. One that was put together to assist in the defensive works at +Alexandria is declared in the official history of the campaign[15] to +have "proved most serviceable." Two of the trucks, fitted with iron +plating and sand bags as a protecting cover, carried one Nordenfelt and +two Gatling guns. A 9-pr. was also placed on one of the trucks, together +with a crane by means of which it could be lowered out immediately. +Other trucks, rendered bullet proof by sand bags and boiler-plating, +and carrying a force of 200 bluejackets, with small arms, completed the +fighting force. On July 28, the train took part in a reconnaissance sent +out to ascertain the extent of the damage which had been done to the +railway lines near Arabi's outpost. Shots were fired at the train by the +enemy, but without effect. The reconnaissance was a complete success +inasmuch as it enabled such repairs to be done to the railway as gave +the use of a second line between Ramleh and Alexandria. + +So useful had the train been found that it was now further improved +by adding to it a 40-pr. on a truck protected by an iron mantlet. The +locomotive was put in the middle of the train and was itself protected +by sand bags and railway iron. Thus strengthened, the train went into +action in the reconnaissance in force carried out from Alexandria +on August 5, and "the most interesting incident of the engagement," +according to the official account, "was the good service done by the +40-pr. from the armoured train." + +Early in the morning of September 13 the train, consisting of five +wagons, and having, on this occasion, one Krupp gun and one Gatling in +addition to the 40-pr., was sent to support the attack on Tel el-Kebir. +It was followed by another train having 350 yards of permanent-way +materials, with all the necessary tools and appliances for the prompt +carrying out of any repairs that might be necessary. Owing, however, to +the hazy and uncertain light and to the ever-increasing clouds of smoke +that hung over the battle-field, it was impossible to fire the 40-pr. + +In the futile attempt made in 1885 to construct a railway from Suakin +to Berber, in support of the _Nile Expedition of 1884-85_, resort was +had to an armoured train for the purpose of protecting the line from +the constant attacks to which it was subjected by the enemy. The train +carried a 20-pr. B.L., which could be fired only either in prolongation +of the line or at a slight angle from it. + +At the Camp of Exercise in _Delhi_ in January, 1886, some important +experiments were carried out with a view to testing the practicability +of firing guns at right angles to an ordinary line of railway, the +result being to establish the fact that a 40-pr. R.B.L. could be fired +with perfect safety broadside from (_a_) small empty wagons mounted +on four wheels; (_b_) small empty wagons weighted up to four tons; +and (_c_) empty eight-wheel bogies. These experiments were especially +successful when account is taken of the fact that no attempt was made to +reduce in any way the energy of recoil. + +Other experiments, begun in 1885, were successfully conducted during a +succession of years both by the French Government and by private firms +in _France_ in the transport and the firing of guns from railway trucks +with a view to obtaining definite data on the subject, more especially +in relation to firing at right angles to the line. + +In _Italy_ a distinguished officer raised the question in the Italian +Parliament, in 1891, as to whether Sicily should not be defended by +means of a coast railway and armoured trains. + +Some experiments carried out at _Newhaven, Sussex_, in 1894, were the +more interesting because the results attained were due to the combined +efforts of Artillery Volunteers and of the London, Brighton and South +Coast Railway Company. + +Under the Volunteer mobilization scheme of 1891 there were some 300 +members of the 1st Sussex Artillery Volunteers to whom no special +duties had been allotted, and there happened to be, at Shoreham, a +40-pr. Armstrong B.L. gun which was then serving no particular purpose. +Inspired by these two facts, the Secretary of the Committee for National +Defence suggested, in November, 1891, that negotiations should be opened +with the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company with a view +to their mounting the 40-pr. on a specially prepared truck, designed +to form part of an armoured train, experiments in firing the gun from +the truck--in order to test the efficiency of this expedient for the +purposes of coast defence--being afterwards carried out by the Artillery +Volunteers whose services were available for the purpose. + +On being approached, the directors of the railway company readily +consented to the fitting up of the truck being carried out at their +engineering and carriage works; they contributed towards the expenses, +and members of their staff entered with great cordiality into the +scheme, Mr. R. J. Billington, the locomotive superintendent, being the +first to suggest the mounting of the gun on a turntable to be fixed on +the truck,--a "bold departure," as it was regarded at the time, and one +expected to produce excellent results. The railway staff were the more +interested, also, in the proposed experiments because a large proportion +of the members of the 1st Sussex Artillery Volunteers consisted of men +employed at the Brighton Company's works. + +In commenting upon these facts, Col. Charles Gervaise Boxall, the +commanding officer, said in a paper on "The Armoured Train for Coast +Defence," read by him at a meeting of officers and N.C.O.'s of the +Brigade, held at Newhaven Fort, Sussex, on May 14, 1894:-- + + When one considers that a railway company is neither + a philanthropic institution nor a patriotic society, the + generous support given to this experiment by so powerful a + body as the directors of the London, Brighton and South Coast + Railway Company is in itself some considerable evidence of + the importance they themselves ascribe to this effort in the + direction of the maintenance of coast defence and protection + from invasion. + +Preliminary experiments with the gun were conducted on May 5, 1894, +and they conclusively showed, Col. Boxall said, "that the gun will +require no traversing to correct variation caused by the recoil, while +the muzzle of the gun can be directed to any part of its circumference +by handspike traversing within half a minute." He was evidently proud +of the results even of these preliminary trials. They were the first +occasion on which a heavy gun had been fired broadside on the permanent +way of an English railway, and the truck was the first armour-plated one +on which a turntable, a recoil cylinder, and other inventions introduced +had been employed. So, he further declared:-- + + We do confidently submit that, having proved that such a + gun as this can be mounted so as to be transportable to any + part of our railway system at a moment's notice, brought into + action, and fired with accuracy either end on, broadside, or in + any other direction, without danger of capsizing, and without + injury to the permanent way, we have become pioneers of a new + departure in artillery which must lead to results of the highest + importance. + +This was written prior to the full trials, which took place at Newhaven +on May 19, 1894, in the presence of a distinguished company of military +men and others. An account of the event will be found in _The Times_ +of May 21, 1894. The gun and its carriage are described as standing on +a turntable platform pivoted on the centre of the truck, and revolving +on a central "racer." The gun detachments were protected by a plating +six feet high round three sides of the turntable, and the gun was fired +through an aperture in the plating. Drawn by an ordinary locomotive, +the truck on which the gun was mounted was accompanied by two carriages +conveying the Volunteer Artillerymen who were to serve the gun. Several +rounds were fired at a target some 2,500 yards distant, and "the +armoured train passed through the searching and severe ordeal most +successfully, the jar caused being so slight that a stone placed on the +rails remained unmoved by the firing." The truck, it is further stated, +had been provided with some cross girders which could be run out and +supported on blocks in order to secure a broad base when the gun was +fired at right angles to the line, and there was a further arrangement +for connecting the truck to the rails by strong clips; but the truck +remained sufficiently steady without any need for making use of these +appliances. + +Finally, as will be told more fully in Chapter XVI, the _South African +Campaign of 1899-1902_ definitely established the usefulness of armoured +trains as an "instrument of war," and led both to the creation of an +efficient organisation for their employment on the most scientific and +most practical lines and to the establishment of certain principles +in regard to such important matters of detail as uses and purposes, +administration, staff, armament, tactics, etc. Published in the +"Detailed History of the Railways in the South African War" which was +issued by the Royal Engineers' Institute, Chatham, in 1905, these +principles were adopted in the _United States_ with modifications to +suit American conditions, and, so modified, are reproduced in Major +William D. Connor's handbook on "Military Railways," forming No. 32 +of the Professional Papers of the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army. An +excellent treatment of the subject, from a technical point of view, +will be found in a paper, by Capt. H. O. Nance, on "Armoured Trains," +published, with photographs and drawings, in "Papers of the Corps of +Royal Engineers," Fourth Series, Vol. I., Paper 4 (Chatham, 1906). + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] _See_ the "Journal of the Royal United Service Institution" Vol. +IX., pp. 221-31, 1865. + +[13] "Journal of the Royal United Service Institution," Vol. XXXV., 1891. + +[14] For detailed description, with diagrams, of the trains here in +question, _see_ "Armour-plated Railway Wagons used during the late +Sieges of Paris," by Lieut. Fraser, R.E. Papers of the Corps of Royal +Engineers, N.S., Vol. XX, 1872. + +[15] "Military History of the Campaign of 1882 in Egypt." Prepared by +the Intelligence Branch of the War Office. Revised edition. London, 1908. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +RAILWAY AMBULANCE TRANSPORT + + +According to statistics which have been compiled in relation to wars +alike in ancient and in modern times, for every ten men among the +armies in the field who have died from wounds received in battle there +have been from thirty-five to forty who died from sickness or disease. +Writing in the _Journal des Sciences Militaires_, Dr. Morache, a surgeon +in the French Army, has said that while the total number of deaths among +combatants taking part in the Crimean War was 95,000, no fewer than +70,000 were due to typhus, scurvy, cholera or other diseases. In the +Italian campaign of 1859 the French lost 5,498 men, of whom 2,500 died +from sickness. On the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War the Russians +had 51,000 of their troops sick, the ravages of typhus having been +especially severe. + +These conditions have been materially aggravated by the gathering +together of great numbers of sick and wounded into overcrowded hospitals +situate on or near to the theatre of war and destined inevitably to +become hot-beds of disease and pestilence far more dangerous to human +life, under these conditions, than even the most deadly weapons which +the art of war had invented for use on the battle-field itself. + +Nor was it the armies alone that suffered. Returning troops spread the +seeds of disease among the civil population, causing epidemics that +lingered, in some instances, for several years and carried off many +thousands of non-combatants, in addition to the great number of victims +among the combatants themselves. In a volume of 866 pages, published by +Dr. E. Gurlt, under the title of "Zur Geschichte der Internationellen +und Freiwilligen Krankenpflege im Kriege" (Leipzig, 1873), will be found +many terrible details concerning the ravages in France, Germany and +Austria of the typhus which Napoleon's troops brought back with them on +the occasion of their disastrous retreat from Russia. + +The most practicable means of mitigating, if not of avoiding, these +various evils is to be found in the prompt removal of the sick and +wounded from the theatre of war, and their distribution in smaller +units, not simply among a group of neighbouring towns, but over an +area extending to considerable distances inland. The adoption of this +remedy only became possible, however, with a provision of adequate rail +facilities, and even then many years were to elapse before an efficient +system of railway ambulance transport was finally evolved. + +The objects which the use of the railway in these directions was to +attain were alike humanitarian and strategical. + +To the sick and wounded among the troops, prompt removal and widespread +distribution among hospitals in the interior meant (1) that they avoided +the risks to which they would have been subjected in the aforesaid +overcrowded and pestilential hospitals near the fighting line, where +slight injuries might readily develop dangerous symptoms, and contagious +disease complete the conditions leading to a fatal issue; (2) that, +apart from these considerations, it would be possible to give them a +greater degree of individual attention if they were distributed among a +large number of hospitals away from the scene of the fighting; (3) that +more conservative methods of surgery became practicable when operations +of a kind not to be attempted either on the battle-field or in temporary +hospitals (from which the inmates might have to be suddenly removed, +owing to some change in the strategical position) could be delayed until +the sufferer's arrival at some hospital in the interior, where better +appliances and better facilities would be available, and where, after +the operation, the patient would be able to remain undisturbed until +he was cured; (4) that these improved conditions might more especially +permit of the avoidance of amputations otherwise imperatively necessary; +and (5) that, on the whole, the wounded soldier was afforded a better +chance of effecting a speedy recovery and of saving both life and limb +than would be possible if railways were not available. + +To the army in the field the innovation meant that with the speedy +removal of the sick and wounded it would be relieved of the great +source of embarrassment caused by the presence and dependence upon it +of so many inefficients;[16] depôt and intermediate hospitals could +be reduced to the smallest proportions, and would thus occasion less +inconvenience if, owing to a retreat or a change in the strategical +position, they were brought within the sphere of military operations; +with the delegation of so many of the sick and wounded to the care of +civil practitioners in the interior, fewer of the divisional, brigade +and regimental medical officers would require to be detached from the +marching column; a smaller supplementary medical staff would suffice; +a considerable reduction could be effected in the stocks of ambulance +supplies kept on hand at the front; while important strategical +advantages would be gained through (1) the greater freedom of movement +which the army would secure; (2) the decreased risk of the number of +efficients being reduced through the outbreak of epidemics; and (3) the +prospect of a large proportion of the sick and wounded being enabled to +rejoin the fighting force on their making a speedy recovery from their +illness or their wounds. + +The earliest occasion on which the railway was made use of for the +conveyance of sick and wounded from a scene of actual hostilities to the +rear was on the occasion of the _Crimean War_, when the little military +line between Balaklava and the camp before Sebastopol, of which an +account will be given in Chapter XV, was so employed. The facilities +afforded were, however, of the most primitive character. Only the +wagons used for the transport of supplies to the front--wagons, that is +to say, little better than those known as "contractors' trucks"--were +available, and there were no means of adapting them to the conveyance +of sufferers who could not be moved otherwise than in a recumbent +position. Sitting-up cases could, therefore, alone be carried; but what +was to develop into a revolution in the conditions of warfare was thus +introduced, all the same. + +In the _Italian war of 1859_ both the French and the Austrians made use +of the railways for the withdrawal of their sick and wounded, and, in +his "Souvenir de Solferino," Jean Henri Dumant, the "Father" of the Red +Cross Movement, speaks of the transportation of wounded from Brescia to +Milan by train to the extent of about 1,000 a night. No arrangements for +their comfort on the journey had been made in advance, and the changes +in the military situation were so rapid, when hostilities broke out, +that no special facilities could be provided then. All that was done +was to lay down straw on the floor of the goods or cattle trucks used +for the conveyance of some of the more serious cases. The remainder +travelled in ordinary third-class carriages, and their sufferings on the +journey, before they reached the long and narrow sheds put up along the +railway lines at Milan or elsewhere to serve as temporary hospitals, +must often have been very great. They may, nevertheless, have escaped +the fate of those who died, not from their wounds, but from the fevers +quickly generated in the overcrowded hospitals at the front, where there +was, besides, a general deficiency of ambulance requirements of all +kinds. The good resulting from the removal by train is, indeed, said to +have been "immense." + +These experiences in the campaign of 1859 led to a recommendation +being made in the following year by a _German_ medical authority, Dr. +E. Gurlt,[17] that railway vehicles should be specially prepared for +the conveyance of the sick and wounded in time of war. The plan which +he himself suggested for adoption was the placing of the sufferers in +hammocks suspended from hooks driven into the roof of the goods van or +carriage employed, mattresses being first put on the hammocks, when +necessary. By this means, he suggested, the sufferers would travel much +more comfortably than when seated in the ordinary passenger carriages, +or when lying on straw in the goods wagons or cattle trucks. + +Dr. Gurlt's pamphlet served the good purpose of drawing much attention +to the subject, and his proposals were duly subjected to the test of +experiment. They failed, however, on two grounds,--(1) because the roofs +of the goods vans, designed for shelter only, were not sufficiently +strong to bear the weight of a number of men carried in the way +suggested; and (2) because the motion of the train caused the hammocks +to come into frequent contact with the sides of the wagon, to the +serious discomfort of the occupants. + +In November of the same year (1860) the Prussian War Minister, von Roon, +appointed a Commission to enquire into the whole subject of the care +of the sick and wounded in time of war, and the question of transport +by rail was among the various matters considered. As a result of these +investigations, the Minister issued, on July 1, 1861, an order to the +effect that in future the less seriously wounded should travel in +ordinary first, second or third-class carriages, according to the degree +of comfort they required, care being taken to let them have corner +seats; while for those who were seriously ill, or badly wounded, there +were to be provided sacks of straw having three canvas loops on each +side for the insertion of poles by means of which the sacks and the +sufferers lying upon them could be readily lifted in or out of the goods +wagons set apart for their conveyance. In these wagons they were to be +placed on the floor in such a way that each wagon would accommodate +either seven or eight. In the event of a deficiency of sacks, loose +straw was to be used instead. The door on one side of the truck was to +be left open for ventilation. A doctor and attendants were to accompany +each train, and they were to have a supply of bandages, medicines and +appliances. Of the last-mentioned a list of five articles was appended +as obligatory. The medical officer was to visit the wagons during the +stoppages, and the attendants on duty in the wagons were to carry flags +so that, when necessary, they could signal both for the train to pull +up and for the doctor to come to the sufferers. + +This was as far as Prussia had got by 1861, when the arrangements stated +were regarded as quite sufficient to meet the requirements of the +situation. Real progress was to come, rather, from the other side of the +Atlantic. + +In the early days of the _War of Secession_ (1861-65) the arrangements +for the conveyance by rail of the sick and wounded from the +battle-fields of the Eastern States to the hospitals in the large +cities were still distinctly primitive. Those who could sit up in the +ordinary cars were conveyed in them. Those who could not sit up, or +would be injured by so doing, were carried to the railway, by hand, on +the mattresses or stretchers they had occupied in the hospitals to which +they had first been taken. At the station the mattresses were placed on +thick layers of straw or hay strewn over the floors of the freight cars +in which supplies had been brought to the front. Large window spaces +were cut in the sides or ends of the cars to provide for ventilation. +On some occasions, when hay or straw was not available, pine boughs or +leaves were used instead. As only the floor space was occupied no more +than about ten patients could be carried comfortably in each car, though +as many as twenty were occasionally crowded in. The wide doors of the +box cars readily permitted of the beds being lifted in or out. Medical +officers, with supplies, accompanied each train. On arrival at New +York, Washington, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, or other destination, the +sufferers were taken out and carried, still on the same mattresses or +stretchers, to the hospitals there. + +Large numbers of sick or wounded were conveyed by rail under one or +other of these conditions, and the work was done with great expedition. +Between the morning of June 12 and the evening of June 14, 1863, over +9,000 wounded, victims of the Federal disaster at Chancellorsville, +were taken by the single-track Aquia Creek railroad from Aquia Creek to +Washington. Many even of the severely wounded declared they had suffered +no inconvenience from the journey. After the battle of Gettysburg, July +1-3, 1863, more than 15,000 wounded had been sent by rail from the +field hospitals to Baltimore, New York, Harrisburg or Philadelphia by +July 22. An even more rapid distribution was effected after the battles +of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania when, with a few exceptions, the +transfer to the hospitals in the cities mentioned was effected in the +course of a few days. Following on the battle of Olustree (February 20, +1864), the serious cases were removed on the Mobile Railway by freight +cars bedded with pine boughs, palmetto leaves and a small quantity of +straw, each patient having a blanket, in addition. + +As an improvement on these methods of transport, the plan was adopted +of fixing rows of upright wooden posts, connecting floor and ceiling, +on each side of a car as supports for two or three tiers of rough +wooden bunks, a central gangway through the car being left. In this +way the available space in the car was much better utilised than +with the straw-on-floor system. Next, in place of the bunks, came an +arrangement by which the stretchers whereon the patients lay could be +securely lashed to the uprights; while this was followed, in turn, by +the insertion of wooden pegs into the uprights and the placing on them +of large and strong india-rubber rings into which the handles of the +stretchers could readily be slipped, and so suspended. The first car so +arranged came into use in March, 1863. + +Meanwhile the Philadelphia Railroad Company had, at the end of 1862, +fitted up an ambulance car on the principle of a sleeping car, but so +planned that the stretchers on which the sufferers lay could be made to +slide in or out of the wooden supports. This particular car was capable +of accommodating fifty-one patients, in addition to a seat at each end +for an attendant. Other innovations introduced on the car were (1) a +stove at which soups could be warmed or tea made; (2) a water tank, and +(3) a locker. + +What the introducers of these improvements mainly prided themselves +upon was the fact that the patient could remain, throughout the entire +journey from field hospital to destination, on the stretcher he had been +placed on at the start. The adoption of this principle necessitated, +however, uniformity in the dimensions of the stretchers in order that +these could always be accommodated on the ambulance-car fittings. + +The next important development was reached when the ambulance _car_, +run in connection with ordinary trains, and used for exceptionally +severe cases, was succeeded by the ambulance _train_. Here came further +innovations, the nine or ten "ward-cars," of which such a train mainly +consisted in the Eastern States, being supplemented by others fitted +up as dispensary and store-room, kitchen, and quarters for surgeon, +attendants, and staff of train, besides carrying all necessary +appliances and provisions for the journey. + +What was now specially aimed at was to make the train as close an +approach to an actual hospital on wheels as circumstances would +permit. "At present," wrote the Medical Director of the Department of +Washington, "the sick and wounded are transferred in cars ill-adapted +for the purpose and with difficulty spared from the other pressing +demands; and lives are lost on the route not infrequently which, in all +probability, might be saved by a more comfortable and easy method of +transportation." The train he caused to be constructed consisted of ten +ward-cars, one car for the surgeon and attendants, one as a dispensary +and store-room, and one as a kitchen, etc. The ward-cars, arranged on +an improved principle, each accommodated thirty recumbent and twenty or +thirty seated patients. The train was to run regularly on the Orange and +Alexandria Railroad between the theatre of war and the base hospitals at +Alexandria and Washington. It was either to supplement or to supersede +the freight cars with their bedding of straw, hay or leaves. If only +from the point of view of the inadequate supply of rolling stock, a car +fitted up to accommodate fifty or sixty patients offered an obvious +advantage, in the speedy removal and distribution of sick and wounded, +over a car, without fittings, in which the floor space alone could be +utilised. + +Several complete trains of the type stated were soon running on the +Orange and Alexandria Railroad, within the Union lines, and the +hospital train thus became an established institution in modern warfare. + +It was, however, in connection with the chief army in the West, the Army +of the Cumberland, operating under General George H. Thomas, that the +useful purposes which could be served by hospital trains became most +conspicuous. + +The need for them in the West was even greater than in the East, +because the distances to be covered were greater and lay, also, to a +considerable extent, in enemy country. + +In the fall of 1863 and the winter of 1864, as narrated in the "Medical +and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion," the chief army of the +West was concentrated principally along the line of railroads leading +from Nashville, Tennessee, to the South-west, viâ Chattanooga, Tenn., +and onwards towards Atlanta, Georgia. At the outset the sick and wounded +who could travel in ordinary passenger cars to points in the North were +so taken. Severe cases had to remain in the nearest available hospital +depôt. In addition to the discomfort suffered by the former in having +to travel in cars not suited to invalids, they were liable to frequent +and prolonged delays on the single-track lines by reason of the constant +passing of supply trains proceeding to the front; and not unfrequently +the detentions were at points where nothing could be obtained for +feeding the sufferers or making them comfortable, while even if rations +could be drawn the train afforded no means of cooking them. So it was +resolved to have a train which would be the equivalent of an ambulating, +self-contained hospital, capable of carrying both recumbent and +sitting-up patients and supplying all their wants on the journey. + +On August 11, 1863, instructions were sent from the +Assistant-Surgeon-General's Office to the Medical Officer of the Army +of the Cumberland directing him "to take immediate measures to fit up a +special train for hospital purposes, with every possible comfort," to +run between Nashville, Ten., and Louisville, Ken. General Thomas, in +turn, accorded the fullest authority to the Medical Officer to select +for the purpose the best locomotives and the best cars to be found among +the railway rolling stock, and to have new cars fitted up whenever +necessary. He further directed that the most experienced drivers, +conductors and other necessary railway employés should be selected for +the conduct of the hospital-train service. + +Three of these trains were ready by the spring of 1864, and they ran +regularly--each taking a section of the journey--between Atlanta and +Louisville, a distance of 472 miles. They consisted, apparently, in +part of specially-built and in part of adapted rolling stock, the +large open American passenger cars, with their greater freedom from +internal fittings than ordinary European railway carriages, lending +themselves specially to the purpose. In the converted passenger cars +the carrying of the stretchers through the end doors was avoided by +removing two windows and the panelling underneath them from the side of +the car, and making an opening 6 ft. in width which could be closed by +a sliding door. Each train provided five ward-cars (converted passenger +cars) for lying-down patients; a surgeon's car (a passenger car from +which the seats had been removed, with partitions and fittings for the +accommodation of the doctor and his helpers); a dispensary car (in which +an ample supply of medicines, instruments and appliances was carried); +an ordinary passenger car for sitting-up patients or convalescents; a +kitchen car (divided into kitchen, dining-room and store-room); and +a conductor's car. The kitchen car was supplied with a small cooking +range, boilers, and other requisites for the feeding of from 175 to +200 patients. The cars were warmed and lighted in winter, and special +attention was paid to ventilation, so that Dr. F. L. Town, of the +United States Army, was able to report of them:--"In visiting these +hospital trains, the air is found sweet and pure, the wards are neat +and inviting; and it may unhesitatingly be said that men on hospital +trains are often as comfortable and better fed and attended than in many +permanent hospitals." The trains had distinguishing signals which were +recognised by the Confederates, and none of them were ever fired on or +molested in any way. + +One, at least, of the trains was despatched daily from the vicinity of +the field hospitals. The services rendered by them during the last +eighteen months of the war were of the greatest value. It has been said, +indeed, that the combined effect of all the provision made for the care +of the sick and wounded and their speedy recovery--including therein, as +one of the most important items, their prompt removal and distribution +by rail--was to ensure for the Federals the retention of a force equal +in itself to an army of 100,000 men. No single fact could show more +conclusively the _strategical_ as well as the humanitarian value of +railway ambulance transport. + +These details as to what was accomplished in the American Civil War are +the more deserving of record because they show that the evolution of the +"hospital on wheels," from the initial conditions of a bedding of straw +on the floor of a railway goods wagon, was really carried out, step by +step, in all its essential details, in the United States. The hospital +train was thus _not_ an English invention, as is widely assumed to be +the case; though much was to be done here to improve its construction, +equipment and organisation. + +Whilst America had been gaining all this very practical experience, the +_Danish War of 1864_ had given Prussia the opportunity of testing the +system approved by her in 1861 for the conveyance of the less severely +wounded in ordinary passenger carriages and of the seriously wounded on +sacks of straw laid on the floor of goods wagons. The results were found +so unsatisfactory that on the conclusion of hostilities a fresh series +of investigations and experiments was begun, and matters were still at +this stage when war broke out between Prussia and Austria. + +The conditions in regard to the care of the sick and wounded in the +_campaign of 1866_ were deplorably defective. Not only, according to +Dr. T. W. Evans[18]--an American medical man, settled in Paris, who +visited the battle-field and assisted in the work of relief--was there +no advance on what had been done in the United States, but the American +example was in no way followed, the combatants having made no attempt +whatever to profit from her experience. + +After the battle of Sadowa, thousands of wounded were left on the +battle-field, and many remained there three days and three nights before +they could be removed in the carts and wagons which were alone available +for the purpose. Within five days every village in a radius of four +leagues was crowded with wounded. Those taken to Dresden and Prague in +ordinary passenger carriages or goods vans were detained for days on +the journey owing to the congestion of traffic on the lines. Some of +them, also, were in the trains for two days before their wounds were +dressed. Then the use of straw, depended on by the Austrians, was found +to be unsatisfactory. It failed to afford the sufferers a sufficient +protection against the jolting of the wagons, especially when they +worked through it to the bare boards; and even then there was not always +sufficient straw available to meet requirements. Altogether, it is +declared, the wounded suffered "unheard-of tortures." + +Shortly after the conclusion of the war there was appointed in _Prussia_ +a further Commission of medical and military authorities to renew the +investigation into the care and transport of sick and wounded. The +Commission sat from March 18 to May 5, 1867. In the result it still +favoured the use of sacks of straw, with canvas loops, as the simplest +and most comfortable method to adopt for the rail transport of recumbent +sufferers, though it recommended that the sacks should be made with +side pieces, giving them the form of paillasses, as this would afford a +greater degree of support to those lying on them. The American system of +suspending stretchers in tiers by means of india-rubber rings depending +from pegs let into wooden uprights was disapproved of, partly because +of the continuous swinging of the stretchers so carried, and partly +because of the assumed discomfort to one set of patients of having +others just above them. The report also recommended the adoption of +the following principles:--(1) Through communication between all the +carriages employed in one and the same train for the conveyance of sick +and wounded; (2) provision, for the severely wounded, either of beds +with springs or of litters suspended from the roof or the sides of the +carriages; and (3) extra carriages for the accommodation of doctor, +nurses, surgical appliances, medical stores, cooking utensils, etc. + +These principles were subjected to various tests, and it was found that +in Germany the existing carriages which could best be adapted to the +desired purpose were those belonging to the fourth-class, inasmuch as +they had no internal divisions or fittings, travellers by them being +expected either to stand during the journey or to sit on their luggage. +The only structural alteration necessary was the placing of the doors at +the end of the carriages instead of at the sides, so that, on opening +these end doors, and letting down a small bridge to be provided for the +purpose, access could readily be obtained from one carriage to another. +Instructions were accordingly given that all fourth-class carriages +on the Prussian railways should thenceforward have end doors--an +arrangement which had, in fact, already been adopted in South Germany. +Steps were also taken in Prussia to adapt goods vans and horse boxes +for the conveyance of sick and wounded in the event of the number of +fourth-class carriages not being sufficient to meet requirements. + +The widespread interest which was being attracted throughout Europe to +the subject of the care of the sick and wounded in war led to a series +of experimental trials being carried out at the _Paris International +Exhibition of 1867_, when, with the help of a short line of railway laid +down in the exhibition grounds and of a goods wagon supplied by the +Western of France Railway Company, a number of different systems were +tested. On this occasion, also, a model of an American car fitted up +with india-rubber rings for the handles of stretchers was shown. + +At this time, and for many years afterwards, the ideal arrangement was +considered, on the Continent of Europe, to be one under which railway +vehicles sent to the front with troops, supplies or munitions could be +readily adapted for bringing back the sick and wounded on the return +journey; and alike in Germany, Russia, France, Austria and Italy the +respective merits of a great variety of internal fittings designed to +adapt existing rolling stock, whether passenger coaches, luggage vans, +Post Office vans or goods wagons, to the serving of these dual purposes +formed the subject of much experiment and controversy. Rope cables +across the roof of a goods wagon, with dependent loops of rope for +the reception of the stretcher handles (as in the Zavodovski method); +stretchers laid on springs on the floor, suspended from the roof either +by strong springs or by rope, resting on brackets attached to the +sides, or partly resting and partly suspended; and collapsible frames +of various kinds, each had their respective advocates.[19] The use and +equipment of ambulance or hospital trains constituted, also, a regular +subject of discussion at all the international congresses of Red Cross +Societies which have been held since 1869. + +The experimental trials at the Paris Exhibition of 1867 were followed +by the appointment in _Prussia_ of still another Commission of inquiry, +and, acting on the recommendations of this body, the Prussian Government +adopted the "Grund" system, under which the stretchers whereon the +recumbent sufferers lay in the goods wagons or fourth-class carriages +were placed on poles resting in slots over the convexity of laminated +springs having one end screwed into the floor while the other, and +free, end was provided with a roller designed to respond to the varying +conditions of weight by sliding to and fro. This was the system mainly +used in the "sanitary trains" of the Germans in the _Franco-Prussian +War of 1870-71_. It was criticised on the ground (1) that the sick +and wounded were still subject to the same jolts and concussions as +ordinary seated passengers; (2) that the number who could be carried per +carriage or wagon was very small, since it was still the case that only +the floor space was utilised; and (3) that it was inconvenient for the +doctor and the attendants to have to kneel down in order to attend to +the patients.[20] Apart from these disadvantages, the ambulance service +of the Germans was well organised during the war. Of ambulance trains, +fitted up more or less as complete travelling hospitals, twenty-one were +run, and the total number of sufferers removed by rail is said to have +been over 89,000. + +Owing to traffic congestions, the transport to Berlin of wounded from +the army engaged in the investment of Paris occupied no less a period +than six days; but these journeys were made in the special ambulance +trains which, provided in the later stages of the war, ensured full +provision for the feeding, nursing and general comfort of the sufferers. +The fact that such journeys could be undertaken at all showed the great +advance which had been made since the battle of Sadowa, when most of the +wounded could be conveyed no further than to cottages and farm-houses in +neighbouring villages. + +In the _South-African War of 1899-1902_ the system favoured was that +of having hospital trains either expressly built for the purpose or +adapted from ordinary rolling stock and devoted exclusively, for the +duration of the war, to the conveyance of the sick and wounded. The +"Princess Christian" hospital train, specially constructed for the +British Central Red Cross Committee by the Birmingham Railway Carriage +and Wagon Company Ltd., according to the plans of Sir John Furley and +Mr. W. J. Fieldhouse, and sent out to South Africa early in 1900, +consisted of seven carriages, each about 36 ft. in length, and 8 ft. +in width, for running on the Cape standard gauge of 3ft. 6in. The +carriages were arranged as follows:--I., divided into three compartments +for (_a_) linen and other stores, (_b_) two nurses and (_c_) two invalid +officers; II., also divided into three compartments, for (_a_) two +medical officers; (_b_) dining-room and (_c_) dispensary; III., IV., +V., and VI., ward-cars for invalids, carried on beds arranged in three +tiers; VII., kitchen, pantry, and a compartment for the guard. The train +carried everything that was necessary for patients and staff even though +they might be cut off from other sources of supply for a period of two +or three weeks. + +Seven other hospital trains, all adapted from existing rolling stock +in Cape Colony or Natal, were made available for the transport of sick +and wounded in the same war. One of these, No. 4, was arranged and +equipped at the cost of the British Central Red Cross Committee, under +the direction of Sir John Furley, then acting as the Society's Chief +Commissioner in South Africa. The arrangement of the other converted +trains was carried out by the Army Medical Service in South Africa, +with the co-operation of the Government Railway officials in Cape Town +and Natal. A number of specially-fitted carriages, placed at convenient +distances on the railways occupied by the British, were made use of to +pick up small parties of sick from the various posts along the lines, +such carriages being attached to passing trains for the conveyance +of the sufferers to the nearest hospital. Many of them had a regular +service up and down a particular stretch of railway. Some were provided +with iron frames for the support of service stretchers, and others were +fitted up similarly to the ward-carriages of the converted hospital +trains. Convalescents and "sitting-up" patients for whom no special +accommodation was necessary travelled in such ordinary trains as might +be available. + +In effect, there are four classes of trains by which, under the +conditions of to-day, the sick and wounded may be despatched from the +seat of war:--(1) Permanent hospital trains, specially constructed for +the purpose; (2) temporary hospital trains, made up either entirely +of converted ordinary vehicles or partly of converted and partly of +specially-constructed rolling stock, their use for this purpose +continuing for the duration of the war; (3) ambulance trains improvised +at railhead out of rolling stock bringing troops, supplies and stores to +the front, the internal fittings for "lying-down" cases being of such +a kind that they can be readily fixed or dismantled; and (4) ordinary +passenger carriages for slightly wounded or convalescents. + +The advantages conferred on armies from a strategical point of view, +under all these improved conditions, are no less beyond dispute than +the benefits conferred on the individual soldiers, and if railways had +done no more in regard to the conduct of warfare than ensure these dual +results, they would still have rendered a service of incalculable value. +While, also, their provision of an efficient ambulance transport system, +with its speedy removal of non-effectives, has served the purposes +of war, it has, in addition, by its regard for the sick and wounded +themselves, further served to relieve warfare of some, at least, of its +horrors. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[16] A saying attributed to Napoleon is that he preferred a dead soldier +to a wounded one. + +[17] "Ueber den Transport Schwerverwundeter und Kranker im Kriege, nebst +Vorschlägen über die Benutzung der Eisenbahnen dabei." 33 pp. Berlin, +1860. + +[18] "Les Institutions Sanitaires pendant le Conflit +Austro-Prussien-Italien." Par Thomas W. Evans. Paris, 1867. + +[19] For "A short consideration and comparison of the regulations for +the transport of sick and wounded by rail, as laid down in four of the +leading Continental armies (the German, French, Austrian and Italian)," +see a paper on "Continental Regulations for the Transport of Sick and +Wounded by Rail," by Surg.-Capt. C. H. Melville, A.M.S., _Royal United +Service Institution Journal_, vol. 42 (1898), pp. 560-594. + +[20] In an article on "Military Hospital Trains; their Origin and +Progress," in _The Railway Gazette_ of December 4, 1914, it is said: +"The comparatively small loss of the Germans by death from wounds in +1870 was due solely to the fact that they entered upon the war with what +were then considered wonderfully elaborate arrangements for removing the +wounded.... The trains were composed partly of first-class carriages, +for the less badly wounded, and partly of covered goods wagons.... In +these covered vans were placed beds formed of boards laid on springs. +Each van would hold four or five men, and a sister rode in the van." One +would not, however, consider to-day that there was anything wonderfully +elaborate in an arrangement under which no more than four or five +sufferers were accommodated in each goods van. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +PREPARATION IN PEACE FOR WAR + + +The greater the experience gained of the application of rail-power +in practice, and the closer the study devoted to its possibilities, +in theory, the more obvious it became that the fullest degree of +advantage to be derived therefrom could only be assured as the result +of preparation and organisation in peace; and this conclusion appeared +specially to apply to countries whose geographical and political +conditions led them to regard it as expedient that they should always +be ready to meet some great national emergency. The Federal Government +of the United States certainly did succeed, in the early sixties, +in creating an excellent military rail-transport organisation after +hostilities had broken out; but the conditions of warfare to-day make +it essentially necessary that arrangements for the use of railways for +military purposes should, as far as possible, be planned, perfected or +provided for long in advance of any possible outbreak of hostilities. + +Among other considerations which strengthen this view are the +following:-- + +I. The increasing dependence of armies on rail transport owing to +(_a_) the vastly greater number of troops employed now than in former +days; (_b_) the supreme importance of time as a factor in enabling +a Commander-in-Chief to effect, possibly, an earlier concentration +than the enemy, and so obtain the power of initiative; and (_c_) the +magnitude of the supplies, munitions and other necessaries wanted to +meet the daily wants of the prodigious forces in the field, and only +to be assured by the employment of rail transport from a more or less +distant base. + +II. The complications, confusion and possible chaos which may result +if, without prior preparation, railway lines designed to serve ordinary +transport purposes are suddenly required to meet military demands taxing +their resources to the utmost extreme. + +III. The further troubles that will assuredly arise if, in the +absence of efficient control by properly-constituted and responsible +intermediaries, railwaymen unfamiliar with military technicalities +are left to deal with the possibly conflicting and impracticable +orders of individual military officers themselves unfamiliar with the +technicalities and limitations of railway working. + +IV. The imperative necessity of having an organised and well-regulated +system of forwarding military supplies, etc., in order both to avoid +congestion of stations and lines and to ensure the punctual arrival of +those supplies in the right quantities, at the right spot, and at the +right time. + +V. The need, in view of the vital importance of the part that railways +may play in war, of having organised forces of railway troops and +railway workers available, together with stores of materials and +appliances, to carry out, speedily and thoroughly, all the work that +may be necessary for the repair, construction or destruction of railway +lines. + +In making the necessary preparations, in time of peace, to ensure the +successful realisation of these and other purposes, there is a vast +amount of work that requires to be done. + +In readiness for the excessive strain that will be thrown on the +railways as soon as they pass from a peace footing to a war footing, on +the order being given for mobilisation, the military authorities and +the railway authorities must needs have at their command the fullest +information as to the physical conditions, the resources and the +transport capabilities of every line of railway in the country which, +directly or indirectly, may be able to render useful service. Details as +to double or single track; gradients; number of locomotives, carriages, +wagons, horse-boxes and other vehicles available; and facilities +afforded by stations in important centres as regards number and length +of platforms and sidings, water supply, loading, unloading or storage +accommodation, etc., are all carefully compiled and kept up to date. +As regards rolling stock, lines not likely to be called upon to carry +any military transports at all may still be able to contribute to the +supply of carriages and wagons wanted to meet the heavy demands on other +railways. By including all lines of railway in the collected data, it +will be known exactly where additional rolling stock may be obtained +if wanted. The carrying capacity of the different types of carriages, +trucks, etc., is also noted. If necessary, arrangements will be made for +the reduction of gradients, the improvement of curves, the construction +of connecting links between different main lines, the lengthening of +station platforms, or the provision of increased loading or unloading +facilities. + +On the basis of the information collected elaborate calculations are +made in regard to such matters as (1) the number of vehicles required +for a given number of men, with horses, guns, munitions, stores, road +vehicles, etc., so that rolling stock can be used to the best advantage +and according as to whether the troops carried belong to the Infantry, +Cavalry or the Artillery; (2) the number of vehicles that can be made +up into a train going by any one route; (3) the length of time likely +to be taken for the entraining and detraining respectively of a given +unit; (4) the time intervals at which a succession of troop trains can +follow one another on the same line; (5) the speed of troop trains; and +(6) the further intervals to be allowed in the arrival at one and the +same station, or centre, of a number of trains starting from different +points, so as to avoid the risk of congestion and of consequent delays. + +Military time-tables, corresponding to those in everyday use, have +next to be prepared, showing exactly what trains must run from given +stations, at fixed hours, by clearly defined routes, to specified +destinations as soon as the occasion arises. The great aim kept in view +in the compilation of these time-tables is, not alone preparation in +advance, but the most complete utilisation possible of the available +transport facilities of the country as a whole. + +A selection must also be made in advance of the stations at which troops +on long journeys can obtain food, as well as of the stations to be used +as depôts for stores and supplies, all the necessary arrangements being +provided for. + +After the initial great strain on the railway resources involved in +mobilisation and concentration, there will still be an enormous amount +of transport to be done during the campaign. In the one direction there +will be a constant despatch of reinforcements, provisions, clothing, +munitions and supplies or stores to the front; in the other direction +there will be a steady flow of sick and wounded, of prisoners of war, +and of materiel not wanted at the front, followed by the final return +home of the troops at the end of the campaign. + +At each important point along the lines of communication where special +services in connection with the rail transport, in either direction, are +to be rendered, there must be organisation of such kind as will ensure +that whatever is necessary shall be done promptly and efficiently under +the control of persons of recognised authority and responsibility, and +without any of the friction that would, inevitably, lead to delays, +traffic blocks and other complications. + +Nor can the same system of organisation apply to the whole line of +communication, from the base to the limit of the rail service at the +front. A point will be reached therein where the control, if not the +actual operation, of the railway lines must needs be transferred from +the civil to the military authorities, rendering necessary a scheme of +supervision and working different from that which can be followed on the +sections not within the actual theatre of war. + +Then, if the army should be compelled to retreat before the enemy, +there should be available a sufficiency of forces skilled in the art of +rapidly and effectively destroying lines, bridges, viaducts, tunnels, or +other railway property, with a view to retarding the enemy's movements +until, it may be, reinforcements can be brought up in sufficient number +to check his further progress. If, alternatively, the army should +advance into the enemy's country, there must again be a provision of +Railway Troops fully qualified by previous training and experience both +to repair quickly the demolitions or the damage which the enemy will +have carried out on his own lines and to construct hastily such new +lines--light railways or otherwise--as the circumstances of the moment +require. These things done, and still further advance being made into +the invaded territory, the need will also arise for a staff capable of +operating, under war conditions, the lines of which possession has been +taken, in order that communications with the advanced front and the +forwarding of reinforcements and supplies can still be maintained. + +All these and many other things, besides, must needs be thought out and +prepared for in time of peace, long in advance of any probable or even +any possible war. They are, in fact, made the subject of exhaustive and +continuous study alike by military officers specially entrusted with +the task and by railway managers commanding all the technical knowledge +requisite for making arrangements calculated to ensure the prompt and +efficient satisfaction of all such demands for military rail-transport +as may, with whatever urgency, and under whatever conditions, some day +be put forward. + +Still more practical do the preparations in peace for war become when +they include the construction of a network of strategical railways +expressly designed to facilitate the mobilisation of troops, their +speedy concentration on the frontier, or their movement from one point +of attack to another at the theatre of war. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ORGANISATION IN GERMANY + + +In no country in the world was the desirability of preparing in time of +peace for military rail-transport in time of war recognised earlier than +in Germany. In none has the practice of such preparation in peace been +followed up with greater study and persistence. + +As shown in Chapter I, the military use of railways led to the proposal +and discussion in Germany of definite schemes for such use as early as +1833; and it is not too much to say that, from that date down to the +outbreak of the World-War in 1914, the whole subject had received there +an ever-increasing degree of attention from the military authorities, +and, also, from a large body of writers as a question of the day in its +relation more especially to German expansion. + +One great mistake, however, made alike by historians, by writers in the +Press, and by popular tradition, has been the attributing to Germany of +a far higher degree of credit in regard to the alleged perfection of +her preparations for the _Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71_ than she was +really entitled to claim. Nor, indeed, has the fact been sufficiently +recognised that the organisation eventually elaborated by Germany for +the efficient conduct of her rail-transport in war had been evolved +from studies, investigations, trials, experiments and tests (in actual +warfare or otherwise) extending over a period of half a century or more, +during which time, also, there was issued a bewildering mass of laws, +rules and regulations, each more or less modifying those that had gone +before and adding still further to the elaborate, if not the extremely +complicated, machinery laboriously built up as the result of the +universally recognised genius of the German people for organisation. + +The final great test of all this machinery was to be applied in 1914. +Here, however, it must suffice, for present purposes, to show how the +machinery itself was created and the form it finally assumed. + +Down to 1861 Prussia had done no more, in the way of organising military +transport by rail, than issue a series of Ordinances dealing with the +movement of large bodies of troops, such Ordinances being akin to those +which all the leading countries of Europe had either compiled or were +engaged in compiling. Directly influenced by the developments of the +Civil War in America, Prussia took the further step, in 1864, of forming +a Railway Section of her General Staff. This new body was actively +employed in the furtherance of Prussia's interests in the Danish War of +the same year, when confirmatory evidence was given of the advantages +to be derived from the use of rail transport for military movements, +journeys that would have taken the troops sixteen days by road being +done within six days by rail. + +The organisation thus applied on a comparatively small scale in 1864 was +further developed by Prussia in the _campaign of 1866_. + +On that occasion mobilisation and concentration of the Prussian troops +were both carried out mainly by rail, under the direction of an +Executive Commission consisting of an officer of the General Staff and +a representative of the Ministry of Commerce. This Executive Commission +sat in Berlin, and was assisted by Line Commissions operating on the +different railways utilised for military purposes. Movements of troops +by rail were certainly effected in one-third of the time they would have +taken by road, while the Prussians, gaining a great advantage, by the +rapidity of such movements, over Austria, routed her combined forces +within seven days of crossing the frontier, and dictated terms of peace +to her within a month. + +Some serious faults were nevertheless developed, even in the course of +this very short campaign, in Prussia's rail-transport arrangements, +such being especially the case in regard to the forwarding of supplies. +These were rushed to the front in excess of immediate requirements, the +only concern of contractors or of officers at the base being to get them +away, while the railway companies--bound to accept goods for transport +and delivery as ordered--dispatched them without regard for any possible +deficiency in the unloading and storage arrangements at the other +end. The supplies, forwarded in bulk, followed as close up behind the +troops as they could be taken; but the provision made for unloading was +inadequate, the railway staffs disclaimed responsibility for the work, +and, before long, stations and sidings at the front were hopelessly +blocked, although elsewhere the shortage of wagons was so great that +everything was at a standstill. Even when wagons had been unloaded, they +were too often left on the lines, in long trains of empties, instead of +being sent where they were most needed. Each railway company disposed +of its own rolling stock independently of the other companies, adopting +the view that it had no concern with what was happening elsewhere. In +some instances special trains were dispatched for the conveyance of a +few hundred men or a few hundredweights of stores. Orders which should +have gone direct from one responsible person to another went through +a variety of channels with the result that serious delays and no less +serious blunders occurred. One East Prussian Battalion, for instance, +was sent off by train in a direction exactly opposite to that which it +should have taken. + +All these and other troubles experienced were directly due to the +absence of a central controlling body formed on such a basis that +it could (1) govern the rail-transport arrangements as a whole; +(2) supervise the forwarding of supplies; (3) provide for a proper +distribution, and better utilisation, of rolling stock; (4) secure +the prompt unloading and return of wagons, and (5) form a direct link +between the military authorities and the railway managements and staffs. + +Immediately on the close of the war a mixed committee of Staff officers +and railway authorities was appointed, under the supervision of von +Moltke, to inquire what steps should be taken to organise the Prussian +military transport services on such a basis as would avoid a repetition +of the faults already experienced, and give a greater guarantee of +efficiency on the occasion of the next war in which Prussia might be +engaged. The desirability of making such preparations in time of peace +doubtless appeared the greater in proportion as it became more and more +evident that the trial of strength between Prussia and Austria would +inevitably be followed by one between Prussia and France. + +The scheme elaborated by the committee in question took the form of a +_Route Service Regulation_ which was approved by the King on May 2, +1867, and was, also, adopted by most of the other German States, but was +kept secret until the time came for applying it in practice, as was done +in the war of 1870-71. + +The basis of the scheme was the creation of a system of _Route +Inspection_ ("Etappen Inspektion") constituting a department of the +General Staff, and designed-- + +I. To watch over the replenishing of the operating army with men, +horses, provisions, ammunition, and other military stores. + +II. To see to the removal into the interior of the country of the sick +and wounded, prisoners and trophies of war. + +III. With the assistance of the troops appointed for the purpose and +the Railway Field Corps, to maintain the line of communication, viz., +railway, roads, bridges, telegraphs, and postal arrangements; to +undertake the government of the hostile conquered provinces, and other +duties. + +The preparation of the necessary plans for the attainment of these +objects was entrusted to a _Central Commission_ composed, partly of +officers connected with the General Staff and the Ministry of War, and +partly of prominent functionaries on the staffs of the Ministry of +Commerce, Industry and Public Works (then in supreme control over the +railways), and of the Minister of the Interior. Two of its members--a +Staff Officer and a railway expert from the Ministry of Commerce--formed +an _Executive Commission_ and exercised a general supervision over the +arrangements for military transports; though on the removal of the +Great Head-quarters from Berlin, the Executive Commission was to be +succeeded by an _Auxiliary Executive Commission_, which would supervise +the railways in the interior to be made use of for supplying the needs +of the army. + +In time of war the Central Commission was to be supplemented by _Line +Commissions_ formed by military officers and railway officers in +combination, and operating each in a leading centre of railway traffic. +Their function it would be--with the assistance of _District Line +Commissions_--not only to communicate to the line or lines of railway in +their district such orders as might be necessary for the transport of +troops, guns, ammunition, horses, and supplies, but, also, to draw up +or make the final arrangements in connection with the time-tables for +the running of military trains; to fix the direction in which the trains +would go; to decide at what stations the troops should stop for their +meals or for their coffee; and, in fact, to arrange everything connected +with the said transport down to--as it appeared at the time--the +smallest details. + +In the forwarding of supplies, each Army Corps was to have its own line +of communication, separate and distinct from that of the other Army +Corps, the object aimed at being that of avoiding the confusion and +disorder which might result from the fact of several Army Corps using +the same railway. + +Each of such lines of communication would start from some large railway +station forming a _Point of Concentration_ ("Etappenanfangsort") for the +collection and the dispatch therefrom of supplies for the Army Corps it +would serve, or for the receipt and further distribution in the interior +of persons or commodities coming back from the seat of war. + +Along the line of railway, at distances of about 100 or 125 miles, +stations were to be selected which would serve as halting-places for the +feeding of troops, for the watering of horses, for the reception of sick +and wounded unable to continue their journey, for the repair of rolling +stock, or for other such purposes. The furthest point to be reached by +rail from day to day would constitute _Railhead_ ("Etappenhauptort"), +whence communication with the fighting line would be carried on by road, +being further facilitated by _Halting Places_ ("Etappenörter") _en +route_. + +The whole of this elaborate organisation--and here we come to the +weakest point in the system--was to be under the supreme direction +and control of an _Inspector-General of Communications_--a sort of +Universal Provider of every requirement the Army could possibly need, +and responsible for the fulfilment of a long and exceedingly varied list +of obligations among which the conduct of military rail-transport became +simply one of many items. The special merit of his position was assumed +to be that of a superior authority who, having the rank of Commandant of +a Division, and being in constant touch both with the Commander-in-Chief +of the Army and with the War Minister, would be able to establish +harmony in the operations of the different services and corps. The +principle itself was sound; but, in practice, such a multiplicity of +duties fell upon him, or, through him, on his department, that the +break-down which actually occurred in the campaign of 1870-71 should +have been foreseen in advance. + +On the declaration of war the Inspector-General was to organise the +stations for the feeding of the troops and horses proceeding to the +front, and was then himself to go to some station one or two marches +from the fighting-line, and fix, each day, the Railhead Station for the +time being, moving his own head-quarters as occasion might require. +From these head-quarters he was to exercise control and direction over +a staff among whose duties--apart from those relating to railways +or rail-transport--were the following:--A centralisation of all the +services through a Chief of the Staff giving a common impulse to them +according to the instructions of the Inspector-General; the forwarding +of all troops to the front, special precautions having to be taken +that none were left behind; distribution of the troops on arrival at +their destination; the forwarding of all supplies; decision of all +personal questions that might arise in connection with the troops; +the keeping of journals and registers, the drawing up of reports, +and the carrying on of correspondence with the War Minister and the +Chiefs of the army; everything concerned with horses for the troops, +transport and distribution of prisoners of war, and maintenance of good +order among the troops; assurance of an ample supply of ammunition +for the artillery; construction or provision of barracks, huts, or +temporary hospitals; maintenance of roads and telegraphs; control +of telegraphs and postal services at the seat of war; supervision +of road communications; responsibility for the safe and regular +delivery to the troops of all supplies and necessaries ordered to meet +their requirements, and establishment of hospitals, infirmaries and +convalescent homes, with the arrangements for the removal thereto of the +sick and wounded. + +In regard to railway matters, the Inspector-General was assisted by a +_Director of Field Railways_ who, in turn, had many duties to perform. +Acting in the name and with the authority of the Inspector-General, +he gave directions to the Line Commissions concerning the succession +in which supplies were to be forwarded, and, in conjunction with +the military and railway authorities, drew up the time-tables for +military transports, submitting them, however, for the approval of +his chief before they were put into operation. The actual transport +of troops and material--on the basis of principles the details of +which would have been worked out in advance--was also to be conducted +under the supervision of the Director of Railways. In the event of +any of the lines being destroyed by the enemy, he was to undertake +their reconstruction, obtaining through the Inspector-General such +helpers--whether soldiers or civilians--as he might require to +supplement his own working staff in the accomplishment of the necessary +work. On the lines being restored, the Director was further to take +control of their operation by means of troops and, also, of railway +employés to be furnished by the Minister of Commerce on the requisition +of the Inspector-General of Communications. + +Such was the elaborate machinery which, constructed alike in peace and +in secret by the Great General Staff, under the direct supervision of +von Moltke himself, was to be tested in the inevitable war with France +for which it had been designed. + +According to popular belief, Germany's preparations for that war were +so complete that she had only, as it were, to press a button, or pull +a lever, in order to ensure the immediate and perfect working of all +the plans she had made in advance. Whether or not this was really so +in regard to her transport arrangements, at least, is a point to which +attention may now be directed. + +At the beginning of the war a _Route Inspection_, organised on the basis +already detailed, and having its own Inspector-General of Communications +in charge of, and responsible for, the efficient working of the entire +network of duties and obligations, was called into being for each of the +three German armies. Subsequently a fourth, under the Crown Prince of +Saxony, was added. + +So far as the mobilisation of the German troops and their concentration +on the frontier were concerned the plans worked, on the whole, +remarkably well; though even in this respect complete success was not +attained. There were, in 1870, nine lines of concentration available, +namely, six for the Northern and three for the Southern Army; and +between July 24 and August 3, there were dispatched by these different +routes 1,200 trains, conveying 350,000 men, 87,000 horses, and 8,400 +guns or road vehicles. Yet the delays which occurred to some of these +trains were alone sufficient to show that the machinery which had been +elaborated was not working with perfect smoothness. On, for example, the +route known as line "C," the troops sent to Giessen were--as told by +Balck, in his "Taktik"--eleven hours late in their arrival. They then +had their first warm food after a journey which had lasted twenty-one +hours. For the transport to Homburg-in-der-Pfalz and Neunkirchen forty +hours had been allowed. The first train did the journey in the time, but +the next one took ninety hours. + +It was, however, in the forwarding of supplies and in the provisioning +of the troops that the greatest difficulties were experienced; and here +there certainly appeared to be little real advance on the shortcomings +of the campaign of 1866, notwithstanding all the preparations which had +been made in the meantime. + +Comprehensive as it undoubtedly was, the scheme prepared in time of +peace included no adequate organisation for regulating the transport of +supplies to the front and for ensuring alike their dispatch and their +arrival in just such quantities, and under just such conditions, as +would provide for the needs of the troops from day to day. Magazines +had certainly been set up, but not in sufficient number or always in +the right place. The system, too, of operating them was defective. +Just as in 1866, so in 1870, army officers, contractors and railway +companies, all inspired by zeal for the welfare of the troops, rushed +off train-load after train-load of supplies to stations provided +with an inadequate supply alike of sidings where the wagons could be +accommodated and of labour for the work of unloading. Stores were handed +to the railway staffs under the same conditions as in peace time, the +idea being, apparently, that if they were only dispatched as soon as +possible they would be sure to get to the troops in want of them. + +As for the conditions at the other end, it not unfrequently happened +that even though the supply-trains might go to stations where the +facilities for unloading them were ample, the Commissariat or other +officers in charge would follow the example already being set in France +by regarding loaded railway trucks as convenient movable magazines +which should not be unloaded until their contents were really wanted. +This was done regardless of the fact alike that the trucks thus kept +standing on the lines impeded the traffic and that they were urgently +wanted to meet the shortage of trucks elsewhere. But for the stringent +action taken to check it, the evil due to this use of railway trucks for +storage purposes would have assumed even graver proportions than was +actually the case. Defective, also, as the German arrangements in this +respect undoubtedly were, they still did not attain to the same degree +of inefficiency as was the case in France. + +All the same, the general result of these various conditions was that +serious difficulties were experienced on the German no less than on the +French railways. No sooner had the concentration of the Prussian troops +been completed than provisions and stores were sent after them in such +volume that a hopeless block, extending to Cologne in one direction and +Frankfort in the other, was speedily produced on the lines along the +left bank of the Rhine, while the feeding of the troops was brought to +a temporary standstill. The combined efforts of the Prussian Executive +Commission, of the Minister of Commerce and of the Line Commissions +failed for a time to overcome the conditions of chaos and confusion thus +brought about, and on August 11, 1870, instructions had to be given that +thenceforward supplies were to be forwarded only on the express order of +the Intendant-General or of an Inspector-General of Communications. Yet +on September 5 there were standing, on five different lines, a total of +no fewer than 2,322 loaded wagons, containing 16,830 tons of provisions +for the Second Army, or sufficient to keep it supplied for a period of +twenty-six days. Such blocks on the German lines--though not always on +so great a scale--were of frequent occurrence throughout the war. + +Trouble arose, also, in getting provisions from the railway to the +troops by reason either of the inadequate number of road vehicles or +because of the use of these for the conveyance of ammunition or for +other purposes, instead. Thus the Inspector-General of the First Army +started with 2,000 road vehicles; but on October 17 the total number +still at his disposal was only twenty. The position became still worse +as the retreating French destroyed the lines behind them, increasing the +difficulties of the invaders in maintaining their communications with +the Fatherland. + +While the food supplies for the German troops were thus blocking the +railway lines--or, alternatively, were going bad on account either +of the heated conditions of the closed wagons or of exposure to the +weather after unloading--many of the German troops were suffering severe +privations from lack of adequate nourishment; and they would have +suffered still more but for the provision-trains or stores of supplies +seized from the French at Metz, Forbach, Verdun, Dôle, Le Hans, and +elsewhere. If, indeed, the French had only refrained from rushing their +own supplies to the extreme front in excessive quantities, or if they +had destroyed those they could not remove in time, the invaders would, +on various occasions, have found themselves in a condition bordering on +starvation. Even as it was, they were often reduced to the necessity of +dependence on their "iron" rations. + +Difficulty was especially experienced in feeding the army of occupation +during the investment of Paris. The supplies received by train from +Germany were equal to scarcely one half of the actual requirements; +a resort to "requisitions" on the French territory occupied yielded +inadequate results; and the making of a regular daily money-allowance +to officers and men, so that they could purchase their own supplies in +the open market or otherwise, was, at first, far from satisfactory. It +was, in fact, only owing to the most strenuous effort on the part of the +responsible officers, both during the investment of Paris and in earlier +phases of the war, that the German troops were often saved from actual +want.[21] + +The main reasons for the defects and shortcomings thus developed in a +scheme on which so much care and preparation had been bestowed were +(1) that, while based on fundamentally sound principles, the scheme in +its actual application threw too great a strain on the department of +the Inspector-General of Communications, which, as we have seen, was +expected to look after, not only rail transport, but route marching, +telegraphs, postal arrangements, and a great variety of other things +besides; (2) that, owing to the larger number of Army Corps, it was no +longer possible, as had been done in 1866, to place a separate line of +railway at the disposal of each, so as to allow the said department to +superintend the traffic on the basis of its own organisation; and (3) +the absence of a central administration specially designed (_a_) to +act as an intermediary and to ensure co-operation and mutual working +between the various Line Commissions and, also, between the individuals +and administrations, both military and civil, engaged in the conduct of +rail-transport; and (_b_) to control the traffic as a whole, avoiding +difficulties, blocks and delays assuring a prompt and efficient +distribution of supplies, and guaranteeing the utilisation of rolling +stock to the best advantage. + +With a view to overcoming, as far as possible, the trouble due to the +wide extent and the great variety of duties falling on the department +of the Inspector-General of Communications, it was arranged, during +the latter part of the war, to relieve that department of all +responsibility for the railway services and to transfer the control and +direction of these to the Executive Commission established at the Royal +Head-quarters. In this way it was hoped to utilise the rail-transport +facilities to greater advantage, to decrease the risk of collisions +and delays, and, through a central organisation, to distribute the +transport demands more equally among the various railways concerned. +By means of these provisional modifications in the original scheme a +better system of operation was obtained during the remainder of the +war. But the complete reorganisation that was really necessary was then +impracticable, and much friction in the working of the railway services +was still experienced, partly because this needful reorganisation could +not be carried out, and partly because of the conflicting orders coming +from different authorities, each of whom, under the conditions then +existing, was perfectly within his right in giving them.[22] + +The difficulties due to the attempts to rush supplies in excessive +quantities direct to the fighting-line, or as near thereto as possible, +were also met, to a certain extent, during the course of the war, by +the setting up of additional railway magazines or depôts where the +forwarding of necessaries could be better controlled; but it was not +until the end of 1870 that any approach to regularity in supplying the +wants of the German forces was finally secured. + +No sooner had the war come to an end than the work of remedying the +defects which had been developed was taken in hand by the Minister of +War and the Great General Staff. Following the creation, on October +1, 1871, of a Railway Battalion on a permanent basis came, on July +20, 1872, a new Regulation cancelling the one of May 2, 1867, which +had been in operation during the war, and substituting a new basis of +organisation in its place. + +While retaining the principle of a Central Commission in Berlin, the +scheme of 1872 relieved the route authorities of all responsibility +for rail transport as well as for railway restoration and operation +at the theatre of war, transferring to a new military department all +the duties falling under these heads, with the further advantage +that such department would be able to control the railways in time +of war independently of the civil authorities, and without the +disadvantages hitherto resulting from the need to deal, in regard to +railway questions, with nine separate Ministries of Commerce and about +fifty different railway companies. At the same time the principle +of co-ordination was to be maintained by the appointment of an +_Inspector-General of Railways and Lines of Communication_ who, in each +of these departments, would control a far more efficient organisation +than had previously existed, and, also, as director-in-chief, would +constitute a central authority and an intermediary between the services +concerned and the head of the Great General Staff, under whose direction +he would himself act. + +Another important feature of the new Regulation was that a distinction +was now drawn between (1) railways on or near to the theatre of war +which could not be worked by their ordinary staffs, and must needs pass +under military operation, with a paramount military control; and (2) +"home" or other railways, in the rear of the fighting, which might +carry ordinary traffic--except so far as the lines were wanted for +military purposes--and might still be worked by their own staffs, but in +the operation of which there should be a military element in time of war +in order to facilitate the transport of troops and military necessaries. + +Various other Regulations, and notably a series in 1878 and 1888, +followed that of 1872, and eventually the whole scheme of organisation, +with its additions and modifications, seeking to provide for every +possible contingency, became extremely complicated. Of the multifarious +instructions, provisions and orders which had been compiled, some +applied to peace only, some to war only, and some to both peace and war; +some to "home" railways and some to railways at the seat of war; some +to military men and some to railway men, and so on. As an elaborate +piece of machinery the organisation was more comprehensive and more +complete than ever; but the fear arose that there had again been a +failure to take the human element sufficiently into account. Of those in +the military and the railway service who should have applied themselves +in time of peace to a study of the elaborate and extremely involved +provisions which would apply in time of war, comparatively few, it was +found, were disposed to devote themselves to so uninviting a task. + +So there was issued, on January 18, 1899, still another new Regulation +which repealed some of the earlier ones and aimed at amplifying, +condensing, rearranging and facilitating reference to the provisions +remaining in force, in order that the whole scheme should be made +clearer, simpler and easier to grasp. These results were fully attained, +and, though still subject to the final test of a great war, such as that +which broke out in 1914, the German Regulation of 1899 might certainly +be considered a masterpiece of organisation as prepared in time of +peace. One especially useful purpose it served was that of defining +clearly the duties, responsibilities, and spheres of action of all the +authorities, civil or military, concerned in the control and operation +of railways for military purposes. + +The various Regulations here in question have been supplemented from +time to time by _Field Service Regulations_, the first series of which, +issued under date May 23, 1887, was designed to take the place of the +Ordinances of 1861 relating to the movement by rail of great bodies of +troops. These Field Service Regulations of 1887 constituted an epoch +in the military history of Germany. They were regarded at the time as +offering a resumé of the most advanced ideas of Moltke, if not, also, +as the crowning glory of military organisation in the reign of William +I; and they certainly exercised a powerful influence on German military +literature. They were, further, the starting-point of a prolonged +series of similar Regulations, all amending, modifying, adding to, or +abbreviating their predecessors. These changes led to the issue, on +January 1, 1900, of a new edition, based on the exhaustive studies of a +Commission of fourteen members; and still later revisions resulted in +the publication of a further series on March 22, 1908.[23] + +Here, then, we get still further evidence of the keenness with which +Germany has followed up, in times of peace, her preparations for war, +while the Field Service Regulations, no less than the other Regulations +already detailed, show the important place that military rail-transport +holds in the view of those responsible in Germany for the making of +these arrangements. "Railways," it is declared in the Regulations of +1908, "exercise a decisive influence on the whole conduct of a war. They +are of the greatest importance for mobilising and concentrating the +army, and for maintaining it in a state of efficiency, and they enable +portions of it to be transported from one place to another during the +operations." What the Field Service Regulations do is to present in +concentrated and compact form the working details, in respect to field +service requirements, of those other and fuller Regulations which cover +the whole ground of military transport in general. + +Taking these various sources of information, the nature of the +organisation that Germany has thus effected as the result of so many +years of study and experience may be summarised as follows:-- + +In time of peace the authorities entrusted with the task of ensuring, +by their preparations in advance, the success of the whole system of +military rail-transport include (1) the Minister of War; the Prussian +Chief of the General Staff of the Army; the members of the Railway +Section of the Great General Staff, the Line Commissions and the +Station Commissions; authorities concerned in the forwarding, transport +and receiving of supplies, and representatives of the Commissariat +department; and (2) the Imperial Chancellor, the Imperial Railway +Bureau, the Imperial Administration of Posts and Telegraphs, and the +various railway administrations. + +The _Prussian Minister of War_ is the chief representative of the +interests of the Army in all questions relating to the military use of +the railways. + +The _Prussian Chief of the General Staff_ of the Army has under his +orders, in time of peace, the military authorities concerned in +rail-transport, and gives them the necessary instructions. He keeps +in close relations with the Imperial Railway Bureau, and serves as +intermediary between that Bureau and the Prussian Minister of War. It is +he who gives the directions according to which the use of the railways +in war-time is regulated, and he prescribes all the preparations +that are to be made in advance for the facilitating of such use. On +mobilisation, he discharges all the duties appertaining to the office +of the Inspector-General of Railways and Lines of Communication until +that officer has himself taken them in hand. From that time he issues +instructions according to circumstances. + +The _Railway Section of the Great General Staff_ is required, among +other duties, to collect, and have always available, the fullest and +most complete information as to the powers and facilities of the +railways for the transport of troops, etc. To this end it keeps in +constant communication with the railway administrations, and, also, +with the Imperial Railway Bureau (which centralises all questions +affecting railway administration), completing, if necessary, through +investigations made by its own officers, the information furnished +annually by the Bureau. The Railway Section further takes charge +of a wide range of details and preparations concerning military +rail-transport in war-time. + +On the outbreak of hostilities there is appointed for each theatre of +war an _Inspector-General of Railways and Lines of Communication_ who, +receiving his orders from the Chief of the General Staff, co-ordinates +the two groups of services, and ensures harmony in their joint +working. For the operation of the railways, as applied to military +purposes, there is a _Director of Field Railways_ who, acting under the +Inspector-General, controls the whole railway service. Through the Line +Commissions or Commandants subordinate to him he conveys to the railway +authorities the necessary demands or instructions in respect to military +transport, and, in concert with his superior officers, he fixes the +boundary between the lines to be operated on a peace footing and those +that are to be subject to military working. In the discharge of these +and other duties he is assisted by a staff composed partly of military +men and partly of railwaymen. Each officer concerned in the transport +arrangements has a recognised deputy who can act for him in case of need. + +Of _Line Commissions_, placed in charge, for military purposes, +over the lines of railway in certain districts, and becoming _Line +Commandants_ on the outbreak of war, there were twenty under the revised +Regulation of 1899, the number being increased in 1904 to twenty-one. +The headquarters of these Commissions are at such centres of traffic as +Berlin, Hanover, Erfurt, Dresden, Cologne, Altona, Breslau, etc. They +serve as intermediaries between the higher military authorities and +the railway administrations with which they are associated. Each Line +Commission consists, normally, of a staff officer of the active army and +a prominent railway functionary, the former having a non-commissioned +officer, and the latter a railway official, as secretary, with such +further assistance as may be needed. + +Subordinate, in turn, to the Line Commissions are the _Station +Commissions_, which, receiving instructions from the former, see to the +carrying out of the necessary transport requirements either at their +particular station or on the section of line of which they are placed in +charge. + +While full provision is thus made for the representation of the military +element in the conduct of rail-transport in time of war, with a view +to ensuring its efficiency, precautions are no less taken to avoid +repetitions of earlier troubles due to questions of responsibility and +control, and, more especially, to the interference of military officers +in the technical operation of the railway lines. On this subject the +Field Service Regulations of 1900 stated (paragraph 496):-- + + Railways can only fully accomplish their important and + difficult task during war if no serious hindrances to their + management are created by the conduct of the troops. + +In the later Regulations of 1908 it was said (paragraph 527):-- + + The important rôle which railways have to fulfil renders it + incumbent on every commander to do all in his power to prevent + any interference with the traffic due to delay, etc., on the + part of the troops. The railway staff and conducting officers + are bound by the transport arrangements made by the railway + authorities. + + The conducting officer is responsible for the administration + of the detachment of troops or consignment of stores under his + charge. It is his duty, as regards himself and his charge, to + obey the instructions of the railway officials. + + Any interference with the service of the railways is + forbidden. + + At important stations Railway Staff Officers are appointed + who act as intermediaries between the conducting officers and + the railway officials. + +Concerning _Lines of Communication_ the Field Service Regulations of +1908 say:-- + + A railway station, to serve as a Home Base + ("Etappenanfangsort") will be assigned to every Army Corps. From + these home bases supplies are sent forward to Collecting Depôts + ("Sammelstationen"), which will be established at not too great + a distance from the theatre of war. + + In the theatre of war a base will be assigned to each Army, + the situation of which will change according to the progress + of the operations. The Army Corps are connected with the Field + Base by lines of communication roads ("Etappenstrassen"), and on + these roads posts are formed about 13½ miles apart. + +As for the mass of working details also included in the various +Regulations, these may well appear to provide in advance for every +possible requirement in regard to military transport by rail, from +the movement of entire armies down to the supply of drinking water at +stations and the taking of carrier pigeons in the troop trains. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[21] In "Der Kriegs-Train des deutschen Heeres," by E. Schäffer, +(Berlin, 1883), the author, dealing with the subject of transport +in the war of 1870-71, and its effect on the feeding of the German +Army, says of the situation in August-September, 1870: "Immerhin +wurden den Truppen damals nicht unerhebliche Entbehrungen auferlegt"; +while concerning the position of the army of occupation in France he +writes: "Immerhin erforderte es umfassender Massregeln seitens der +Intendantur, die Truppen vor wirklichem Mangel zu schützen, namentlich +da die Requisitionen wenig ergiebig ausfielen, und anfänglich auch der +freihändige Ankauf keinen rechten Erfolg hatte." + +[22] "Revue militaire de l'Étranger," 27 Novembre, 1872. + +[23] "Field Service Regulations (Felddienst Ordnung, 1908) of the German +Army." Translated by the General Staff, War Office. London, 1908. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +RAILWAY TROOPS IN GERMANY + + +The innovation introduced into modern warfare by the Federal Government +of the United States, in the organisation on a comprehensive scale of a +Construction Corps for the combined purposes of repairing, destroying +and operating the railways on which so much might depend in the conduct +of war, attracted great attention in Europe, and more especially so in +Germany, which was the first country on this side of the Atlantic to +follow the American precedent, since adopted more or less completely by +all nations possessed alike of railways and a standing army. + +Down to the time of the War of Secession the need for such a corps +had not been realised in Europe; but the advantages which might be +gained therefrom had been shown in so unmistakable a form that when, +in 1866, there was the certainty of an early conflict between Prussia +and Austria, one of the first steps taken by the former country was to +provide, under a decree of May 6, 1866, for a _Field Railway Section_, +("Feldeisenbahnabteilung,") to be formed, and designed to operate, +on a basis closely approximating to that which had applied to the +corresponding American corps. The special purposes to be served were +defined as those of rapidly repairing lines of railway destroyed by +the enemy and of destroying railways it might be thought expedient to +prevent the enemy from using. The section was to be under the orders +of the General Staff either of the Army or of an Army Corps. It was, +however, not to come into being until its services were really required, +and it was then to act for the duration of the war only. + +On the outbreak of hostilities three divisions of the corps were +mobilised, under Cabinet Orders of May 25 and June 1, one division +being allotted to each of the three Prussian armies operating in +different parts of the theatre of war. The composition of the corps was +partly military and partly civil. The military element was supplied by +officers of the Engineers (one of whom acted as chief), non-commissioned +officers, and a detachment of Pioneers, the last-mentioned being either +carpenters or smiths. The civil element comprised railway engineers, +thoroughly acquainted with the construction and repair of permanent +way, bridges, etc.; assistant railway engineers, performing the duties +of clerks of the works; head platelayers, foremen, locomotive drivers, +machinists (for the repair of engines, rolling-stock, water pumps +and water tanks), and others. The members of the civil section were +chosen from the staff of the Prussian State railways by the Minister of +Commerce, their services being placed by him at the disposal of the War +Minister. Each of the three divisions constituted a complete unit. + +On the side of the Austrians there was at that time no similar force +available. Three years before there had been published in Vienna +a book, by Oberst. von Panz, entitled "Das Eisenbahnwesen, vom +militärischen Standpuncte," in which the author expressed the view that +details on the following points, among others, concerning railways +should be collected in time of peace and classified for reference +in case of need:--Permanent way: system and construction; gauge and +number of lines; whether lines single or double. Stations: size and +construction; which of them best fitted to serve as depôts. Bridges: +underground works, etc.; which of these could be the most easily +destroyed, or soonest repaired if destroyed, and if prepared beforehand +for destruction. Embankments: size; how made; slope; if provided +with culverts and size of these. Cuttings: length and depth; slopes; +nature of ground; whether much or little water, and whether danger of +landslips. Tunnels: dimensions and construction; if lined or cut in +rock; nature of cuttings at end and whether they can be blocked. Large +bridges and viaducts: system of construction; span of arches; whether or +not the piers are mined.[24] Where men, tools, stores and materials can +be obtained, and to what extent. + +These recommendations attracted much attention at the time. They +were quoted by H. L. Westphalen in his book on "Die Kriegführung +unter Benutzung der Eisenbahnen" (Leipzig, 1868), of which a French +translation was published under the title of "De l'Emploi des Chemins +de Fer en Temps de Guerre" (Paris, 1869); yet when, just before the +outbreak of war with Prussia, the Commander-in-Chief of the Austrian +Northern Army recommended that a Construction Corps should be formed, +the Minister of War replied that "the repair of railways was work which +should be done by the railway companies concerned." + +All the same, the retarding of the Prussian advance by interrupting +the rail communications became an important phase of Austrian tactics +and was followed up with great activity. Bridges and viaducts were +destroyed, rails torn up, sleepers burned, points and turntables carried +away, tunnels obstructed and water cranes and pumps rendered useless. +At one place (between Libenau and Sichrau), where the railway passed +through a deep cutting, the explosion of mines along the top of each +bank detached great masses of rock which, falling on the lines, filled +up the cutting to a height of six or eight feet for a distance of about +250 ft., and could not be removed until, by means of blasting, they had +been broken up into pieces sufficiently small to be carried away in +ballast trucks. + +The arrangements made by the Prussians were, however, so complete as to +permit, in most instances, of a speedy restoration. Even in the instance +just mentioned, fifty Pioneers, aided by twenty labourers, had the line +clear for traffic again before midnight of the day the destruction was +caused. + +Each division of the Construction Corps had at its disposal two +locomotives and thirty closed wagons or open trucks, provision thus +being made for the transport of, among other things, six light covered +carts (for use on the roads in the country to be invaded, horses being +requisitioned therein as necessary); tools; supplies of blasting powder +or gun-cotton; and rails, sleepers, bolts, etc., for 250 yards of +railway, reserve materials for a further quarter of a mile of track +being left at intermediate depôts, supplemented by an unlimited supply +at the base of operations. The construction trains also carried timber, +ropes, nails, scaffolding, clamps, etc., for the prompt repair of +small bridges. Materials for larger bridges or viaducts were stored at +convenient centres. + +How the reconnaissance of a line which might have been subjected to the +enemy's destructive tactics was carried out is thus told by Captain C. +E. Webber, R.E., in his "Notes on the Campaign in Bohemia in 1866":-- + + The reconnaissance starts with, and, until interrupted, + keeps up with, the advance guard, the movement being covered by + cavalry scouts on each side of the line. + + The greater portion of the train in charge of the + department, with one engine in front and another behind, + advances slowly, preceded at a distance of about 500 paces by a + trolley carrying one of the officers, four men to work it, and + a bugler. On arriving at any obstruction the trolley signals + to the train by bugle and extra caution is used in advancing + towards it. If in presence of the enemy, the scouts give warning + to the officer in the trolley, who returns to the train and the + whole retires. The second engine can be detached from the rear + to send messages or bring up fresh supplies. + +But for the successes already gained in the same direction by the +Federals in the United States, the speed with which repairs were +carried out by the Prussian Construction Corps--then so recently +organised--would have been regarded as remarkable. In various instances +communication was restored within from one and a half to three days +after the destruction even of important bridges. + +As it happened, however, whilst the Austrians had shown an excess of +zeal in some directions by destroying bridges when the tearing up +of the rails would have answered the same purpose, the hesitation +of the responsible Austrian officer to fire the mines which had +already been laid to the bridge over the Elbe at Lobkowitz was of +great advantage to the Prussians, leaving them the use of the line +from Turnau to Prague, Pardubitz and Brünn between July 18 and July +27, on which latter date the bridge was at last destroyed by order +of the governor of Theresienstadt. This particular bridge was one of +exceptional strategical importance, and, according to Captain Webber, +the construction even of a temporary substitute--had the Austrians blown +up the bridge before the Prussians could cross it--would have taken no +less than six weeks. The omission, also, of the Austrians to remove or +to destroy the railway rolling stock they left behind at Prague, on +their retirement from that city, conferred a further benefit on the +Prussians. These examples would seem to show that promptness in carrying +out destruction at a critical moment may be no less important on the one +side than efficient organisation on the other for accomplishing the work +of restoration in the shortest possible time. + +While the Construction Corps had thus fully justified its existence, +the sudden creation of such a corps for the purposes of a particular +war, and for the period of the war only, was considered inadequate for +a country where a large standing Army had to be maintained in readiness +for action at any moment, in case of need. Hence it was thought +desirable that Prussia should have a Field Railway Section established +on a permanent and well-organised footing. There was the further +reason for adopting this course because the Pioneers, composed almost +exclusively of reservists, had received no special training in railway +work, while the railway men themselves, accustomed to building lines in +a solid way for public use, were at a disadvantage when called on to +carry out, with great rapidity, and in a rough and ready manner, work +that was wanted only to serve the temporary purposes of the Army with +which they were associated. + +It was found, also, that the corps, comprising so large a civil element, +had escaped the supervision and control of the Executive Commission +at Berlin which had for its function the regulation of all matters +concerning military rail-transport. Nor did the Construction _and_ +Destruction Corps constitute, as well, an Operation Corps, providing +for the working of railways at the theatre of war, and especially of +railways taken from the enemy. The Prussians had, indeed, been able to +command the services of Austrian railwaymen in working the railways +seized in that country; but there was no certainty that the adoption of +a like expedient would be possible in any future war. + +By this time the whole subject of the destruction and restoration of +railway lines as an important element in modern warfare was attracting +attention among military authorities and writers in Germany. A +translation of McCallum's report was published, and the issue was begun +of what was to develop into a long series of technical papers, pamphlets +or books--such as, for example, Wilhelm Basson's "Die Eisenbahnen +im Kriege, nach den Erfahrungen des letzten Feldzuges" (Ratibor, +1867)--dealing with the art of rapidly destroying and restoring railways +in time of war and the most effective measures to be adopted in the +attainment of either end. + +These various considerations and developments were, no doubt, the reason +for the issuing, on August 10, 1869, of a Prussian Royal Decree which +created a permanent cadre of _Railway Troops_ to be constituted of +Pioneers who were to undergo regular instruction in everything relating +to the construction, destruction and operation of railways. A new +Battalion of Pioneers was to be raised for the purpose, and the whole +scheme was to be carried into effect in the course of 1871. + +When, in 1870, the war with France broke out, the preparations for +the creation of this permanent corps were still proceeding; but the +Prussians were, nevertheless, able to enter on the campaign with four +sections of Railway Troops, subsequently increased to six, including one +Bavarian section. Each section comprised Engineers, Pioneers, railwaymen +and auxiliary helpers, all of whom wore a uniform having the letter "E" +("Eisenbahntruppen") on the shoulder, and carried rifles. Prussia, in +fact, once more started, as in 1866, with such advantage over her enemy +as might result from her control of a Railway Construction Corps. At the +outset France had no similar body, and though, during the progress of +the war, she hurriedly set about the creation of a Construction Corps +of her own, that corps did not do very much beyond collecting at Metz +and Strasburg a great store of railway materials which was afterwards +to fall into the hands of the Prussians, and assist them in their own +operations. + +Notwithstanding the advantage thus gained, the practical benefits +secured by the Germans, although important in their effect on the +final issue, were far from being as great as the Army leaders may have +anticipated or desired. The destruction work carried out by the French +on their own railways, on their retirement, was much more serious +than anything experienced in the Prussian campaign in Austria. Thus +the works for the re-establishment of the Paris-Strasburg line (of +primary importance to the Germans for the siege of Paris) extended +from September 17 to November 22. The French had blocked the tunnel +of Nanteuil by the explosion therein of six mines which brought down +the walls and filled the western end of the tunnel with about 4,000 +square yards of sand. Attempts to clear away the obstruction were a +failure, owing to the occurrence of fresh slips due to the wet weather, +and eventually the Construction Corps built a loop line which avoided +the tunnel, and so restored communication. The defence of some of the +principal lines by fortresses also contributed to the difficulties of +the invaders; though, on the other hand, these difficulties would have +been greater still if the French had always adopted the best and most +scientific methods of interrupting rail communications, as, presumably, +they would have done if they had had the advantage of a well-organised +corps prepared in advance for the work that required to be done. + +At Fontenoy-sur-Moselle, between Nancy and Toul, there was, for example, +a bridge of seven arches, effective destruction of which would have made +a very serious check in the communications along the principal line +between Germany and Paris; but, instead of blowing up the bridge in the +middle, the men entrusted with the work (in January, 1871) brought down +two arches at the side of the bridge, causing a break which the Germans +were able to fill in with stones and earth, restoring communication +in about seventeen days. Then, although several of the tunnels in the +Vosges mountains were mined, the mines had not been charged, and before +instructions to blow up the tunnels had been received by those awaiting +them, the Germans were on the spot and took possession. + +On the other hand the absence on the side of the French of an organised +corps for destruction as well as construction did not prevent the +carrying out of some very bold and highly successful work by parties of +_franc tireurs_, who showed alike their appreciation of the importance +of rail communications and their skill in impeding them. + +One especially striking feat in this direction was accomplished by a +company known as the "Franc Tireurs of the Meuse." + +Learning that a Prussian troop train was to pass through Lanois (on +the line between Reims and Mons) on October 26, 1870, they resolved to +effect its destruction. How they operated is told by Lieutenant Fraser, +R. E.,[25] who arrived on the spot shortly afterwards, and heard the +story from some of the men engaged on the work. + +Any obstruction placed on the line would have been seen. Hence a +different course had to be adopted. Selecting a spot where the line ran +along a 12-ft. high embankment, to which a well-wooded slope came down +on one side, the _franc tireurs_ took up a pair of rails, removed the +sleepers, cut a deep trench across the line, laid some pieces of iron +at the bottom of the trench, placed on the iron a box containing thirty +kilos (2 qrs. 10 lbs.) of powder, and fixed into the lid of the box a +French field shell in such a way that, when the rail was replaced over +the box, the head of the fuse would be just below the lower flange of +the rail. In restoring the line again in order that there should be +nothing to attract attention, the _franc tireurs_ omitted one sleeper so +that the weight of the locomotive should in passing press the rail down +on to the head of the fuse. The party--some seventy-five strong--then +withdrew to the shelter of the woods to await developments. + +In due time the train of forty coaches approached at the ordinary speed, +the driver not suspecting any danger. When the engine reached the spot +where the "torpedo" had been placed, an explosion occurred which tore +up a mass of earth, rails and sleepers, threw the engine and several +carriages down the embankment, and wrecked the train. Those of the +Prussian troops who got clear from the wreckage were shot down by the +_franc tireurs_ under the protection of their cover. The number of the +enemy thus disposed of was said to be about 400. + +Altogether the French, in their efforts to impede the rail movements of +the invader, destroyed many miles of line, together with no fewer than +seventy-eight large bridges and tunnels, apart from minor interruptions. +The repairs and reconstruction thus rendered necessary threw a great +amount of labour on the Prussian Railway Troops, and much trouble arose +from time to time on account, not only of the inadequate supply of +materials even for temporary constructions, but, also, by reason of the +shortcomings of the workers themselves. The sections of Railway Troops +had been so recently formed that the men were still without adequate +training. In 1870-71, as in 1866, military members and civilian members +of the Construction Corps were alike unfamiliar with the special class +of work called for in the repair or the rebuilding of railways under the +emergency conditions of actual warfare. This instruction had, in fact, +to be completed at the theatre of war at a time when the Corps should +have been prepared to show the greatest efficiency. + +Difficulties arose, also, on the side of the Germans in operating the +2,500 miles of French railway lines of which they took possession. + +There was, in the first place, a deficiency both of locomotives and of +rolling stock. So far as circumstances would permit, the French, as +they retreated, either took their railway rolling stock with them or +destroyed it, in order that it should not be used by the enemy. Attempts +were made to meet the difficulty by obtaining constant reinforcements +of engines and wagons from Germany; but even then the organisation for +controlling the use of rolling stock, among other transport details, was +still so defective that commanders who wanted to ensure the movement of +their own troops by rail did not hesitate to take possession of engines +and carriages set aside for the regular services of the line. There +were, in fact, occasions when, for this reason, the regular services had +to be stopped altogether. + +In the next place troubles with the _personnel_ were no less acute +than those with the _matériel_. In proportion as the Germans advanced +towards Paris the bulk of the French population retired, while threats +and offers of liberal pay alike failed to secure from those who remained +assistance either in repairing or in operating the lines of which the +invaders had taken possession. In these circumstances not only engines, +carriages and wagons, but no fewer than 3,500 railwaymen--in addition +to the German Railway Troops already in France--had to be brought +from Germany. Yet even the resort to this expedient started a fresh +lot of troubles. The railwaymen so imported had been in the service +of different German railway companies whose equipment and methods of +operation varied considerably; so that when the men were required to +work together--and that, also, on the lines of a foreign country, with +the accompaniment of much laxity in discipline as well as of much mutual +misunderstanding--a vast amount of friction arose. + +All these experiences emphasised and strengthened the conclusion arrived +at even before the campaign of 1870-71--that the real efficiency of +Railway Troops can only be obtained by organising them in time of +peace in readiness for times of war. Such conclusion being now beyond +all possible dispute, action was taken by Prussia with characteristic +promptness. + +In accordance with a Royal Order of May 19, 1871, there was added to the +Prussian Army, on October 1 of the same year, a _Railway Battalion_ +("Eisenbahnbataillon"), the special purposes of which were (1) to afford +to those constituting it the means of obtaining, in time of peace, +such technical training as would enable them to construct any railway +works necessary in time of war, to repair promptly any damage done to +railways, and to undertake the entire railway traffic along lines of +communication; (2) to procure, or prepare, in time of peace, all plant, +materials, tools, etc., likely to be required in time of war; and (3) +to constitute the nucleus of all necessary railway formations in war. +The Battalion was formed of non-commissioned officers and men of the now +disbanded sections of Railway Troops who were still liable to military +service, supplemented by three-year volunteers and recruits from all +parts of the territory subject to the Prussian Minister of War, only +those being accepted, however, whose previous occupations fitted them +for one or other of the various grades of railway work. The officers +were obtained mainly, though not exclusively, from the Engineers. +Members of that corps, together with others who were mechanical +engineers by profession, were accepted as one-year volunteers. + +On a peace footing the Battalion was composed of a Staff and four +Companies, each of 100 or 125 men, with a depôt, and provided with its +own means of transport. One of the Companies consisted exclusively +of platelayers and watchmen. On mobilisation each Company was to be +enlarged into two Construction Companies and one Traffic Company, giving +a total, on a war footing, of eight Construction and four Traffic +Companies. The Corps also had a reserve division consisting of a Staff, +two Companies and a section of railway employés. All officers having +railway experience who had served in the war of 1870-71 were included in +the reserve. + +The training of the Battalion was under the direction of the +Inspector-General of the Engineers Corps. It comprised (1) theoretical +and scientific instruction of the officers in all branches of railway +construction, repair and destruction, coupled with the study of every +branch of railway science likely to be of advantage in military +transport, while special importance was attached to a close and +constant intercourse with the staffs of the various railways, and +(2) practical experience of railway construction and operation. This +experience was afforded (_a_) on the Battalion's practice grounds, where +instruction was more especially given in the art of rapidly destroying +railway track; (_b_) through the employment of the men--subject to +the continued maintenance among them of the principle of a military +organisation--on many of the private as well as on the State railways +in Germany, such employment including the repair of bridges, the +laying of track, the enlargement of stations, etc., and (_c_) by the +construction, operation and management of a short line of railway which, +on completion, was devoted to the public service. The period of training +was for either one or three years and the Battalion was kept up to a +normal standard of about 500 men by a succession of recruits. These +recruits were generally men of a good type, admission to the Battalion +being regarded with the greater favour inasmuch as the experience gained +was found to be of advantage to the men in obtaining railway employment +on their return to civil life. + +In the giving of this practical instruction the purpose specially +kept in view was that of anticipating as far as possible actual war +conditions, and providing for them accordingly. Thus in the laying of +rails for any new line built by the Railway Troops great importance was +attached to the speed with which the work could be done, the records of +the time taken being very closely watched. + +To one group of officers was allocated the duty of studying all +developments in railway science and operation at home or abroad and +conveying information thereon to those under instruction. A further +important feature of the scheme included the publication of a series of +textbooks on railway subjects regarded from a military standpoint. A +beginning was also made with the collection of large supplies of rails, +bridge materials, etc., for use as required. + +In December, 1872, Bavaria created a similar Battalion, comprising a +single Company attached to the 1st Bavarian Corps. The constitution +and the operations of this Battalion followed closely the precedents +established by Prussia. + +Such was the importance attached by the highest military authorities in +Germany to the formation of these Railway Troops that the Chief of the +Great General Staff was their Inspector-General from the time of the +first Prussian Battalion being created down to the year 1899. + +In December 30, 1875, came the conversion of the Railway Battalion into +a _Railway Regiment_. It was felt that the cadres of the former did +not respond sufficiently to the needs of the military rail-transport +situation, and they were accordingly enlarged into a Regiment of two +Battalions, with a regimental Staff of forty-eight, and 502 men in +each Battalion. In 1887 the Prussian Regiment was increased from two +Battalions to four, and the Bavarian Battalion expanded to the extent +of two companies in place of one. In 1890 the Prussian Regiment further +became a _Brigade_ of two Regiments, each of two Battalions, the number +of units thus remaining the same as before; though in 1893 the Prussian +Brigade was augmented by two more Battalions, increasing its force to +three Regiments, each of two Battalions with four Companies in each +Battalion, or a total of twenty-four Companies, of which one was a +Würtemberg Company and two were Saxon Companies, while the Bavarian +Battalion acquired three Companies in the place of two. + +In 1899 Prussia took a further new departure by grouping together, as +_Communication Troops_ ("Verkerstrüppen"), all the technical units +concerned in the railway, the telegraphic and the air-craft services. +This new arm was put under the control of an officer holding the rank +of a General of Division and receiving his orders direct from the +Emperor. A change was also effected in regard to the Berlin-Juterbog +railway--a single-track line, 70 km. (44 miles) in length, which, +originally constructed mainly by the Railway Troops, was operated by +them as a means of acquiring experience in railway working. Prior to +the passing of the law of March 25, 1899, troops for the working staff +were supplied by the Brigade, and the frequent changes were a cause of +some inconvenience. Under the new law a section constituted of three +Prussian Companies and a Saxon detachment, with a Lieutenant-Colonel as +director, was specially created for the operation of the line. + +Altogether the Railway Troops comprised a total of thirty-one Companies, +having 180 officers and 4,500 non-commissioned officers and men; but +these figures were irrespective of carefully-compiled lists (subjected +to frequent revision) of all reservists possessing railway experience +and still liable for military service. Brigade, Battalions and Companies +thus formed only the cadres of a small army of men considered qualified +to undertake railway work of one kind or another in time of war. + +Even in Germany itself the need for having so large a body of Railway +Troops was called into question some years ago, on the ground, partly, +that it was desirable to keep to the lowest practicable minimum the +number of non-combatants closely associated with the Army; and, +partly, because of the view--favoured by Von der Goltz, in his +"Kriegführung"--that much of the construction work which the Railway +Troops would carry out might be left to contractors, without hampering +the Army with further bodies of new troops for special purposes. + +To these suggestions it was replied, in effect, (1) that in any future +war the movement of large bodies of troops would be directly associated +with the provision and the maintenance of adequate railway facilities; +(2) that Railway Troops, constituted in time of peace, would alone +be capable of ensuring the rapid renovation of damaged lines, or the +construction of new ones, in time of war; (3) that works of this kind, +done under great pressure, and serving temporary purposes only, would +differ essentially from railway works undertaken in peace by ordinary +contractors; and (4) that Germany required a large body of Railway +Troops on account of her geographical position, inasmuch as she might +have to face an enemy on either, or both, of two fronts--France and +Russia; while if, in the event of a war with Russia, she should want to +send her forces into that country by rail, she would require to have +a large body of Railway Troops available either for the conversion of +the Russian 5 ft. gauge into the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge of the German lines +(in order that the engines and rolling stock of the latter could be +utilised on Russian territory), or for the construction of special +military railways as substitutes for the Russian lines. + +Whatever the merits of these respective arguments, the fact remains +that the Railway Troops of Germany, created under the circumstances and +conditions here detailed, have been maintained in steadily increasing +numbers, and, also, in constantly expanding efficiency thanks to what +is, in effect, their School of Railway Instruction and to the great +amount of practical work they have been called upon to do, whether in +the building of strategical lines or in other departments of railway +construction, destruction or working in which they could gain experience +likely to be of advantage in time of war. + +There was, also, according to M. Paul Lanoir, as related by him in his +book on "The German Spy System," a still further purpose that these Army +railwaymen might be called on to serve. He tells how in 1880, the chief +of the system, the notorious Stieber, conceived the idea of securing the +appointment in every portion of the national railway system of France +(and more especially at important junctions or strategical centres) of +German spies who, competent to act as railway workers, would, in the +event of any future war between Germany and France, and on receiving +the necessary instructions, destroy or block the railway lines at those +points in such a manner--as planned, of course, in advance--that great +delay would occur in the mobilisation of the French troops owing to +the traffic being paralysed for the time being; the Germans, in the +meantime, rushing their own forces to the frontier. "The extremely +important rôle which would devolve on our railwaymen," adds M. Lanoir, +"at the moment of the declaration of war, in fulfilling their functions +as indispensable auxiliaries to the combatant army, was already +thoroughly appreciated at this period." + +Submitted to Prince Bismarck, Stieber's scheme was approved by him, +and, so far as the obtaining of appointments on the French railways +by Stieber's agents was concerned, the plan had been quietly carried +into effect by the end of 1883; but a casual incident then led to the +discovery of the conspiracy by M. Lanoir himself. Within a week, as the +result of his communications with General Campenau, Minister of War, +the railway companies received a confidential circular requiring that +they should call upon every foreigner employed by them in any capacity +whatever to become naturalised without delay. Those who would not adopt +this course were to be immediately dismissed. The number of foreigners +then in the employ of the railway companies was 1,641, and, although +1,459 of them agreed to become naturalised, there were 182 Germans who +refused so to do. These 182 were at once discharged--the assumption +being that they were the spies, qualified to act as railway workers, by +whom the dislocation of traffic was to have been ensured whenever they +might receive word to that effect. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[24] Captain A. de Formanoir states in his book, "Des Chemins de Fer en +Temps de Guerre" (Conférences militaires belges. Bruxelles, 1870), that +in France and Austria all the railway bridges have mine-chambers so that +they can be readily destroyed when the occasion arises. + +[25] "Account of a Torpedo used for the Destruction of a Railway Train +on the 26th of October, 1870." By Lieut. Fraser, R.E. Papers of the +Corps of Royal Engineers, N.S., Vol. XX. Woolwich, 1872. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +FRANCE AND THE WAR OF 1870-71 + + +When France went to war with Germany in 1870-71, her military +rail-transport was still governed by regulations which, adopted as far +back as 1851 and 1855, related only to such matters of detail as the +financial arrangements between the Army and the railway companies, +the length of troop trains, etc., without making any provision for an +organisation controlling the transport of large bodies of men in time +of war. It certainly had been under these regulations that the French +troops were conveyed to Italy when they took part in the campaign of +1859; but the defects then developed, coupled with the further lessons +taught by the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, had shown the need for +bringing these early French regulations into harmony with the conditions +and requirements of modern warfare. + +Impressed by these considerations, and realising the disadvantages and +dangers of the position into which his country had drifted, the French +Minister of War, Marshal Niel, appointed in March, 1869, a "Commission +Centrale des Chemins de Fer," composed of representatives of the Army, +the Ministry of Public Works, and the principal railway companies, +for the purpose not only of revising the existing regulations on +military transports but of preparing a new one to take their place. The +Commission held twenty-nine sittings and it drew up a provisional scheme +on lines closely following those already adopted in Germany and Austria +and based, especially, on the same principle of a co-ordination of the +military with the railway technical element. This provisional scheme +was subjected to various tests and trials with a view to perfecting +it before it was placed on a permanent basis. But Marshal Niel died; +no new regulation was adopted; the projected scheme was more or less +forgotten; time was against the early completion of the proposed +experiments, while political and military developments succeeded one +another with such rapidity that, on the outbreak of war in 1870, it was +no longer possible to carry out the proposed plans. So the studies of +the Commission came to naught, and France embarked on her tremendous +conflict with no organisation for military transport apart from the +out-of-date and wholly defective regulations under which her troops had +already suffered in the Italian war of 1859. + +There was an impression that the talent of the French soldier would +enable him to "se débrouiller"--to "pull," if not (in the English sense) +to "muddle," through. But the conditions were hopeless, and the results +speedily brought about were little short of chaos. + +So far as the actual conveyance of troops was concerned, the railway +companies themselves did marvels. "The numerical superiority of +Germany," as Von der Goltz says in his "Nation in Arms," "was known in +Paris, and it was thought to neutralise this superiority by boldness +and rapidity. The idea was a good one ... but ... it was needful that +the Germans should be outdone in the rapidity with which the armies +were massed." That the railway managements and staffs did their best to +secure this result is beyond any possibility of doubt. + +On July 15, 1870, the Minister of Public Works directed the Est, Nord +and Paris-Lyon Companies to place all their means of transport at the +disposal of the War Minister, suspending as far as necessary their +ordinary passenger and goods services; and the Ouest and Orléans +Companies were asked to put their rolling stock at the disposal of the +three other companies. The Est, to which the heaviest part in the work +involved was to fall, had already taken various measures in anticipation +of an outbreak of war; and such was the energy shown by the companies, +as a whole, that the first troop train was started from Paris at 5.45 +p.m. on July 16, within, that is to say, twenty-four hours of the +receipt of the notice from the Minister of Public Works. Between July 16 +and July 26 there were despatched 594 troop trains, conveying 186,620 +men, 32,410 horses, 3,162 guns and road vehicles, and 995 wagon-loads of +ammunition and supplies. In the nineteen days of the whole concentration +period (July 16-August 4) the companies carried 300,000 men, 64,700 +horses, 6,600 guns and road vehicles, and 4,400 wagon-loads of +ammunition and supplies. + +All this activity on the part of the railway companies was, however, +neutralised more or less by the absence of any adequate organisation for +regulating and otherwise dealing with the traffic, so far as concerned +the military authorities themselves. + +The first regiment to leave Paris, on July 16, arrived at the station +at 2 p.m. for the train due to start at 5.45 p.m. The men had been +accompanied through the streets by an immense crowd shouting "À Berlin!" +and, with so much time to spare, they either blocked up the station or +were taken off by their friends to the neighbouring taverns, where the +consumption of liquor was such that, by the time the train started, most +of the men were excessively drunk. In addition to this, many had been +relieved of their ammunition--taken from them, perhaps, as "souvenirs" +of an historic occasion, though destined to reappear and to be put to +bad use in the days of the Commune, later on. + +If, however, at the beginning, the troops got to the station three hours +before there was any need, other occasions were to arise when they kept +trains waiting three or four hours before they themselves were ready to +start. + +Then, in Germany the concentration of the troops at some safe point +in the interior, and their transport thence by rail to the frontier +in complete units, took place as separate and distinct operations. In +France the two movements were conducted simultaneously; and this, in +itself, was a prolific source of confusion and disorganisation on the +railways. The troops came to the stations on a peace footing and in +various strengths. One regiment might have only one-third the strength +of another despatched earlier the same day or on the previous day, +although the railway company would have provided the same number of +vehicles for both. There was thus a choice of evils as between removing +two-thirds of the carriages (a procedure which time or the station +arrangements did not always permit); sending the train away only +partially loaded; or filling up the available space either with men +belonging to other corps or with such supplies as might be available +at the moment. Some trains did leave nearly empty, but it was the +last mentioned of the three courses that was generally adopted. Men +of different arms--Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery; mobilised troops, +reservists, and individuals, separated, it might be, from their own +officers and not willing to show themselves amenable to the discipline +of other officers--were thus transported at the same time as, possibly, +a miscellaneous collection of horses, material and commissariat +supplies. Other trains, again, went away so overcrowded that they could +not accommodate all the men who should have gone by them, many being +left behind in consequence. + +Confusion and delays at the railway stations during the entraining +of the troops were rendered the more complete because the railway +staffs failed to get an adequate degree of support from the military +authorities. According to one of the articles in those regulations of +1855 which were still in force, "officers were responsible for the +prescribed movements in connection with the entraining, and should +personally co-operate in ensuring observance of the regulations +referring thereto"; but, according to Baron Ernouf, ("Histoire des +Chemins de Fer Français pendant la Guerre Franco-Prussienne,") there +were officers who refused absolutely to concern themselves with the +entraining of their men at the Est station in Paris, declaring that this +was a matter to be looked after by the railway officials with the help +of subordinate officers, if they wanted it. + +Under such conditions as these, officers in charge of troops got +hopelessly separated from their men, who themselves might have been +sent off with no knowledge of their proper destination. One General +telegraphed to Paris on July 21:--"Have arrived at Belfort. Not found +my Brigade. Not found General of Division. What should I do? Don't know +where my Regiments are." As for the men, it was not many days before +the stations _en route_ to the front were occupied by a floating mass +of "lost" soldiers, who pretended to be looking for their corps but too +often found it much pleasanter to remain in the station buffets, and +there enjoy the hospitality of local patriots. Such proportions did this +evil assume that in August, 1870, the railway station at Reims had to be +protected against a mob of from 4,000 to 5,000 "lost" ones, who wanted +to plunder the wagons containing supplies for the front. + +Confusion, again, was made still worse confounded by the multiplicity +of orders--too often contradictory or impossible to carry out--which +bombarded the railway officials, and must have driven them at times +almost to distraction. Orders came direct from anybody and everybody +possessed of the slightest degree of military authority. They came from +the Ministry of War, the General Staff, and the Administrative Staff; +from the Quartermaster-General's Department and the Commissariat; from +officers and non-commissioned officers of Infantry, Artillery and +Engineers; while each individual invariably gave his orders based on +the range of his own particular sphere, or the convenience of his own +particular troops, without any regard for the situation as a whole, +for what might be wanted in other spheres, or for whether or not it +was physically possible for the railway staffs to do at all what was +asked of them, even if they were not being overwhelmed with those other +orders, besides. Commanding officers of different corps especially +distinguished themselves by presenting to the railway managements claims +for priority in the despatch of Infantry, Artillery or supplies, as the +case might be, threatening them with grave consequences if, in each +instance, they did not yield such priority at once, though leaving them +to meet an obviously impracticable position as best they could. Then it +might happen that when all the necessary arrangements--involving much +interference with other traffic--had been made, another order would come +countermanding the first one, or postponing the execution of it until a +later occasion. + +As though, again, the orders from all these independent military +authorities were not sufficient, the railways were further worried by +local authorities who wanted special trains for some such service as the +conveyance of detachments of garde mobile a distance of ten or twelve +miles to an instruction camp so that the men would not have to march by +road. There were even demands from certain of the local authorities that +they should be allowed to use railway wagons as barracks for troops. + +M. Jacqmin, general manager of the Chemin de Fer de l'Est, relates in +his book, "Les Chemins de Fer Pendant la Guerre de 1870-71," that at +the moment when the Compagnie de l'Est was providing for the transport +of Bourbacki's forces, and preparing for the revictualling of Paris, +the préfet of the Rhone demanded the use of railway wagons in which to +house the garde nationale mobilised on the plain of Vénissieux, on the +left bank of the Rhone, there having been a delay in the delivery of +the material for barracks. The company refused the request, and they +had with the departmental authorities a lively controversy which was +only settled by the decision of the Bordeaux Government that those +authorities were in the wrong. + +Typical of the general conditions, as they prevailed not only in +Paris but elsewhere in France, were the circumstances under which the +Nineteenth Army Corps, of 32,000 men, 3,000 horses and 300 guns, was +sent from Cherbourg to Alençon. The troops were late in arriving at the +station; the officers neglected to look after the men; the men refused +to travel in goods trucks; orders and counter-orders succeeded one +another in rapid succession; two or three hours were required for the +despatch of each train, and delays occurred which must have disorganised +the traffic all along the line. + +Great as the confusion undoubtedly was at the points of despatch, it +was far surpassed by that which prevailed at stations to which trains +were sent regardless of any consideration as to whether or not they +could be unloaded there with such despatch as to avoid congestion. +No transfer stations--constituting the points beyond which only the +supplies wanted for immediate or early use at the extreme front should +be taken, the remainder being forwarded as wanted--had been arranged, +and the consignors, military or civil, had assumed that all supplies +should be sent in bulk to places as near to the troops as possible. +There were, consequently, many stations close to the frontier where the +rails leading to them were occupied for miles together by loaded wagons, +the number of which was being constantly added to by fresh arrivals. +Many of these wagons were, in fact, used as magazines or storehouses on +wheels. The same was, also, being done to a certain extent on the German +lines, though with this difference--that whereas in Germany there were +at the railway stations route commandants whose duty it was to enforce +the prompt unloading of wagons, in France there was no corresponding +authority. It suited the officers or the military department concerned +to keep the supplies in the wagons until they were wanted; and this +arrangement may have appeared an especially desirable one from their +point of view because if the army moved forward--or backward--the +supplies could be more readily moved with it if they were still in the +wagons. + +For these various reasons, there were officers who gave the most +stringent orders that the wagons were not to be unloaded until their +contents were actually required. It was evidently a matter of no concern +to them that the wagons they were detaining might be wanted elsewhere, +and that, for lack of them, other troops might be experiencing a +shortage in their own supplies. + +When the wagons were not deliberately kept loaded, it might still be +impossible for the unloading to be done because of there being no +military in attendance to do the work. As for the picking out, from +among the large number in waiting, of some one wagon the contents of +which were specially wanted, the trouble involved in this operation must +often have been far greater than if the wagon had been unloaded and the +supplies stored in the first instance. + +Even the stations themselves got congested, under like conditions. The +Commissariat wanted to convert them into depôts, and the Artillery +sought to change them into arsenals. There were stations at which no +platform was any longer available and troops arriving by any further +train had to descend some distance away, several days elapsing before +their train could be moved from the place where it had pulled up. At +stations not thus blocked trains might be hours late in arriving, or +they might bring a squadron of cavalry when arrangements had been made +for receiving a battalion of infantry. + +In one instance a General refused to allow his men to detrain on arrival +at their destination at night, saying they would be more comfortable +in the carriages than in the snow. This was, indeed, the case; but so +long as the train remained where it was standing no other traffic could +pass. Sometimes it was necessary for troop trains to wait on the lines +for hours because no camp had been assigned to the men, and there was at +least one occasion when a Colonel had to ask the stationmaster where it +was his troops were to go. + +Most of the traffic had been directed to Metz and Strasburg, and the +state of chaos speedily developed at the former station has become +historic. + +The station at Metz was a large one; it had eight good depôts and four +miles of sidings, and it was equal to the unloading of 930 wagons in +twenty-four hours under well-organised conditions. But when the first +infantry trains arrived the men were kept at the station four or five +hours owing to the absence of orders as to their further destination. +The men detrained, and the wagons containing road vehicles, officers' +luggage, etc., were left unloaded and sent into the sidings. Other +trains followed in rapid succession, bringing troops and supplies, and +the block began to assume serious proportions. + +The railway officials appealed to the local Commissariat force to unload +the wagons so that they could be got out of the way. They were told +that this could not be done because no orders had been received. The +Commissariat force for the division also declined to unload the wagons, +saying it was uncertain whether the troops for whom the supplies were +intended would remain at Metz or go further on. + +Any unloading at all for several days was next rendered impossible by +the higher military authorities. They asked the railway officers to +prepare for the transport of an army corps of 30,000 men. This was done, +and forty trains were located at various points along the line. An order +was then given that the trains should be brought to Metz, to allow of +the troops leaving at once. Within four hours every train was ready, and +its locomotive was standing with the steam up; but no troops appeared. +The order was countermanded. Then it was repeated, and then it was +countermanded over again. + +All this time fresh train-loads of supplies and ammunition had been +arriving at Metz, adding to the collection of unloaded wagons which, +having filled up all the sidings began to overflow and block up, first +the lines leading to the locomotive sheds and next the main lines +themselves. Everything was in inextricable confusion. Nobody knew where +any particular commodity was to be found or, if they did, how to get +the truck containing it from the consolidated mass of some thousands of +vehicles. "In Metz," telegraphed the Commissary-General to Paris, "there +is neither coffee, nor sugar; no rice, no brandy, no salt, only a little +bacon and biscuit. Send me at least a million rations to Thionville." +Yet it was quite possible that the articles specified were already in +some or other of the trucks on hand, had the Commissary-General only +known where they were and how to get them. + +The railway people did what they could. They unloaded some of the +consignments and removed them a considerable distance by road--only to +have them sent back again to Metz station for re-loading and conveyance +elsewhere. Hay unloaded at the station was sent into Metz to some +magazines which, in turn, and at the same time, were sending hay to +the railway for another destination. Finally, as a last resource, +and in order both to reduce the block and to get further use out of +the wagons, the railway officials began to unload them and put their +contents on the ground alongside. A big capture alike of wagons and of +supplies was made by the enemy on his occupation of Metz. + +Analogous conditions prevailed in many other places. At Dôle (Dep. Jura) +an accumulated stock of loaded wagons not only filled up all the sidings +but blocked up a large portion of the main line. When the evacuation +was decided on a great waste of time occurred in selecting the wagons +to be moved. Orders given one hour were countermanded the next; trains +which had been made up were moved forward and backward, instead of being +got out of the way at once; and, eventually, a considerable quantity of +rolling stock, which might and should have been removed, had to be left +behind. + +On the Paris-Lyon railway a collection of 7,500 loaded trucks had +accumulated at a time when a great truck shortage began to be felt, +and the whole of these, together with the provisions and the materials +they contained, fell into the hands of the Germans, whose total haul +of wagons, including those captured at Metz and other places, numbered +no fewer than 16,000. The wagons thus taken were first used by them +for their own military transport during the remainder of the war; +were then utilised for ordinary traffic on lines in Germany, and were +eventually returned to France. Not only, therefore, had the French +failed to get from these 16,000 railway wagons the benefit they should +have derived from their use but, in blocking their lines with them +under such conditions that it was impossible to save them from capture, +they conferred a material advantage on the enemy, providing him with +supplies, and increasing his own means both of transport and of attack +on themselves. + +The proportions of the German haul of wagons would, probably, have been +larger still had not some of the French railway companies, on seeing the +advance the enemy was making, assumed the responsibility of stopping +traffic on certain of their lines and sending off their rolling stock +to a place of safety. In taking this action they adopted a course +based alike on precedent and prudence, and one fully warranted by the +principle of keeping railway rolling stock designed for purposes of +defence from being utilised by the enemy for his own purposes of attack. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +ORGANISATION IN FRANCE + + +While, on the conclusion of the Franco-Prussian war, Germany began, +as we have seen in Chapter X., to improve her own system of military +rail-transport, with a view to remedying the faults developed +therein, France applied herself with equal, if not with even greater, +determination and perseverance to the task of creating for herself a +system which, in her case, had been entirely lacking. + +Recognising alike her own shortcomings, the imperative need to prepare +for future contingencies, and the still more important part that +railways would inevitably play in the next great war in which she might +be engaged, France resolved to create, in time of peace, and as an +indispensable factor in her scheme of national defence, a system of +military transport comprehensive in its scope, complete in its working +details, and leaving nothing to chance. Everything was to be foreseen, +provided for, and, as far as circumstances would permit, tested in +advance. + +The Prussian organisation of 1870-71 was, admittedly, and as recommended +by Jacqmin, taken as a starting point for what was to be done. From +that time, also, every new regulation adopted by Prussia in regard to +military transport, and every important alteration made in the Prussian +system, was promptly recorded and commended or criticised in the +ably-conducted French military papers; though in the actual creation +of her own system there was no mere following by France of Prussian +examples. What was considered worth adopting certainly was adopted; +but the organisation eventually built up, as the result of many years +of pertinacious efforts, was, in reality, based on French conditions, +French requirements, and the most progressive ideas of French military +science. The French were, also, to show that, when they applied +themselves to the task, they had a genius for organisation in no way +inferior to that of the Germans themselves. + +In his review of the events of 1870-71, Jacqmin declared that, while +the education of France in the use of railways in time of war had still +to be completed, the basis for such education had already been laid +down by Marshal Niel's "Commission Centrale" of 1869. The two essential +conditions were (1) unification of control in the use of railways for +military purposes, whether for the transport of men or of supplies; and +(2) association of the military element and the technical element,--an +association which should be permanent in its nature and apply to every +phase of the railway service, so that before any order was given there +should be a guarantee that it was one possible of achievement, and this, +also, without prejudice to other transport orders already given or +likely to become necessary. + +It was these essential conditions that formed the basis of the +organisation which France created. + +As early as November, 1872, there was called into existence a +_Commission Militaire Superieure des Chemins de Fer_ consisting of +twelve members, who represented the Ministry of Public Works, the Army, +the Navy, and the great railway companies. Attached to the Ministry of +War, and charged with the task of studying all questions relating to +the use of railways by the Army, the Commission had for its first duty +a revision of the proposals made by Marshal Niel's Commission of 1869. +Following on this came a succession of laws, decrees and instructions +dealing with various aspects of the situation in regard to military +transport and the military organization of the railways, the number +issued between 1872 and 1883 being no fewer than seventeen. These, +however, represented more or less tentative or sectional efforts made in +combination with the railway companies, who gave to the Chambers and to +the administrative authorities their most earnest support and the full +benefit of all their technical knowledge and experience in regard to +the many problems which had to be solved. + +In 1884 there were issued two decrees (July 7 and October 29) which +codified, modified or further developed the various legislative +or administrative measures already taken, and laid down both the +fundamental principles and the leading details of a comprehensive +scheme which, after additional modifications or amendments, based on +later experiences, was to develop into the system of organised military +rail-transport as it exists in France to-day. + +These later modifications were more especially effected by three +decrees which, based on the law of December 28, 1888, dealt with (1) +the composition and powers of the Commission Militaire Superieure des +Chemins de Fer; (2) the creation of Field Railway Sections and Railway +Troops; and (3) the organisation of the military service of railways. + +Since its original formation in 1872, the _Superior Military Commission_ +had already undergone reconstruction in 1886, and still further changes, +in addition to those made by the decree of February 5, 1889, were to +follow. In its final form the Commission still retains the principle of +representation thereon alike of the military and the technical (railway) +element. Presided over by the Chief of the General Staff--who, with +the help of a special department of that Staff, exercises the supreme +direction of the military transport services, subject to the authority +of the War Minister--the Commission is composed of six Generals or other +military officers of high rank, three representatives of the Ministry of +Public Works, and the members of the Line Commission appointed for each +of the great railway systems and, also, for the Chemin de Fer d'État. + +All the members of the Commission are nominated by the Minister of +War. The function they discharge is a purely consultative one. Their +business it is to give to the Minister their views on all such questions +as he may submit to them for consideration in regard to the use of the +railways by the Army, and more especially in regard to-- + +1. Preparations for military transports. + +2. Examination of all projects for new lines or junctions and +alterations of existing lines, as well as all projects which concern +railway facilities (stations, platforms, water supply, locomotive sheds, +etc.) + +3. The fixing of the conditions to be fulfilled by railway rolling stock +in view of military requirements, and the alterations which may be +necessary to adapt it thereto. + +4. Special instructions to be given to troops of all arms as to their +travelling by rail. + +5. Agreements to be made between railway companies and the War +Department in respect to transport of troops, provisions, etc. + +6. Organisation, instruction and employment of special corps of +railwaymen (for repairs, etc.). + +7. Measures to be taken for ensuring the supervision and protection of +railways and their approaches. + +8. The means of destroying and of rapidly repairing lines of railway. + +Heads of the different services at the Ministry of War can attend +meetings of the Commission, in a consultative capacity, in respect to +matters coming within their jurisdiction, and the Commission can, in +turn, apply to the Minister for the attendance of any person it may +desire to hear. + +As far as possible, all plans and arrangements concerning the transport +of troops and supplies in time of war, from the moment of mobilisation +onward, are thus prepared, examined or provided for in advance. In +article 8 of the Regulation of December 8, 1913, on Military Transports +by Railway ("Réglement sur les transports stratégiques par chemin de +fer") it is, in fact, stated that-- + + All the arrangements relating to the organisation and + carrying out of transport for mobilisation, concentration, + revictualling and evacuation are studied and prepared in time + of peace. The Minister gives, to this effect, all the necessary + instructions to the General Staff, to the commanders of Army + Corps, and to the different services. A like course is adopted, + in time of peace, with regard to the study of the conditions + under which the railways will be operated on the lines of + communication. + +The creation, under the law of March 13, 1875, of Field Railway Sections +and Railway Troops was the outcome of the obvious need of having an +organised force able to take up the duties of constructing, repairing, +destroying or operating railways at the theatre of war, such force being +established in time of peace and assured all the experience needed to +qualify them for the discharge of those various duties. France, in fact, +was now, in this respect, to follow the example of Germany, just as +Germany had already been inspired by the example of the United States. + +Under a decree of February 5, 1889, _Field Railway Sections_ ("Sections +de chemins de fer de campagne") were defined as permanent military corps +charged, in time of war, and concurrently with the Railway Troops, +with the construction, renovation and operation of those railways of +which the working could not be assured by the national companies. Their +personnel was to be recruited from among the engineers, officials +and men employed by the railway companies and by the State Railways +Administration, such recruiting being carried out either voluntarily +or by reason of liability to render military service; and they were to +form a distinct corps, having its own governing body with, as its head, +a commandant exercising the functions of a Chef de Corps. In time of +peace there were to be nine sections, each designated by a distinctive +number according to the particular railway system or systems from which +it was formed; though authority was given to the Minister of War to call +further sections into being in case of war. The number in peace was +increased, in 1906, by the formation of a tenth section from among the +staffs of railways in the "secondary" group, including local lines and +tramways, in order to assure, or to assist in, the operation of these +railways or tramways for military transport in time of war. + +In time of peace the sections were to be subject to inspections, +musters, reviews and assemblies, as ordered by the Minister of War. A +further provision in the decree of 1889 says:--"All the arrangements +relative to the mobilisation of each section shall be studied and +planned in time of peace. Each section should always be ready, in the +most complete manner, to render its services to the Minister of War." + +Subsequent decrees or instructions constituted each of the sections a +complete unit on the following basis: (1) A central body; (2) three +distinct divisions, namely, (_a_) "movement," (_b_) "voie," and (_c_) +"traction"; (3) a central depôt common to the three divisions and the +central body; and (4) complementary territorial subdivisions in the same +three classes, and attached to the central depôt of the section. The +territorial subdivisions are designed to provide a reserve force of men +who can complete or strengthen the existing sections, or, alternatively, +be constituted into additional sections, if so desired by the Minister +of War. The total strength of each section (including 141 allotted to +the central depôt) was fixed as 1,466. + +The administration of a section rests with an Administrative Council +formed by the president and the heads of the several departments, and +meeting at least once in every three months in time of peace, and once +a week in time of war. Authority is exercised over the sections by the +Field Railway Commissions to which they are attached.[26] + +Men in the active divisions of the sections who are liable to military +service are excused from taking part in the ordinary military exercises, +but may be assembled for inspections, etc., or to undergo courses of +instruction in railway work. Men in the territorial subdivisions can be +summoned by the Minister of War for "a period of exercises" in railway +work in time of peace; and the fact may be recalled that advantage of +this power was taken during the French railway troubles of 1910, when +the strikers were required to assume the rôle of soldiers doing railway +work under military authority and control. + +The _Railway Troops_ ("Troupes de chemin de fer") now constitute a +Railway Regiment ("5e régiment du génie") organised under the decree +of July 11, 1899, and comprising on a peace footing, three Battalions, +each of four Companies. + +Recruits for the Railway Regiment come from one or other of the +following classes: (1) Young soldiers who were in the railway service +before they joined the Army; (2) an annual contingent of railway +employés selected by the Minister of War from lists supplied for this +purpose by the administrations of the five great railway companies +and of the State railways, the number so selected not to exceed 240, +distributed as follows: Compagnie du Nord, 42; Est, 18; P. L. M., 54; +Orléans, 42; Midi, 15; État, 69; and (3) soldiers belonging to Infantry +Regiments who, after one year of training therein, are sent to the +Railway Regiment, those chosen for this purpose being, by preference, +men whose previous occupation in life has adapted them for railway work. + +The railway administrations are also required to provide from among +their officials a certain number of officers and non-commissioned +officers to form a reserve for the Regiment. + +A most complete and systematic course of instruction is arranged.[27] It +is divided into (1) military instruction and (2) technical instruction, +the purpose of the latter being defined as that of qualifying the +Railway Troops to undertake at the theatre of war, subject to the +authority of the Director-General of Railways and Communications, +works of repair or destruction of railway lines, or, in case of need, +the provisional working of the railways. In time of peace it is the +duty of the Superior Military Commission for Railways to advise on all +questions concerning the organisation, instruction and employment of the +special troops for railway work. To enable it to discharge this function +the Commission receives, through the Chief of the General Staff, all +programmes, proposals or reports that may be issued in regard to the +technical instruction of the troops, giving its views thereon, and +making such recommendations as it may consider desirable. + +Such technical instruction comprises (_a_) that which is given to the +whole of the troops; (_b_) instruction in particular branches of railway +work given to a limited number of individuals; (_c_) instruction to +groups of men operating in companies or otherwise, and (_d_) instruction +obtained on the ordinary railways. It is further divided into (i) +theoretical and (ii) practical. + +Among the measures adopted for ensuring the success of the general +scheme, mention might be made of the issuing of special series of +textbooks; the regular working by the Regiment of about forty miles of +railway--including an important junction--between Chartres and Orléans, +on the State Railway system; and arrangements made with the railway +administrations under which (1) a certain number of Companies belonging +to the Regiment are attached to the ordinary railway systems every +year, for periods of two or three months; and (2) power is given to the +railway administrations to engage the services of the Railway Troops +in carrying out repairs or construction works on their lines, a mutual +advantage thus being obtained. + +Finally there is a Railway School ("École de chemins de fer") which +has charge of all the materials, tools, etc., used in the technical +instruction of the troops; draws up, under the orders of the Colonel, +programmes of practical work and instruction; and provides (1) a library +which is supplied with books and periodicals dealing with military, +railway, scientific and historical subjects, together with maps, +plans, decrees, regulations, etc., relating to the military operation +of railways; (2) a collection of tools, instruments and models; (3) +photographic and lithographic departments; (4) stores of railway +construction material for instruction purposes; (5) other stores of like +material for use in case of war; (6) workshops for practical instruction +in railway repairs, etc.; and (7) practice grounds reserved exclusively +for the Railway Troops. + +The fact of these two bodies of Field Railway Sections and Railway +Troops being organised on so practical and comprehensive a basis +secured to France the control of forces certain to be of the greatest +service to her in the next war in which she might be engaged. It would, +also, even suffice by itself to prove the earnestness, the vigour and +the thoroughness with which, after 1870-71, France entered upon the +improvement of her system of military rail-transport for national +defence. There was, however, much more to be done, besides, before that +system could be considered complete; and here, again, a vast amount of +study, foresight and energy was shown. + +Following, indeed, the laws, decrees, regulations, orders, and +instructions issued down to 1889 came so many others--dealing, in some +instances, with even the minutest detail concerning some particular +phase of the organisation in course of being perfected--that a collected +series of those still in force in 1902 formed a volume of over 700 +pages.[28] Since the issue of this somewhat formidable collection, still +further changes have been introduced, the general conditions being +finally modified by decrees passed on December 8, 1913. + +Without attempting to indicate all the successive stages in this +prolonged series of legislative and administrative efforts, it may +suffice to offer a general sketch of the French organisation of military +rail-transport on the basis of the laws, regulations and practices in +operation on the outbreak of war in 1914. + +Connected with each of the great railway systems there is a permanent +_Line Commission_ ("Commission de réseau") which consists of (1) a +technical member who, in practice, is the general manager of the line; +and (2) a military member, who is a member of the General Staff of the +Army. The former is chosen by the railway administration, subject to +the approval of the War Minister, and the latter by the War Minister +himself. Each Line Commission controls the services of a combined +technical and military staff, and each Commissioner has a deputy who +can take his place and exercise his powers in case of need. While the +Military Commissioner is specially responsible for measures adopted +from a military point of view, the Railway Commissioner is specially +responsible for putting at the command of the Army, as far as may be +necessary or practicable, all the resources of the particular railway +system he represents. + +The authority of a Line Commission on any one of the great railway +systems extends to the smaller, or secondary, lines situate within the +same territory; but the smaller companies may themselves claim to be +represented on the Commission by a duly credited agent. + +Among the duties to be discharged by a Line Commission in time of peace +are the following:-- + +1. Investigation of all matters to which military transport on the line +or the system can give rise. + +2. Study of all the available resources of the system, in material and +men, from the point of view of military requirements. + +3. Preparation of plans, estimates, and other data in connection with +the movement of troops, etc. + +4. Verification of reports concerning extent of lines, rolling stock, +and station or traffic facilities. + +5. Special instruction of the railway staff. + +6. Inspection of lines, bridges, etc. + +7. The carrying out of experiments of all kinds with a view to +ameliorating or accelerating the facilities offered by the system in +respect to military transports. + +Should several Line Commissions be interested in some particular +question concerning military movements by rail, the Chief of the +General Staff can summon them to a joint conference as often as may be +necessary. The fact, also, that the members of the Line Commissions are +members of the Superior Commission assures co-ordination in the studies +carried on as regards the railways in general, and provides a ready +means by which the central body can obtain the information it desires +concerning any one system or group of systems. + +As their district executives, the Line Commissions have such number of +_Sub-Line Commissions_ as may be found necessary. Each of these is, +in turn, composed of a military member, nominated by the Minister, +and a technical member, chosen by the Line Commission. Then, also, to +discharge the function of local executive, there is at every important +centre of traffic a _Station Commission_ ("Commission de gare") which +consists of a military officer and the stationmaster. It receives from +the Line or Sub-Line Commission all orders or instructions concerning +military transport to, from, or passing through, such station, and is +the recognised intermediary for carrying them into effect and seeing +that efficiency is ensured and good order maintained. + +A staff, formed of military men and railwaymen acting in combination, +is allotted to each Line, Sub-Line or Station Commission. Concerning +the representation of these two elements, military and civil, on the +one body, article 10 of the decree of December 8, 1913, on Military +Transports says:-- + + The special function of each of the agents, military or + technical, on the Commissions or Sub-Commissions must, in the + operation of the service, be maintained in the most absolute + manner. At the same time these agents should not lose from their + view the fact that their association is designed to effect + harmony between the exigencies alike of military requirements + and of rail transport, subordinating those of the one to those + of the other, according to circumstances. + +From the time that mobilisation begins--or even earlier, on the order +of the War Minister--the members of the Superior Commission take up +their posts _en permanence_ at the War Office, and those of the Line, +Sub-Line and Station Commissions locate themselves at the stations +which will have been allotted to them in time of peace. Thenceforward +each Station Commission is in constant communication by telegraph with +the Line or Sub-Line Commission under which it acts, supplementing +such communication by daily written reports. Among the duties to be +discharged by the Station Commissions are those of superintending the +entrainment or detrainment of troops and the loading or unloading +of material; seeing that the trains required for transport purposes +are provided; preventing congestion of the lines or of the station +approaches; and ensuring the security of the station and of the lines +within a certain radius thereof. + +On the outbreak of war the railway companies must place at the service +of the State either the whole or such of their lines, rolling stock, and +other means of transport as may be needed for the conveyance of troops, +stores, etc., to any points served by them. Thenceforward the lines so +required for "strategic transports"--including therein mobilisation, +concentration, reinforcements, supplies and evacuations from the theatre +of war--can be used for ordinary passengers and goods only to such +extent as the Minister may approve. + +Following on the order for mobilisation the Minister, after consultation +with the Commander-in-Chief, divides the railways of the country into +two zones--the "Zone of the Interior," and the "Zone of the Armies." Of +these the former passes under the supreme control of the War Minister, +and the latter under that of the Commander-in-Chief. The location of +the _Stations of Transition_, dividing the one zone from the other, +can be varied from time to time by the Minister, in consultation with +the Commander-in-Chief, according to the developments of the military +situation. + +The _Zone of the Interior_ is that part of the railway system which, +though not situated at the theatre of war, is subject to military +control by reason of the services required of it in the forwarding of +troops, supplies, guns, ammunition and other necessaries. Operation +by the ordinary staffs of the railway systems is continued, but the +transports ordered by the War Minister are regulated by the Chief of the +General Staff. The execution of the orders given is entrusted from the +day of mobilisation to the Line Commissions, each of which, acting under +the authority of the War Minister, takes charge over the whole of the +services on the lines comprised in its particular territory. + +The _Zone of the Armies_ is, in turn, divided into two sections (1) +the "Zone de l'avant," in which military operation of the railways is +necessary on account of their nearness to the fighting-line; and (2) +the "Zone de l'Arrière," in which the railways can still be operated by +the ordinary railway staffs, under the direction of Line and Station +Commissions, as in the adjoining Zone of the Interior. + +Orders given by the Commander-in-Chief in respect to transport in the +Zone of the Armies are carried out under the supreme control of an +officer now known as the _Directeur de l'Arrière_. The history of this +important functionary affords an excellent example of the way in which +the whole scheme of operations has been evolved. + +The "Règlement général" of July 1, 1874,--one of the earliest attempts +to meet the difficulties which had arisen in 1870-71 in respect to +military rail-transport--was found to be defective inasmuch as it +did not apply, also, to those road and rear services ("Services de +l'Arrière") which are necessarily associated with the rail services +and themselves constitute so important a phase of military transport +as a whole. In 1878 an attempt was made to meet this defect by the +inauguration of a system of "Services des Étapes"; but here, again, +the existence of separate organisations for rail service and road +service, without any connecting and controlling link, was found to be +unsatisfactory. In 1883 a Commission, presided over by General Fay, +was appointed to consider what would be the best course to adopt, and, +in the result, there was issued, on July 7, 1884, a Decree creating +a "Directeur Général des Chemins de Fer et des Étapes," whose duties +were more clearly defined under a Decree of February 21, 1900. In +1908 the title of this officer was changed to that of "Directeur de +l'Arrière," and, after further revisions, the scope of his authority and +responsibility was eventually fixed by the Regulation of December 8, +1913. + +Taking up his position at the head-quarters of the Commander-in-Chief, +and keeping in close touch, also, with the Minister of War through the +Chief of the General Staff, the Directeur de l'Arrière has for his +special function that of securing complete co-ordination alike between +rail services and road services and between the services in the Zone of +the Interior and those in the Zone of the Armies. Both from the Minister +and from the Commander-in-Chief he receives information as to operations +projected or in progress, and as to the needs of the armies in +_personnel_ and _matériel_. His business it is to see that these needs, +according to their order of urgency--as further communicated to him--are +supplied under conditions which shall provide for all contingencies +and guard against all possible confusion or delays. He fixes, among +other things, the lines of communication; he keeps in close touch with +the road services, and--having, within the limit of his instructions, +complete control over the railways in the Zone of the Armies--he decides +on the conditions to be adopted in respect to all transport alike +from the interior to the armies and from the armies to the interior. +As between, also, the Minister of War and the Commander-in-Chief, he +maintains a constant exchange of information concerning time-tables for +military trains and other such matters. + +In the discharge of these duties the Directeur de l'Arrière is aided by +a staff which comprises both the technical and the military elements; +but he is not himself responsible for the actual working of either the +rail or the road services. + +Railway services in the Zone of the Armies are--subject to the supreme +authority of the Directeur de l'Arrière--under the control of a +_Director of Railways_ who is assisted by (1) a combined military and +technical staff; (2) a Line Commission for that section of the zone +where the railways can still be worked by their ordinary staffs; and (3) +one or more _Field Line Commissions_ ("Commissions de chemins de fer de +campagne"), together with Railway Troops, for the section where military +operation is necessary. + +In the interests of that co-ordination to which so much importance is +rightly attached, the Director of Railways refers to the Directeur +de l'Arrière all demands for transport that concern the railways of +both the Zone of the Interior and the Zone of the Armies or involve +conveyance by road as well as by rail. He also passes on to the +Commissions in charge of either section of the railways included in the +Zone of the Armies the orders he himself receives from the Directeur de +l'Arrière in respect to such transport requirements as may concern them. +Time-tables drawn up, and other arrangements made, by these Commissions +are subject to his approval. He further decides as to the distribution, +within the Zone of the Armies, of the rolling stock and the railway +personnel placed at his disposal by the Commander-in-Chief. + +The _Field Line Commissions_ are the executive agents of the Director +of Railways in the discharge of the various duties assigned to him. The +number of these Commissions is decided by the Directeur de l'Arrière, +and the date of their entering on their functions is fixed by the +Director of Railways. Each Commission consists of a staff officer and +a railway engineer. Of these the former is military president of the +Commission and has the controlling voice. When he considers it necessary +that he should accept, in addition to his own responsibility, that of +the technical commissioner, the latter must defer to his views and +to the orders he gives. The president has an assistant--also a staff +officer--who can replace him when necessary, while the Commission has +a staff of secretaries and orderlies as approved by the Minister of +War. The personnel of the Commissions includes Railway Troops ("Sapeurs +de chemins de fer" and "Sections de chemins de fer de campagne"); a +telegraphy staff; Station Commissions; and "gendarmerie" to undertake +police duties in the stations and on the trains. + +In addition to making traffic arrangements and undertaking the operation +of those lines at the theatre of war that may pass under full military +control, the Field Line Commissions are required to carry out such +construction, repair, maintenance or destruction work on the railways as +should be found necessary. + +On the _Lines of Communication_ passing through the two zones and +ensuring direct communication between the interior and such accessible +points on the railway as may, from time to time, be nearest to the +armies in the field, the leading stations _en route_ are required to +serve a variety of military purposes; though in each and every such +instance the system of organisation is such that the duties to be +discharged or the responsibilities to be fulfilled are undertaken by, +or are under the control of, a Commission formed on the now established +basis of representation thereon of both the military and the technical +elements. + +For the conveyance of troops, there are, in the first place, +_Mobilisation Stations_ and _Junction Stations_, whence the men +within a certain district are sent to the _Embarkation Stations_, at +which complete units for the front are made up. These are followed by +_Stations for Meals_ ("Stations haltes-repas"), for men and horses; +though in this case the "stations" may really be goods or locomotive +sheds, able to accommodate a large number of men. At the end of the +railway line, so far as it is available for troops, come the _Detraining +Stations_. + +In regard to supplies and stores, the first link in the chain of +organisation is constituted by the _Base Supply Stations_ ("gares de +rassemblement"). Here the supplies going from a certain district outside +the theatre of operations to any one Army Corps must be delivered; and +here they are checked, made up into full train loads, or otherwise dealt +with in such a way as to simplify and facilitate their further transport. + +In certain cases full train-loads arriving at these assembling stations +pass through to destination, after being checked; but the general +practice is for the consignments forwarded from base supply stations to +go to the _Supply Depôts_ ("Stations-magasins"), serving the purposes +of storehouses from which supplies, whether received from the base or +collected locally, can be despatched in just such quantities, and at +just such intervals, as circumstances may require. These depôts are +organised on a different basis according to the particular service or +purpose for which they are designed,--Cavalry, Engineers, Artillery, +Medical, Telegraph Corps; provisions, live stock, clothing, camp +equipment, etc. Their number, character, and location are decided by +the Minister of War in time of peace. On the outbreak of war those in +the Zone of the Armies pass under the control of the Commander-in-Chief +together with the railway lines within that zone. The situation of +the depôts may be changed, or additional depôts may be opened, by the +Directeur de l'Arrière, with the consent of the Commander-in-Chief. + +Each station depôt is under the charge of the military member of the +Station Commission. His special function it is to supply therefrom the +wants of the Army in accordance with the demands he receives. These +demands he distributes among the different departments of the depôt, +giving instructions as to the time by which the railway wagons must +be loaded. He also takes, with the stationmaster, all the necessary +measures for ensuring the making up, the loading, and the departure of +the trains; but he must not interfere with the internal administration +of the station or with the technical direction and execution of the +railway services. + +Provision is also made for the immediate unloading of trains bringing +supplies to the station depôts for storage there, the military +commissioner being expressly instructed to guard against any block on +the lines in or near to the station. Wagons need not be unloaded if +they are to be sent on after only a brief detention, or if they contain +ammunition forming part of the current needs of the Army. + +From the supply depôts the supplies and stores pass on to the +_Regulating Station_ ("gare régulatrice"). This is located at such point +on each line of communication as, while allowing of a final regulation +of supplies going to the front, does not--owing to its nearness to the +fighting line--permit of any guarantee of a fixed train service beyond +that point. The locality of the regulating station is changed from day +to day, or from time to time, according to developments in the military +situation. + +The regulating station is in charge of a _Regulating Commission_ +("Commission régulatrice"), constituted on the same basis as a Sub-Line +Commission. Receiving orders or instructions as to the nature and +quantities of the supplies and stores required by the troops at the +front, and drawing these from the supply depôts, the Commission must +always have on hand a sufficiency to meet requirements. It is, also, +left to the Commission to arrange for the further despatch of the +supplies from the regulating station by means of such trains as, in the +circumstances of the moment, may be found practicable. + +As a matter of daily routine, and without further instructions, the +supply depôts send one train of provisions each day to the regulating +station, and the latter sends on one train daily to the front, always, +however, keeping a further day's supply on hand, at or near the +regulating station, to meet further possible requirements. Additional +trains, whether from the supply depôts or from the regulating station +(where rolling stock is kept available) are made up as needed. + +Supplementing these arrangements, the Regulating Commission may, at +the request of the Director of Road Services, further keep permanently +within its zone of action a certain number of wagons of provisions in +readiness to meet contingencies, the wagons so utilised as _Stores +on wheels_ being known as "en-cas mobiles." Should the Directeur de +l'Arrière so desire, railway wagons with ammunition can, in the same +way, be kept loaded at any station within the Zone of the Armies, or, +by arrangement with the Minister of War, in the Zone of the Interior. +It is, however, stipulated that the number of these wagons should +be reduced to a minimum, in order to avoid congestion either of the +stations or of the railway lines. + +Beyond the regulating station comes _Railhead_, which constitutes the +furthest limit of possible rail-transport for the time being, and +the final point of connection between rail and road services, the +latter being left with the responsibility of continuing the line of +communication thence to the armies on the field of battle. + +It is the duty of the Regulating Commission, as soon as it enters on the +discharge of its functions and as often afterwards as may be necessary, +to advise both the General in command of the Army served by the line +of communication and the Director of Road Services as to the station +which can be used as railhead and the facilities offered there for the +accommodation, unloading, and loading of wagons. On the basis of the +information so given the General-in-Command decides each day, or as the +occasion requires, on the particular station which shall be regarded +as railhead for the purposes of transport. He advises the Regulating +Commission and the Director of Road Services accordingly, and he +further notifies to them his wishes in regard to the forwarding of +supplies to the point thus fixed. + +These elaborate arrangements for ensuring a maintenance of efficiency +along the whole line of communication from the interior to the front +equally apply to transport of all kinds from the theatre of war to the +interior. In principle, evacuations from the army of sick and wounded, +prisoners, surplus stores, and so on, are effected from railhead by +means of the daily supply-trains returning thence to the regulating +station, where the Regulating Commission takes them in charge, and +passes them on by the trains going back to the Depôt Stations, or +beyond. Should special trains be necessary for the removal of a +large number of wounded, or otherwise, the Director of Road Services +communicates with the Regulating Commission, which either makes up the +desired specials from the rolling stock it has on hand or, if it cannot +do this, itself applies, in turn, to the Director of Railways. + +For dealing with the sick and wounded, every possible provision is made +under the authority of the Minister of War and the Director-General, +the arrangements in advance, as detailed in the decrees relating to +this branch of the subject, being on the most comprehensive scale. +Among other measures provided for is the setting up of _Evacuation +Hospitals_ ("hôpitaux d'évacuation") in the immediate neighbourhood of +the Regulating Stations, if not, also, at railhead. Elsewhere along +the line certain stations become _Infirmary Stations_, ("infirmaries +de gare") where, in urgent cases, and under conditions laid down by +the War Minister, the sick and wounded _en route_ to the interior can +receive prompt medical attention in case of need. From the _Distribution +Stations_ ("gares de répartition"), the sick and wounded are sent to the +hospitals in the interior to which they may be assigned. + +It will be seen that this comprehensive scheme of organisation aims at +preventing the recurrence of any of those defects or deficiencies which +characterised the military rail-transport movements of France in the war +of 1870-71. + +The presence, at every important link in the chain of rail +communication, of a Commission designed to secure regularity and +efficiency in the traffic arrangements should avoid confusion, +congestion and delay. + +The association, on each of these Commissions, of the military and +technical elements, with a strict definition of their respective powers, +duties and responsibilities, should ensure the best use of the available +transport facilities under conditions in themselves practicable, and +without the risk either of friction between the representatives of the +two interests or, alternatively, of any interference with the railway +services owing to contradictory or impossible orders being given by +individual officers acting on their own responsibility. + +The setting up of the supply depôts and regulating stations along the +line of communication should prevent (i) the rushing through of supplies +in excessive quantities to the extreme front; (ii) the congestion of +railway lines and stations; (iii) the undue accumulation of provisions +at one point, with a corresponding deficiency elsewhere, and (iv) the +possibility of large stocks being eventually seized by the enemy and +made use of by him to his own advantage. + +The measures adopted both to prevent any excessive employment of railway +wagons as storehouses on wheels and to secure their prompt unloading +should afford a greater guarantee of the best utilisation of rolling +stock under conditions of, possibly, extreme urgency. + +Finally, the unification of control, the co-ordination of the many +different services involved, and the harmony of working established +between all the various sections on the line of communication linking up +the interior of the country with the troops in the fighting line should +assure, not only the nearest possible approach to complete efficiency in +the transport conditions, but the conferring of great advantages on the +armies concerned, with a proportionate increase of their strength in the +field. + +The effect of all these things on the military position of France must +needs be great. Had France controlled a rail-transport organisation such +as this--instead of none at all--in 1870-71; and had Germany controlled +a system no better than what we have seen to be the admittedly imperfect +one she put into operation on that occasion, the results of the +Franco-German war and the subsequent course of events in Europe might +alike have been wholly different. + +_Tests_ of what were being planned or projected in France as +precautionary measures, for application in war, could not, of course, +be carried out exhaustively in peace; but many parts of the machinery +designed came into daily use as a matter of ordinary routine. Full +advantage was taken, also, of whatever opportunities did present +themselves--in the form of exercises in partial mobilisation, reviews, +and other occasions involving the movement by rail of large bodies +of troops--to effect such trials as were possible of regulations and +instructions already based on exhaustive studies by the military and +railway authorities. In 1892 the results attained were so satisfactory +that a German authority, Lieutenant Becker, writing in his book on "Der +nächste Krieg und die deutschen Bahnverwaltungen," (Hanover, 1893,) +concerning the trials in France, in that year, of the new conditions +introduced by the law of December 28, 1888, was not only greatly +impressed thereby but even appeared disposed to think that the French +were becoming superior to the Germans in that very organisation which +the latter had regarded as their own particular province. The following +passages from his book may be worth recalling:-- + + Towards the middle of September, 1892, from a military + railway station improvised for the occasion, there were sent off + in less than eight hours forty-two trains conveying a complete + Army Corps of 25,000 men. + + In their famous mobilisation test of 1887 the French + despatched from the Toulouse station 150 military trains without + interrupting the ordinary traffic, and without any accident. + + Such figures speak a significant language. They show what + enormous masses of troops the railway can carry in the course of + a few hours to a given point.... + + If I have referred to the results obtained by our neighbours + on their railway systems, it is not because I have the least + fear as to the final issue of the next war. Quite the contrary; + but the fact does not prevent me from asking why the German + Army cannot base on the railways of that country the same hopes + which neighbouring countries are able to entertain in regard to + theirs. + +The favourable impression thus given, even to a German critic, by the +progress France was making in her creation, not so much _de novo_ as _ab +ovo_, of a system of organised military rail-transport, were confirmed +by many subsequent trials, experiments and experiences, all, in turn, +leading to further improvements in matters of detail; but it was, +indeed, the "nächste Krieg" concerning which Lieutenant Becker wrote +that was to be the real test of the organisation which, during more than +forty years of peace, France followed up with a zeal, a pertinacity and +a thoroughness fully equal to those of Germany herself. + +In any case it would seem that France, though having to make up for +the headway gained by Germany, finally created a system of military +rail-transport which would be able to stand the fullest comparison with +even the now greatly-improved system of her traditional foe; while the +organisation she thus elaborated, not for the purposes of aggression +but as an arm of her national defence, illustrates in a striking degree +the ever-increasing importance of the problem of rail-power, and the +comprehensive nature of the measures for its effective exercise which a +great Continental nation regards as indispensable under the conditions +of modern warfare. + + +DEFENSIVE RAILWAYS + +The measures adopted included, also, the improvement of the French +railway system, since this was no less in need of amendment and +additions in order to adapt it to the needs of the military situation. + +Whilst, as we have seen in Chapter I, the important part that railways +were likely to play in war was recognised in France as early as 1833, +and whilst, in 1842, attention was called in that country to the +"aggressive lines" which Germany was then already building in the +direction of the French frontiers, the French railway system itself +was, prior to the war of 1870-71, developed on principles which +practically ignored strategical considerations, were based mainly on +economic, political and local interests, and not only refrained from +becoming "aggressive" in turn, but even failed to provide adequately, as +they should have done, for the legitimate purposes of national defence. + +Apart from the absence of any designs on the part of France against +her neighbours' territory, during this period of her history, one of +the main reasons for the conditions just mentioned is to be found in +the predominant position of Paris as the capital and centre-point of +French life and French movement. Germany at this time consisted of a +collection of States each of which had its own chief city and built its +railways to serve its own particular interests, without much regard +for the interests of its sister States, even if it escaped the risk +of cherishing more or less jealousy towards them. In France there was +but one State and one capital, and Paris was regarded as the common +centre from which the main lines were to radiate in all directions. +Communication was thus established as between the capital and the +principal inland towns or important points on the frontiers or on the +coasts of France; but the inadequate number of lateral or transverse +lines linking up and connecting these main lines placed great difficulty +in the way of communication between the provincial centres themselves +otherwise than viâ Paris. + +Some of these disadvantages were to have been overcome under a law +passed in 1868 which approved the construction of seventeen new lines +having a total length of 1,840 km. (1,143 miles). When, however, war +broke out in 1870, comparatively little had been done towards the +achievement of this programme, and France entered upon the conflict with +a railway system which had been even less developed towards her eastern +frontiers than towards the north, the west and the south, while for the +purposes of concentrating her troops in the first-mentioned direction +she had available only three lines, and of these three one alone was +provided with double-track throughout. Such were the inadequacies of the +system at this time that the important line between Verdun and Metz had +not yet been completed. + +No sooner had the war come to an end than the French Government started +on the improvement of the railway system in order to adapt it to the +possible if not prospective military requirements of the future, so that +they should never again be taken at a disadvantage; and in carrying on +this work--in addition to the reorganisation of their military-transport +system in general--they showed an unexampled energy and thoroughness. +Within five years of the restoration of peace the French railway system +had already undergone an extension which, according to Captain A. +Pernot, as told in his "Aperçu historique sur le service des transports +militaires," would have been possible in but few countries in so short +a period; while of the situation at the time he wrote (1894) the same +authority declared:--"One can say that everything is ready in a vast +organisation which only awaits the word of command in order to prove the +strength of its capacity." + +Without attempting to give exhaustive details of all that was done, it +may suffice to indicate generally the principles adopted. + +One of the most important of these related to an improvement of the +conditions in and around Paris. + +Here the purposes specially aimed at were (1) to establish further +connecting links between the various trunk lines radiating from the +capital, and (2) to obviate the necessity for traffic from, for example, +the south or the west having to pass through Paris _en route_ to the +east or the north. + +These aims it was sought to effect by means of a series of circular +railways, or "rings" of railways, joining up the existing lines, and +allowing of the transfer of military transport from one to the other +without coming into Paris at all. An "inner" circular railway ("Chemin +de Fer de Petite Ceinture") had already been constructed within the +fortifications prior to 1870, and this was followed in 1879 by an +"outer" line, ("Chemin de Fer de Grande Ceinture"), which provided a +wider circle at an average distance of about 20 km. (12½ miles) and +established direct rail connection, not only between a large number of +the more remote suburbs, together with the different trunk lines at a +greater distance from the city, but, also, between the various forts +constructed for the defence of Paris. + +These circular railways were, in turn, succeeded by a series of +connecting links which ensured the provision of a complete ring of +rail communication at a still greater distance around Paris, the towns +comprised therein including Rouen, Amiens, La Fère, Laon, Reims, +Chalons-sur-Marne, Troyes, Sens, Montargis, Orléans, Dreux, and so on +back to Rouen. Within, again, this outermost ring there was provided +a further series of lines which, by linking up Orléans, Malesherbes, +Montereau, Nogent, Epernay, Soissons, Beauvais and Dreux, established +additional connections between all the lines from Paris to the north and +the east of France, and gave increased facilities for the distribution +in those directions of troops arriving at Orléans from the south-west, +this being once more done without any need for their entering Paris or +even approaching it at a closer distance than about forty miles. + +Orléans itself was recognised as a point of great strategical importance +in regard to the movement of troops, and it was, accordingly, provided +with a number of new lines radiating therefrom, and establishing better +connections with other lines. Tours and other centres of military +significance, from the same point of view, were strengthened in a like +manner. At important junctions, and notably so in the case of Troyes +(Champagne), loop lines were built in order that troop trains could be +transferred direct from one line to another without stopping, and with +no need for shunting or for changing the position of the engine. + +In the direction of the eastern frontier the line from Verdun to Metz +was completed, and by 1899 the three routes which could alone be made +use of in 1870-71 had been increased to ten. Most of them were provided +with double-track throughout, and all of them were independent of one +another, though having intercommunication by means of cross lines. + +Other new railways established connection with or between the forts on +both the eastern and the northern frontiers. Others, again, provided +direct communication between different harbours or between each of +them and strategical points in the interior, thus contributing to the +possibilities of their defence in case of attack from the sea. Still +others were designed for the defence of the French Alps. + +Apart from the provision of all these new lines, much was done in +the doubling or even the quadrupling of existing track wherever the +question of military transport came into consideration at all. Then at +railway stations near to arsenals, and at important strategical centres, +specially long platforms were provided to allow of the rapid entraining +of men or material in case of need. + +While, also, so much was being done for the improvement of the French +railway system from an avowedly strategical point of view, there were +many additional lines constructed or improvements made which, although +designed to further the interests of trade and travel, also added to the +sum total of available facilities for military transport. + +The advantages specially aimed at were (1) the ensuring of a more +rapid mobilisation of troops through the betterment of cross-country +connections; (2) the avoidance of congestion of traffic in Paris; (3) +the securing of a more rapid concentration on the frontiers, especially +when each Army Corps could be assured the independent use of a +double-track line of rails for its own use; and (4) the more effective +defence of all vital points. + +National defence, rather than the building of strategical lines +designed to serve "aggressive" purposes, was the fundamental principle +on which the policy thus followed since 1870-71 was based; and if, +as Captain Pernot wrote in 1894, everything was even then ready for +all emergencies, the continuous additions and improvements made since +that time, bringing the railway system of the country more and more +into harmony with the "perfectionnement" aimed at by France in the +organisation of her military transport, must have made the conditions of +preparedness still more complete by 1914. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[26] For details concerning the functions and duties of the various +divisions, subdivisions, etc., see "Mouvements et Transports. Sections +de chemins de fer de campagne. Volume arrêté à la date du 1er septembre, +1914." Paris: Henri Charles-Lavauzelle. + +[27] "Bulletin Officiel du Ministère de la Guerre. Génie. Troupes de +chemins de fer. Volume arrêté à la date du 1er décembre, 1912." + +[28] "Transports militaires par chemin de fer. (Guerre et Marine.) +Édition mise à jour des textes en vigueur jusqu'en octobre, 1902." +For later publications, dealing, in separate issues, with particular +departments of the military rail-transport organisation, see +Bibliography. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ORGANISATION IN ENGLAND + + +The difference between the geographical conditions of the British Isles +and those of the principal countries on the Continent of Europe led to +the systematic organisation of rail transport for military purposes +being taken in hand at a later date in the United Kingdom than was, +more especially, the case in Germany. Here there was no question of +building lines of invasion or lines to facilitate the massing of troops +on a neighbour's frontiers. The questions that alone seemed to arise +in England were--(1) the relations between the State and the companies +in regard to the use of the railways for the transport of troops and +military necessaries under conditions either of peace or of war; (2) +the employment of railways both for resisting invasion and for the +conveyance of expeditionary forces to the port of embarkation; (3) +the adoption of such means as would ensure the efficient working of +the railways under war conditions; and (4) the creation of an Army +engineering force providing for the construction, repair, operation +or destruction of railways either at home, in case of invasion, or to +facilitate operations in overseas expeditions through the building and +working of military railways. + +With these various considerations it may be convenient to deal in the +order as here given. + + +THE STATE AND THE RAILWAYS + +In the Railway Regulation Act, 1842, (5 and 6 Vict., c. 55,) entitled +"An Act for the better Regulation of Railways and for the Conveyance of +Troops," it was provided, by section 20:-- + + Whenever it shall be necessary to move any of the officers + or soldiers of her Majesty's forces of the line ... by any + railway, the directors shall permit them, with baggage, stores, + arms, ammunition and other necessaries and things, to be + conveyed, at the usual hours of starting, at such prices or upon + such conditions as may be contracted for between the Secretary + at War and such railway companies on the production of a route + or order signed by the proper authorities. + +This was the first provision made in the United Kingdom in respect to +the conveyance of troops by rail. It was succeeded in 1844 by another +Act (7 and 8 Vict., c. 85,) by which (sec. 12) railway companies were +required to provide conveyances for the transport of troops at fares +not exceeding a scale given in the Act, and maximum fares were also +prescribed in regard to public baggage, stores, ammunition, (with +certain exceptions, applying to gunpowder and explosives,) and other +military necessaries. In 1867 these provisions were extended to the Army +Reserve. Further revision of the fares and charges took place under +the Cheap Trains Act, 1883, (46 and 47 Vict., c. 34,) entitled "An Act +to amend the Law Relating to Railway Passenger Duty and to amend and +consolidate the law relating to the conveyance of the Queen's forces by +railway." + +State control of the railways in case of war was provided for under the +Regulation of the Forces Act, 1871, (34 and 35 Vict., c. 86,) "An Act +for the Regulation of the Regular and Auxiliary Forces of the Crown, and +for other purposes relating thereto." Section 16 laid down that-- + + When her Majesty, by Order in Council, declares that an + emergency has arisen in which it is expedient for the public + service that her Majesty's Government should have control + over the railroads of the United Kingdom, or any of them, the + Secretary of State may, by warrant under his hand, empower any + person or persons named in such warrant to take possession in + the name or on behalf of her Majesty of any railroad in the + United Kingdom, and of the plant belonging thereto, or of any + part thereof, and may take possession of any plant without + taking possession of the railroad itself, and to use the same + for her Majesty's service at such times and in such manner as + the Secretary of State may direct; and the directors, officers + and servants of any such railroad shall obey the directions of + the Secretary of State as to the user of such railroad or plant + as aforesaid for her Majesty's service. + + Any warrant granted by the said Secretary of State in + pursuance of this section shall remain in force for one week + only, but may be renewed from week to week so long as, in the + opinion of the said Secretary of State, the emergency continues. + +Provision was also made for the payment of "full compensation" to the +interests concerned. + +The powers of control thus acquired by the Government followed, in +effect, closely upon the precedent already established in the United +States, (see p. 16,) even although they were not defined with the same +elaborate detail. On the other hand greater emphasis is laid in the +English Act on the provision that the Government "may take possession +of any plant without taking possession of the railroad itself." This +gives them the right to take over the locomotives and rolling stock of +any railway in any part of the United Kingdom, even though the lines +in question may not themselves be wanted for the purposes of military +transport. + +Under the provisions of the National Defence Act, 1888, (51 and 52 +Vict., c. 31,) traffic for naval and military purposes is to have +precedence over other traffic on the railways of the United Kingdom +whenever an Order for the embodiment of the Militia is in force. + +It was by virtue of the above section of the Act of 1871 that the +Government took control over the railways of Great Britain on the +outbreak of war in 1914. + +As regards the earlier Acts of 1842 and 1844, these were mainly domestic +measures relating to the conveyance of troops in time of peace rather +than war. The beginnings of organisation of military rail-transport +for the purposes of war followed, rather, on a realisation both of the +possibilities of invasion and of the weakness of the position in which +England at one time stood from the point of view of national defence. + + +INVASION PROSPECTS AND HOME DEFENCE + +In 1847 the Duke of Wellington, (then Commander-in-Chief,) addressed +to Sir John Burgoyne a letter in which he said he had endeavoured to +awaken the attention of different Administrations to the defenceless +state of the country. We had, he declared, no defence, or hope of chance +of defence, except in our Fleet, and he was especially sensible both of +the certainty of failure if we did not, at an early moment, attend to +the measures necessary to be taken for our defence and of "the disgrace, +the indelible disgrace," of such failure. Then, in words that greatly +impressed the country, he added:-- + + I am bordering upon seventy-seven years of age, passed in + honour; I hope that the Almighty may protect me from being the + witness of the tragedy which I cannot persuade my contemporaries + to take measures to avert. + +As the result alike of this pathetic warning; of a "Letter on the +Defence of England by Volunteer Corps and Militia" issued in pamphlet +form by Sir Charles Napier in 1852; and of the Indian Mutiny in 1857, +which event called attention to the defenceless condition of the Empire +as a whole, continuous efforts were made to secure the creation of +Volunteer Corps for the purposes of defence. For a period of twelve +years these efforts met with persistent discouragement, the Government +refusing official recognition to certain corps of riflemen tentatively +formed; but in 1859 the prospect of an early invasion of this country by +France aroused public feeling to such an extent that on May 12 the then +Secretary of State for War, General Peel, addressed a circular to the +Lord-Lieutenants of counties in Great Britain announcing that Volunteer +Corps might be formed under an Act passed in 1804, when a like course +had been adopted as a precautionary measure against the threatened +invasion of England by Napoleon. + +The formation of Volunteer Corps was thereupon taken up with the +greatest zeal, and by the end of 1860 the number of Volunteers enrolled +throughout Great Britain was no fewer than 120,000. Other results of the +national awakening in 1859 were the public discussion of the questions +of coast defence and armoured trains, (of which mention has been made in +Chapter VII,) and the appropriation, in 1860, of a loan of seven and a +half millions for the improvement of our coast defences and notably the +fortifications of Portsmouth and Plymouth. + + +ENGINEER AND RAILWAY STAFF CORPS + +Already in December, 1859, the necessity for some definite engineering +instruction for Volunteers was being pointed out, and in January, 1860, +the first corps of Volunteer Engineers was created, under the title +of the 1st Middlesex Volunteer Engineers. Similar corps were formed +in various parts of the country, and by 1867 the number of Volunteer +Engineers enrolled was 6,580. + +At the beginning of 1860 a further proposal was made for the formation +of a body which, composed of eminent civil engineers, the general +managers of leading lines of railway, and the principal railway +contractors or other employers of labour, would undertake a variety of +duties considered no less essential in the interests of national defence. + +There was, in the first place, the question of the transport by rail +alike of Volunteers and of the regular forces, either on the occasion of +reviews or for the protection of our coasts against an invader. While +it was evident that the railways could be efficiently worked only by +their own officers, it was no less obvious that plans for the movement +of large bodies of men, and especially of troops, with horses, guns, +ammunition and stores, should be well considered and prepared long +beforehand, and not left for the occasion or the emergency when the need +for them would arise. + +In the next place it was suggested that the engineering talent of the +country should be made available for the purpose of supplementing the +services of the Royal Engineers in carrying out various defensive +works, such as the destruction of railway lines, bridges and roads, the +throwing up of earthworks, or the flooding of the lowland districts, +with a view to resisting the advance of a possible invader. + +Finally the great contractors were to be brought into the combination +so that they could provide the labour necessary for the execution of +these defensive works under the direction of the civil engineers, who +themselves would act under the direction of the military commanders. + +Each of the three groups was to discharge the function for which it +was specially adapted, while the co-ordination of the three, for the +purpose of strengthening the country's powers of resisting invasion, was +expected to add greatly to the value of the proposed organisation. + +The author of this scheme was Mr. Charles Manby, F.R.S., (1804-1884,) a +distinguished civil engineer who for nearly half a century was secretary +of the Institution of Civil Engineers and was closely associated with +the leading civil engineers, contractors and railway interests of the +country. He submitted his ideas to several members of the Council +of his Institution, and though, at first, the scheme was not well +received, he was subsequently so far encouraged that in August, 1860, +he laid his plan before Mr. Sidney Herbert, then Minister at War in +Lord Palmerston's second administration. Mr. Herbert expressed cordial +approval of the project, giving the assurance, on behalf of the War +Office, that an organisation on the basis suggested could not fail to be +of public benefit; but Mr. Manby still met with difficulties alike from +several members of the Council, who either offered direct opposition +to the scheme or else gave unwilling consent to join, and, also, from +the railway companies, who thought that arrangements for rail-transport +might very well be left to themselves, and that there was no necessity +for the suggested system so far as they, at least, were concerned. + +In these circumstances Mr. Manby made, at first, very little progress; +but he was unremitting in his efforts to demonstrate alike to civil +engineers and to the railway companies the practical benefits from +the point of view of public interests that would result from the +organisation he advocated, and in 1864 he felt sufficiently encouraged +to lay his views once more before the War Office. Earl de Grey, then in +charge of that Department, thereupon instructed the Inspector-General +of Volunteers, Colonel McMurdo, (afterwards General Sir W. M. McMurdo, +C.B.,) to inquire into and report to him on the subject. + +In the result there was created, in January, 1865, a body known as the +Engineer and Railway Volunteer Staff Corps, constituted, according to +its rules, "for the purpose of directing the application of skilled +labour and of railway transport to the purposes of national defence, +and for preparing, in time of peace, a system on which such duties +should be conducted." The Corps was to consist of officers only, and its +members were to be civil engineers and contractors, officers of railway +and dock companies, and, under special circumstances, Board of Trade +Inspectors of Railways. Civil engineers of standing and experience who +had directed the construction of the chief railways and other important +works, general managers of railways and commercial docks, and Board +of Trade Inspectors of Railways, were alone eligible for the rank of +Lieutenant-Colonel. Other civil engineers and contractors connected +chiefly with railway works, and, also, railway officers other than +general managers, take the rank of Major. Col. McMurdo was appointed +Honorary Colonel of the Corps on February 9, 1865.[29] As ultimately +constituted, the corps consisted of an Honorary Colonel (now Maj.-Gen. +D. A. Scott, C.V.O., C.B., D.S.C.), thirty Lieutenant-Colonels including +a Commandant, (now Lieut.-Col. Sir William Forbes, general manager of +the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway) and twenty Majors.[30] + + +FUNCTIONS AND PURPOSES + +That the Corps thus created was the direct outcome, first, of the +Volunteer movement, and, through that movement, of the state of +semi-panic into which the country had drifted in 1859, as the result +both of the anticipations of invasion and the admitted weakness, at +that time, of our national defences, has thus been clearly established. +Writing in 1869, Major-General McMurdo, who had been raised to that +rank in 1868, said in a pamphlet he issued under the title of "Rifle +Volunteers for Field Service" that the Corps was "prepared to work, +not for Volunteers alone, but for the entire defensive forces of the +country." + +In this same publication Major-General McMurdo gave an account of the +functions and purposes the Corps had been designed to serve. Alluding +first to the Volunteer movement, he showed how the railway carriage must +both carry and shelter the Volunteer when moving from one part of the +country to another; and he proceeded:-- + + I will ask you to look attentively for a moment at a + Bradshaw's railway map, and you will see that throughout the + network of rails that overspreads the land none of the meshes, + so to speak, in any vital parts of the country, exceed fifteen + miles across, from rail to rail; but as the eye approaches the + Metropolis, or any of the commercial centres, these meshes are + diminished to about one-half the area of the others. + +He then dealt with the operations which the movement of troops along +these lines of railway would involve, and continued:-- + + The railway schemes for the accomplishment of such delicate + operations would emanate from the Council of the Engineer and + Railway Staff Corps.... + + During peace the railway branch of this body is employed in + working out hypothetical plans of campaign, in the development + of which they manipulate in theory the entire rolling-stock + and railway resources of the country, elaborated by special + time-tables and technical reports. + + The share taken by the civil engineers is not confined to + providing merely for the class of railway works contingent on + war, whether of construction, demolition, or of reconstruction, + but in supplying the military engineers with information, advice + and labour. No one, for example, can be more familiar with the + features and character of a district than the engineer who has + constructed a line of railway through it. No one is so well able + to point out the results of _letting in_ that which he had been + so often employed in _keeping out_, viz., the inundations of the + sea. None better acquainted with the existing distribution of + labour power throughout the country, and of the means by which + it could be concentrated upon given points, for the construction + of works of defence. All these elements, in short, by which + the gigantic resources of our country may be safely wielded + for her defence, are now being silently considered and woven + into strategical schemes of operations by these eminent and + patriotic men, the value of whose voluntary services will not be + fully comprehended or appreciated till the day comes when the + discomfiture of the invader shall be accomplished through their + instrumentality. + +The same distinguished authority wrote concerning the Engineer and +Railway Volunteer Staff Corps in an article on "Volunteers" which he +contributed to the "Encyclopædia Britannica" (ninth edition):-- + + The ready labour power of this useful Corps is estimated + at from 12,000 to 20,000 navvies, with tools, barrows and + commissariat complete. It has already performed important + service in tabulating, and printing at great private cost, + complete time-tables and special reports for six general + concentrations against possible invasion. A special return + was also prepared by the Corps (the first of its kind) of the + entire rolling stock of all the railways in Great Britain. + This important work--which is corrected and republished + annually--shows where the requisite number of carriages of every + description can be obtained for the composition of troop trains. + +In the official catalogue of books in the War Office Library there is an +item which reads:--"Time Tables for Special Troop Trains, etc. Compiled +by the Railway Companies. 311 pp. 8vo. London, 1866." This, presumably, +refers to the first of the complete time tables mentioned in the +"Encyclopædia Britannica" article as having been compiled by the Corps. +It is evident, from the date given, that the Corps must have got quickly +to work after its formation in 1865. + +At one time there was an expectation that the Engineer and Railway +Volunteer Staff Corps would develop into a body exercising still wider +and more responsible duties than those already mentioned. On this point +we have the testimony of the late Sir George Findlay, formerly general +manager of the London and North-Western Railway Company, and himself a +Lieutenant-Colonel in the Corps. + +Col. J. S. Rothwell had written some articles[31] in which, while +admitting their practically unlimited resources, he questioned the +ability of the British railways, at a few hours notice, to transport to +any part of our coasts which might be the scene of a hostile invasion a +sufficient body of troops to dispute the advance of an army upon London, +and he further suggested that the whole question was one which had not +yet received the mature consideration it deserved. Col. Rothwell said, +in the course of what he wrote:-- + + Though the actual working of our railways must be left in + the hands of the proper railway officials, it does not follow + that the planning of the arrangements for the military traffic + should also be entrusted to them exclusively. This, however, + appears to be contemplated, as, under existing circumstances, + such arrangements would rest with the members of a body called + the "Volunteer Engineer and Railway Staff Corps."... Though the + efficiency of these gentlemen in their own sphere is undeniable, + it appears open to question whether they are likely to have + sufficient leisure personally to work out the details of a + large concentration of troops by rail, and whether the special + requirements of military transport will be fully appreciated by + them, or by the subordinates whom they presumably will employ. + +Much, he argued, required to be done before the country could be +considered ready to meet a possible invader; and he concluded:-- + + If the invasion of England is to be regarded as an event + which is within the bounds of possibility, it is surely not + unreasonable to ask that those precautionary measures which + require time for their elaboration shall be thoroughly worked + out before there is any risk of our wanting to employ them. The + organisation for the conveyance of our troops by railway is such + a measure. + +To these criticisms Sir George Findlay replied in an article "On the +Use of Railways in the United Kingdom for the Conveyance of Troops," +published in the _United Service Magazine_ for April, 1892. The complete +network of railways covering these islands, admirably equipped and +efficiently worked as they were, would, he declared, be found equal +to any part they might be called upon to play in a scheme of national +defence. As regarded the attention already paid to the question he +said:-- + + The War Office, so far from having in any way neglected + the subject, have devoted considerable attention to it, and a + complete scheme for the working of our railways for transport + purposes in time of war has been elaborated, and would at once + be put in operation, if ever the emergency arose. + +Passing on to describe the composition and duties of the Engineer and +Railway Volunteer Staff Corps, he spoke of its members as meeting in +council at their headquarters to discuss from time to time details of +railway organisation and other matters delegated to their consideration, +afterwards reporting their conclusions to the War Office; and he went on +to say that for the operation of the railways, under State control, on +any occasion of national energy or danger-- + + A draft scheme has been prepared, has been worked out in + detail, and would, in all probability, be adopted and put in + operation if, unhappily, the necessity should ever arise. + + This scheme in its main features provides that, at such + time as we are contemplating, the principal railway officials + in Great Britain and Ireland would at once become, for the + time being, the officers of the State, and in addition to the + general managers of the leading railways, who are officers of + the Engineer and Railway Volunteer Staff Corps, military rank + of some kind would be conferred upon the engineers, locomotive + superintendents, chief passenger superintendents and goods + managers of the principal railway companies, as well as on the + managers of the principal Irish railways. + + The railways of the country would be divided into sections, + and for each section there would be a committee composed + of the general managers of the railways included in the + section, together with the principal engineers, locomotive + superintendents and other chief officers. The railways would + be worked and controlled for military purposes by these + committees of sections, each committee having as its president a + Lieutenant-Colonel of the Engineer and Railway Volunteer Staff + Corps, who would be directly responsible for providing transport + for troops and stores over the section of which his committee + had charge, while if the operation to be carried out required + the co-operation of one or more sections of the railways, the + committees of those sections would act in unison. In such a + case the Quartermaster-General's requisition for the service to + be performed would be made upon the president of the section + embracing the point of departure, that officer and his committee + taking the initiative and arranging with the other committees + for the performance of the service. + + For each section, or group, of railways, a military officer + of rank would be appointed, with full power to arrange for + food, forage and water for the troops and horses _en route_, + and having at his disposal a sufficient number of soldiers or + labourers to assist in loading and unloading baggage, stores, + etc., at the points of entrainment and detrainment within his + section. He would also be able to command the services of the + Royal or Volunteer Engineers to assist in the erection of + temporary platforms or landings, or the laying down of temporary + rails, and would be instructed to co-operate with, and assist + in every way, the committee of section having charge of his + district, but not in any way to attempt to interfere with the + working of the line or the movement of the trains or traffic. + +The number of sections into which the railways were to be divided for +the purposes of this scheme was nine. After defining the various areas, +Sir George continued:-- + + It is contemplated that during any such period of crisis as + we are now discussing, the Council of the Engineer and Railway + Volunteer Staff Corps would be sitting _en permanence_ at its + headquarters, and, with a full knowledge of the nature and + extent of the operations to be carried out, would have power to + regulate the supply and distribution of rolling stock throughout + the area affected, all the vehicles in the country being, for + the time being, treated as a common stock. + + This is a mere outline of the scheme, with the further + details of which it is not necessary to trouble the reader, + though probably enough has been said to show that the subject, + far from having been neglected, as Colonel Rothwell appears to + assume, has been carefully studied and thought out. + +Had the scheme in question been matured and adopted on the lines here +stated, a still greater degree of importance would have been attached +to the position and proceedings of a Corps then--and still--almost +unknown to the world at large, since its chief function was to carry out +investigations at the request of the authorities, and prepare reports, +statements and statistics which have invariably got no further than the +War Office and the Horse Guards, where, alone, the value of the services +rendered has been fully understood and appreciated. The scheme was, +however, allowed to drop, the policy eventually adopted being based, +preferably, (1) on the railways of Great Britain being operated in war +time as one group instead of in a series of groups or sections; and (2) +on such operation being entrusted to a body specially created for the +purpose; though prior to the adoption of the latter course there was to +be a fresh development in another direction. + + +THE WAR RAILWAY COUNCIL + +While the Engineer and Railway Volunteer Staff Corps remained, down to +1896, the only organised body which (apart from the individual railway +companies) Government departments could consult as to the technical +working and traffic facilities of the railways, from the point of view +of military transport, it was thought desirable, in the year mentioned, +to supplement that Corps by a smaller body known at first as the "Army +Railway Council" and afterwards as the "War Railway Council." + +Designed to act in a purely advisory capacity, without assuming any +administrative or executive functions, this Council was eventually +constituted as follows:--The Deputy Quartermaster-General (president); +six railway managers, who represented the British railway companies +and might or might not already be members of the Engineer and Railway +Staff Corps; one Board of Trade Inspector of Railways; two members +(not being railway managers) of the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps; +the Deputy-Assistant Quartermaster-General; one mobilisation officer; +two Naval officers; and one officer of the Royal Engineers, with a +representative of the Quartermaster-General's Department as secretary. + +The Council approximated closely to the "Commission Militaire Superieure +des Chemins de Fer" in France, of which an account has been given in +Chapter IX. It also undertook many of the duties which in the case of +the German Army would be performed by a special section of the General +Staff; though some of these duties it took over from the Engineer and +Railway Staff Corps, reducing the functions and the importance of that +body proportionately. + +In time of peace the Council was (1) generally to advise the Secretary +of State for War on matters relating to military rail-transport; (2) to +draw up, in conjunction with the different railway companies concerned, +and on the basis of data to be supplied to them by the War Office, a +detailed scheme for the movement of troops on mobilisation; (3) to +arrange in advance as to the composition of the trains which would be +required for any such movement; (4) to determine the nature of the +data to be asked for from the railway companies,[32] and to prepare +the necessary regulations and instructions in regard to the said troop +movements; (5) to draw up rules for the organisation of a body of +Railway Staff Officers who, located at railway stations to be selected +by the Council, would act there as intermediaries between the railway +officials and the troops; and (6) to confer with the different railway +companies as to the provision of such extra sidings, loading platforms, +ramps, barriers, etc., as might be necessary to facilitate military +transport, and to decide on the best means by which the provision +thereof could be arranged. Information on these subjects was to be +carefully compiled, elaborated, and, with explanatory maps, placed on +record for use as required. + +In the event of mobilisation, or of some national emergency, the Council +was, also, to advise the Secretary of State for War in regard to matters +relating to the movement of troops by rail; to act as a medium of +communication between the War Office and the railway companies, and to +make all the necessary arrangements in connection with such movements. + +Other questions likely to arise, and requiring consideration in time +of peace, included the guarding of the railways against possible +attack; the prompt repair of any damage that might be done to them; the +equipment of armoured trains, and the provision of ambulance trains on +lines where they might be required. + +All these and various other matters were dealt with at the periodical +meetings held by the Council, which, within the range of its limitations +as an advisory body, rendered good service to the War Office; though +that Department was still left to deal with the individual railway +companies in regard to all arrangements and matters of detail directly +concerning them. + + +RAILWAY TRANSPORT OFFICERS + +In the foregoing statement as to the functions to be discharged by the +War Railway Council it is mentioned that these were to include the +drawing up of rules for the organisation of a body of Railway Staff +Officers who were to act as intermediaries between the troops and the +railway station staffs in the conduct of military rail-transport. + +We touch here upon those questions of control and organisation of +military traffic which had been a fruitful source of trouble in earlier +wars, and more especially so on the French railways in the war of +1870-71. There was, indeed, much wisdom in the attempt now being made, +as a precautionary measure, to provide well in advance against the risk +of similar experiences in regard to movements of British troops by rail, +while the course adopted led to the creation of a system which was to +ensure excellent results later on. + +In the first instance the officers appointed under the system here in +question were known as "Railway Control Officers," (R.C.O.'s,) their +chief as the "Director of Railways," (D.R.,) and the organisation itself +as the "Railway Control Establishment"; but the titles of Railway +Transport Officers (R.T.O.'s), Director of Railway Transport (D.R.T.) +and Transport Establishments were afterwards substituted. + +The functions of the Director of Railway Transport are thus defined in +Field Service Regulations, Part II, section 23 (1913):-- + + Provision of railway transport and administration of + railway transport personnel. Control, construction, working and + maintenance of all railways. Provision of telegraph operators + for railway circuits. Control and working of telephones and + telegraphs allotted to the railway service. For the erection + and maintenance of all telegraph circuits on railways which are + worked by the troops, a representative of the Director of Army + Signals will be attached to his headquarters and the necessary + signal troops allotted to him as may be ordered by the I.G.C. + (Inspector-General of Communications). + +As regards the Railway Transport Establishments, the Regulations say +(section 62):-- + + In railway matters, the authority of each member of a + railway transport establishment will be paramount on that + portion of a railway system where he is posted for duty. + + Railway technical officials will always receive the demands + of the troops for railway transport through the railway + transport establishment. + + Except when fighting is imminent or in progress, a member of + the railway transport establishment will receive orders from the + Director of Railway Transport only, or his representative. + + An officer, or officers, of the railway transport + establishment, recognized by a badge worn on the left arm marked + R.T.O., will be posted for duty at each place where troops are + constantly entraining, detraining, or halting _en route_. Their + chief duties will be:-- + + 1. To facilitate the transport of troops, animals and + material. + + 2. To act as a channel of communication between the military + authorities and the technical railway personnel. + + 3. To advise the local military authorities as to the + capacity and possibilities of the railway. + + 4. To bring to the notice of the Director of Railway + Transport any means by which the carrying power of the railway + may, for military purposes, be increased. + +All details as to the entraining and detraining of troops and the +loading and unloading of stores will be arranged in conjunction with the +technical officials by the railway transport establishment, who will +meet all troops arriving to entrain, inform commanders of the times +and places of entrainment, and allot trucks and carriages to units in +bulk. They will see that the necessary rolling stock is provided by +the railway officials, that only the prescribed amount of baggage is +loaded, and that no unauthorised person travels by rail. They will meet +all troop trains, and see that troops and stores are detrained with the +utmost despatch. + +It will be observed from these regulations that, whatever his own rank +may be, the R.T.O., subject to the instructions he has received from his +superior Transport Officer, exercises at the railway station to which he +is delegated an authority that not even a General may question or seek +to set aside by giving orders direct to the station staff. The R.T.O. +alone is the "channel of communication" between the military and the +railway elements. He it is who, acting in conjunction with the railway +people, must see that all the details in connection with entraining and +detraining are properly arranged and efficiently carried out, while the +operations of the station staff are, in turn, greatly facilitated alike +by his co-operation and by the fact that there is now only one military +authority to be dealt with at a station instead, possibly, of several +acting more or less independently of one another. + + +VOLUNTEER REVIEWS + +While all these developments had been proceeding, the railway companies +had, since the formation of the Engineer and Railway Volunteer Staff +Corps, given repeated evidence of their capacity to move large bodies +of Volunteers with complete efficiency. They specially distinguished +themselves in this respect on the occasion of the great Volunteer +reviews held from time to time. In a book entitled "England's Naval +and Military Weakness," (London, 1882,) Major James Walter, of the 4th +Lancashire Artillery Volunteers, was highly eulogistic of what was done +by the railways on the occasion of the reviews in Edinburgh and Windsor +in 1881. In regard to the Windsor review he wrote:-- + + The broad result has been, so far as the railway part of + the business goes, to prove that it is perfectly feasible to + concentrate fifty thousand men from all parts of the kingdom + in twenty-four hours.... The two lines most concerned in the + Windsor review--the Great Western and the South Western--carried + out this great experiment with ... the regularity and dispatch + of the Scotch mail. + +Major Walter seems to have had the idea, rightly or wrongly, that the +success of this performance was mainly due to the Engineer and Railway +Volunteer Staff Corps. He says concerning that body:-- + + Not the least valued result of the Windsor and Edinburgh + reviews of 1881 is the having introduced with becoming + prominence to public knowledge the necessary and indispensable + services of the "Engineer and Railway Volunteer Staff Corps." + Until these reviews bore testimony to the national importance of + this Corps, few knew anything of its duties, or even existence, + beyond a list of officers recorded in the Army List.... Since + the embodiment of the Volunteers the Engineer and Railway + Transport Corps has done much service, invariably thorough and + without a hitch.... These several officers of the Railway Staff + Corps set about their transport work of the 1881 reviews in a + manner worthy of their vocation. They proved to the country that + their Corps was a reality and necessity. + +In 1893 the authors of the "Army Book for the British Empire" wrote (p. +531):-- + + There is every reason to believe that, in case of the + military forces in the United Kingdom being mobilised for the + purposes of home defence, and being concentrated in any part + or parts of the country for the purpose of guarding against or + confronting an invasion, the railway arrangements would work + satisfactorily. The remarkable success which has attended the + concentration of large bodies of Volunteers gathered from all + quarters of the Kingdom for military functions and reviews, on + more than one occasion, has shown the extraordinary capabilities + of the British railway system for military transport on a great + scale. Rolling stock is abundant. The more important lines in + England have a double line of rails; some have four or more + rails. Gradients, moreover, as a rule are easy, an important + point, since troop trains are very heavy. + + +THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR + +While no one was likely to dispute these conclusions, it had to be +remembered that the transport by rail even of exceptionally large bodies +of Volunteers, carrying their rifles only, was a very different matter +from the conveyance, under conditions of great pressure, of large forces +of troops accompanied by horses, guns, ammunition, road wagons, stores +and other necessaries for prospective actual warfare. So the accepted +capacity of the British railways had still to stand the test of actual +war conditions, with or without the accompaniment of invasion; and this +test was applied, to a certain extent, by the South African War. + +The bulk of the military traffic on that occasion passed over the lines +of the London and South Western Railway Company, troops from all parts +of the country being conveyed by different routes and different lines of +railway to Southampton, whence they and their stores, etc., were shipped +to the Cape. Such was the magnitude of this traffic that between the +outbreak of the war, in 1899, and the end of 1900 there were carried on +the London and South Western, and despatched from Southampton, 6,160 +officers; 229,097 men; 29,500 horses; and 1,085 wheeled vehicles. The +conveyance of this traffic involved the running of 1,154 special trains, +in addition to a large number of others carrying baggage, stores, +etc. At times the pressure was very great. On October 20, 1899, five +transports sailed from Southampton with 167 officers and 4,756 men, +besides guns horses and wagons. Yet the whole of the operations were +conducted with perfect smoothness, there being no overtaxing either of +the railway facilities or of the dock accommodation.[33] + +Much of this smoothness of working was due to the fact that the War +Office had, in accordance with the principle adopted on the appointment +of the War Railway Council, stationed at Southampton a Railway Transport +Officer who was to act as a connecting link, or intermediary, between +the railway, the docks, the military and the Admiralty authorities, +co-ordinating their requirements, superintending the arrivals by train, +arranging for and directing the embarkation of the troops and their +equipment in the transports allotted to them, and preventing any of +that confusion which otherwise might well have arisen. Similar officers +had also been stationed by the War Office at leading railway stations +throughout the country to ensure co-operation between the military and +the railway staffs and, while avoiding the possibility of friction or +complications, facilitate the handling of the military traffic. + +In the account to be given in Chapter XVI. of "Railways in the Boer +War," it will be shown that a like course was pursued in South Africa +for the duration of the campaign. + + +ARMY MANOEUVRES OF 1912 + +Further evidence as to what the British railways were capable of +accomplishing was afforded by the Army Manoeuvres in East Anglia +in 1912. This event also constituted a much more severe test than +the Volunteer reviews of former days, since it meant not only the +assembling, in the manoeuvre area, of four divisions of the Army and +some thousands of Territorials, but the transport, at short notice, and +within a limited period, of many horses, guns, transport wagons, etc., +together with considerable quantities of stores. Certain sections of +the traffic were dealt with by the Great Northern and the London and +North-Western Companies; but the bulk of it was handled by the Great +Eastern and was carried in nearly 200 troop trains, consisting in all +of about 4,000 vehicles. Of these trains 50 per cent. started before +or exactly to time, while the others were only a few minutes late in +leaving the station. Such was the regularity and general efficiency with +which the work of transportation was carried out that in the course of +an address to the Generals, at Cambridge, his Majesty the King referred +to the rapid concentration of troops by rail, without dislocating +the ordinary civilian traffic, as one of the special features of the +manoeuvres. The dispersal of the forces on the conclusion of the +manoeuvres was effected in a little over two days, and constituted +another smart piece of work.[34] + + +A RAILWAYS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE + +In view of all such testimony and of all such actual achievements, +there was no reason to doubt that the railway companies, with their +great resources in material and personnel, and with the excellence of +their own organisation, would themselves be able to respond promptly +and effectively to such demands as might be made upon them in a time of +national emergency. + +There still remained, however, the singular fact that although, so +far back as 1871, the Government had acquired power of control over +the railways, in the event of an emergency arising, a period of forty +years had elapsed without any action being taken to create, even as +a precautionary measure, the administrative machinery by which that +control would be exercised by the State. Such machinery had been +perfected in Germany, France, and other countries, but in England it +had still to be provided. Not only had section 16 of the Act of 1871 +remained practically a dead letter, but even the fact that it existed +did not seem to be known to so prominent a railway manager as Sir George +Findlay when he wrote "Working and Management of an English Railway" +and the article he contributed to the _United Service Magazine_ of +April, 1892, his assumption that the State would control the railways +in time of war being based, not on the Act of 1871--which he failed to +mention--but on the Act of 1888, which simply gives a right of priority +to military traffic, under certain conditions. + +Notwithstanding, too, the draft scheme spoken of by Sir George Findlay, +under which the operation of the railways was to be entrusted, in case +of emergency, to the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps, that body and, +also, the War Railway Council, continued to occupy a purely advisory +position. + +So it was clearly desirable to supplement the recognized efficiency of +the railways themselves by the creation of a central executive body +which, whenever the State assumed control of the railways, under the Act +of 1871, would (1) secure the necessary co-operation between Government +departments and the railway managements; (2) ensure the working of the +various railway systems on a national basis; and (3) co-ordinate such +various needs as naval and military movements to or from all parts of +the Kingdom; coal supply for the Fleet; transport of munitions; the +requirements of the civil population, etc. + +The necessity for this machinery--which could not possibly be created at +a moment's notice--became still more apparent in the autumn of 1911, and +steps were taken to provide what was so obviously a missing link in the +existing organisation. + +Thus it was that in 1912 the War Railway Council was succeeded by a +Railways Executive Committee which, constituted of the general managers +of leading railway companies, was to prepare plans "with a view to +facilitate the working" of the provisions of the Act of 1871, and would, +also, in the event of the Government assuming control over the railways +of Great Britain, under the provisions of that Act, constitute the +executive body for working them on behalf of the State, becoming the +recognised intermediary (1) for receiving the instructions of Government +departments in respect to military and naval requirements; and (2) for +taking the necessary measures in order to give effect to them through +the individual companies, each of which, subject to the instructions +it received from the Committee, would retain the management of its own +line. + +In accordance with the principle thus adopted, it was through the +Railways Executive Committee that the Government, subject to certain +financial arrangements which need not be dealt with here, established +their control over the railways of Great Britain on the outbreak of war +in 1914, the announcement to this effect issued from the War Office, +under date August 4, stating:-- + + An Order in Council has been made under Section 16 of + the Regulation of the Forces Act, 1871, declaring that it is + expedient that the Government should have control over the + railroads in Great Britain. This control will be exercised + through an Executive Committee composed of general managers of + railways which has been formed for some time, and has prepared + plans with a view to facilitating the working of this Act. + +In a notification issued by the Executive Committee, of which the +official chairman was the President of the Board of Trade and the acting +chairman was Mr. (now Sir Herbert A.) Walker, general manager of the +London and South Western Railway, it was further stated:-- + + The control of the railways has been taken over by the + Government for the purpose of ensuring that the railways, + locomotives, rolling stock and staff shall be used as one + complete unit in the best interests of the State for the + movement of troops, stores and food supplies.... The staff on + each railway will remain under the same control as heretofore, + and will receive their instructions through the same channels as + in the past. + +As eventually constituted, the Committee consisted of the following +general managers:--Mr. D. A. Matheson, Caledonian Railway; Sir Sam +Fay, Great Central Railway; Mr. C. H. Dent, Great Northern Railway; +Mr. F. Potter, Great Western Railway; Mr. Guy Calthrop, London and +North Western Railway; Mr. J. A. F. Aspinall, Lancashire and Yorkshire +Railway; Sir Herbert A. Walker, London and South Western Railway; Sir +William Forbes, London, Brighton and South Coast Railway; Sir Guy +Granet, Midland Railway; Sir A. K. Butterworth, North Eastern Railway, +and Mr. F. H. Dent, South Eastern and Chatham Railway, with Mr. Gilbert +S. Szlumper as secretary. + + +1860 AND 1914 + +Such, then, was the final outcome of a movement which, started in 1860, +by individual effort, as the result of an expected invasion of England +by France, was, in 1914, and after undergoing gradual though continuous +development, to play an important part on behalf of the nation in +helping France herself, now England's cherished Ally, to resist the +invader of her own fair territory. + +With what smoothness the transport of our troops was conducted cannot +yet be told in detail; but the facts here narrated will show that the +success attained was mainly due to three all-important factors,--(1) +the efficiency of the railway organisation; (2) the willingness of the +Government, on assuming control of the railways under the Act of 1871, +to leave their management in the hands of railway men; and (3) the ready +adoption, alike by the railway interests and by State departments, +of the fundamental principle enforced by a succession of wars from +the American Civil War of 1861-65 downwards,--that in the conduct of +military rail transport there should be, in each of its various stages, +intermediaries between the military and the railway technical elements, +co-ordinating their mutual requirements, constituting the recognised +and only channel for orders and instructions, and ensuring, as far as +prudence, foresight and human skill can devise, the perfect working of +so delicate and complicated an instrument as the railway machine. + + +RAILWAY TROOPS + +While Germany, inspired by the American example, had begun the creation +of special bodies of Railway Troops in 1866, it was not until 1882 that +a like course was adopted in England. Prior to the last-mentioned year +it was, possibly, thought that the labour branch of the Engineer and +Railway Volunteer Staff Corps would suffice to meet requirements in +regard to the destruction or the re-establishment of railways at home in +the event of invasion; but the arrangements of the Corps did not provide +for the supply of men to take up railway construction and operation on +the occasion of military expeditions to other countries. + +It was this particular need that led, in the summer of 1882, to +the conversion of the 8th Company of Royal Engineers into the 8th +(Railway) Company, R.E., the occasion therefore being the dispatch of +an expeditionary force under Sir Garnet (afterwards Lord) Wolseley to +Egypt, where the necessity for railway work of various kinds was likely +to arise. This pioneer corps of British Railway Troops was formed of +seven officers, one warrant officer, two buglers, and ninety-seven +N.C.O.'s and sappers. So constituted, it was thought better adapted +for railway work under conditions of active service than a body of +civilian railwaymen would be. There certainly was the disadvantage that +those constituting the 8th were not then proficient in railway matters; +but, before they left, both officers and men were given the run of the +London, Chatham and Dover Railway lines, and were there enabled to pick +up what they could of railway working in the locomotive and traffic +departments, while on the London and South Western and the South Eastern +Railways they were initiated, as far as could be done in the time, into +the art of platelaying. The Corps took out to Egypt four small tank +locomotives; two first-class, two second-class and six third-class +carriages; forty cattle trucks; four brake vans; two travelling cranes; +two breakdown vans, and five miles of permanent way, complete, with +accessories, tools, etc. Excellent work was done in carrying on regular +train services, repairing damaged track, etc., running an armoured +train, constructing supplementary short lines, and conveying troops, +sick and wounded, and stores, the practical utility of such an addition +to the engineering forces of the Army being thus fully assured. + +In January, 1885, the 10th Company, Royal Engineers, was converted +into the 10th (Railway) Company, and sent to Egypt to assist in the +construction of the then contemplated Suakin-Berber line, to which +further reference will be made in Chapter XV. Both companies also +rendered good service in the South African War. + +According to the "Manual of Military Railways," issued with Army Orders +dated March 1st, 1889, the duties likely to be required from the Royal +Engineers with regard to railways are as follows:-- (1) Laying, working, +and maintaining a military line of railway between two places; (2) +restoring an existing line which has been damaged or destroyed by an +enemy; (3) destroying an existing line as much as possible with a given +number of men and in a specified time, and (4) working and maintaining +an existing line. The "Manual" itself gave much technical information as +to the construction, maintenance, destruction and working of railways. +It was re-issued by the War Office in 1898 as Part VI of "Instruction +in Military Engineering," and was stated to embody a portion of the +course of instruction in railways at the school of Military Engineering, +Chatham. In the "Manual of Military Engineering," issued by the General +Staff of the War Office in 1905, instructions are given (Chap. XVII, +pars. 238-244) on the "hasty demolition, without explosives," of +railways, stations, buildings, rolling stock, permanent way, water +supply, etc.; and in Chapter XXIII, "Railways and Telegraphs," the +statement is made that-- + + The duties likely to be required of troops in the field with + regard to railways (apart from large railway schemes, for which + special arrangements would be necessary,) may be considered as + either temporary repairs or the laying of short lengths of line + to join up breaks, the construction of additional works, such + as platforms, etc., to adapt the line for military use, or the + demolition of an existing line. + +Detailed information is given, for the benefit of R.E. officers, +concerning railway construction, repair and reconstruction, and the +main principles on which such work should be carried out for military +purposes are explained. The best system to adopt for the effecting of +rapid repairs is said to be that of establishing construction trains. +"The reconstruction staff live in these trains, which rapidly advance +along the line as it is being repaired, conveying, also, the necessary +material." + +The peace training[35] of the Companies includes: reconnaissance, survey +and final location of a railway; laying out station yards; laying out +deviations; rapid laying of narrow-gauge "military" lines; construction +of all kinds of railway bridges; signal installation; water supply; +repairs to telegraphs and telephones necessary for working construction +lines; working of electric block instruments; fitting up armoured +trains; construction of temporary platforms, and working and maintenance +of construction trains. + +Instruction in reconnaissance and survey work is given to officers +while at head-quarters, and a certain number of N.C.O.'s and men are +also instructed in railway survey work. Parties, each commanded by an +officer, are sent to carry out a reconnaissance and final location of +a railway between two points about forty miles apart on the assumption +that it is an unmapped country, and complete maps and sections are +prepared. The Companies have also undertaken the construction and +maintenance of the Woolmer Instructional Military Railway,--a 4 ft. 8½ +in. gauge military line, about six miles in length, connecting Bordon +(London and South Western Railway) with Longmore Camp. All the plant +necessary for railway work and workshops for the repair of rolling stock +are provided at Longmore. + +In time of war the chief duties of a Railway Company, R.E., would be to +survey, construct, repair and demolish railways and to work construction +and armoured trains. + +In the South African campaign, when the military had to operate the +railways of which they took possession in the enemy's country, some +difficulty was experienced in obtaining from the ranks of the Army a +sufficient number of men capable of working the lines. As the result +of these conditions, it was arranged, in 1903, between the War Office +and certain of the British railway companies that the latter should +afford facilities in their locomotive departments and workshops for the +training of a number of non-commissioned officers and men as drivers, +firemen and mechanics, (capable of carrying out repairs,) in order to +qualify them better for railway work in the field, in case of need. This +arrangement was carried out down to the outbreak of war in 1914. The +period of training lasted either six or nine months. In order to avoid +the raising of any "labour" difficulties, no wages were given during +this period to Army men who were already receiving Army pay as soldiers, +but a bonus was granted to them by the railway companies, when they +left, on their obtaining from the head of the department to which they +had been attached a certificate of their efficiency. + + +STRATEGICAL RAILWAYS + +The subject of strategical railways will be dealt with, both generally +and in special reference to their construction in Germany, in Chapter +XVIII. In regard to Great Britain it may be said that the position as +explained by Sir George Findlay in his article in the _United Service +Magazine_ for April, 1892, is that whilst Continental countries have +been spending large sums of money on the building of strategical +lines for the defence of their frontiers, (or, he might have added, +for the invasion, in some instances, of their neighbours' territory,) +Great Britain, more fortunate, possesses already a system of railways +which, though constructed entirely by private enterprise, could not, +even if they had been laid out with a view to national defence, "have +been better adapted for the purpose, since there are duplicated lines +directed from the great centres of population and of military activity +upon every point of the coast, while there are lines skirting the coast +in every direction, north, east, south and west." + +Some years ago there were certain critics who recommended the building +of lines, for strategical purposes, along sections of our coast which +the ordinary railways did not directly serve; but the real necessity for +such lines was questioned, the more so because the transport of troops +by rail on such short-distance journeys as those that would have been +here in question might, with the marching to and from the railway and +the time occupied in entraining and detraining, take longer than if the +troops either marched all the way, or (in the event of there being only +a small force) if they went by motor vehicles to the coast. + +One point that was, indeed, likely to arise in connection with the +movement of troops was the provision of facilities for their ready +transfer from one railway system to another, without change of carriage, +when making cross-country journeys or travelling, for instance, from the +North or the Midlands to ports in the South. + +We have seen that in France many such links were established, subsequent +to the war of 1870-71, expressly for strategical reasons; but in +Great Britain a like result has been attained, apart from military +considerations, from the fact that some years ago the different railway +companies established physical connections between their different +systems with a view to the ready transfer of ordinary traffic. When, +therefore, the necessity arose for a speedy mobilisation, or for the +transport of troops from any part of Great Britain to any particular +port for an overseas destination, the necessary facilities for through +journeys by rail, in the shortest possible time, already existed. + +In effect, the nearest approach to purely strategical lines in Great +Britain is to be found, perhaps, in those which connect military camps +with the ordinary railways; yet, while these particular lines may +have been built to serve a military purpose, they approximate less to +strategical railways proper, as understood in Germany, than to branch +lines and sidings constructed to meet the special needs of some large +industrial concern. + +Generally speaking, the attitude of Parliament and of British +authorities in general has not been sympathetic to suggestions of +strategical railways, even when proposals put forward have had the +support of the War Office itself. + +This tendency was well shown in connection with the Northern Junction +Railway scheme which was inquired into by a Select Committee of the +House of Commons in 1913. Under the scheme in question, a railway was +to be constructed from Brentford, on the west of London, to Wood Green, +on the north, passing through Acton, Ealing, Wembley Park, Hampstead +and Finchley, and establishing connections with and between several of +the existing main-line systems. In this respect it compared with those +"outer circle" railway systems which, as a further result of the war of +1870-71, were expressly designed by the French Government for the better +defence of Paris. + +The Northern Junction scheme was introduced to the Select Committee +as one which, among other considerations, "would be important from a +military point of view for moving troops from one point to another +without taking them through London." Lieut.-General Sir J. S. Cowans, +Quartermaster-General, a member of the Army Council responsible for +the movement of troops, and deputed by the Secretary for War to give +evidence, said: + + The proposed line would be a great advantage in time of + emergency if it was constructed in its entirety. The Army + Council felt that it would provide important routes between + the South of England and East Anglia and the North. At present + trains had to come from Aldershot to Clapham Junction by the + South-Western line, and be there broken up and sent over + congested City lines on to the Great Northern. By the proposed + line military trains could be handled without dividing them and + be transferred to the Great Northern or Great Eastern without + being sent over the congested City lines. + +Strong opposition was offered, however, on the ground that the +construction of the line would do "irreparable damage" to the amenities +of the Hampstead Garden Suburb; and, after a sitting which extended +over several days, the Committee threw out the Bill, the Chairman +subsequently admitting that "they had been influenced very largely by +the objection of the Hampstead Garden Suburb." + +In 1914 the scheme was introduced afresh into the House of Commons, with +certain modifications, the proposed line of route no longer passing +through the Hampstead Garden Suburb, though near to it. One member +of the House said he had collaborated in promoting the Bill because +"he most earnestly believed this railway was of vital import to the +mobilisation of our troops in time of emergency"; but another declared +that the alleged military necessity for the railway was "all fudge," +while much was now said as to the pernicious effect the line would have +on the highly-desirable residential district of Finchley. In the result +strategical considerations were again set aside, and the House rejected +the Bill by a majority of seventy-seven. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[29] Colonel McMurdo had special qualifications for the post. +Becoming a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army in October, 1853, he was +Assistant-Adjutant-General at Dublin from May, 1854, to January, +1855. On February 2, 1855, he was entrusted with the duties of +Director-General of the new Land-Transport Corps, and was sent out to +the Crimea, with the local rank of Colonel, to reorganize the transport +service, then in a deplorably defective condition. He is said to have +accomplished this task with great energy and success. Before the close +of the campaign his corps numbered 17,000 men, with 28,000 horses, +mules, etc. He also took over the working of the pioneer military +railway in the Crimea. In 1857 the Land-Transport Corps was converted +into the Military Train, with Colonel McMurdo as Colonel-Commandant. +Early in 1860, when the Volunteer movement was assuming a permanent +character, Colonel McMurdo was appointed Inspector of Volunteers, +and in June of the same year he became Inspector-General, a post he +retained until January, 1865. He was chosen as Colonel of the Inns of +Court Volunteers on January 23, 1865, and his further appointment to +the post of Colonel of the newly-formed Engineer and Railway Volunteer +Staff Corps followed, as stated above, in February, 1865. He was created +K.C.B. in 1881 and G.C.B. in 1893. He died in 1894. + +[30] The names of present members of the Corps will be found in "Hart's +Army List." Under the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act of 1907 +the Corps became part of the Territorial Force, and the designation +"Volunteer" was dropped from its title, which since that date has been +"The Engineer and Railway Staff Corps." + +[31] "The Conveyance of Troops by Railway." By Col. J. S. Rothwell, +R.A., Professor of Military Administration, Staff College, _United +Service Magazine_, Dec., 1891, and Jan., 1892. + +[32] Detailed information as to the capacity of British rolling stock; +composition of trains required for units at war strength; truck space +taken up by Army vehicles; standard forms of reports on existing +railways, and other matters, is published in the official publication +known as "Railway Manual (War)." + +[33] _The Railway Magazine_, May, 1901. + +[34] For details as to the nature of the organisation by which these +results were effected, see an article on "The Great Eastern Railway +and the Army Manoeuvres in East Anglia--1912," by H. J. Prytherch, +in the _Great Eastern Railway Magazine_ for November, 1912. In the +_Great Western Railway Magazine_ for November, 1909, there are given, +under the heading, "The Transport of an Army," some details concerning +the military transport on the Great Western system during the Army +manoeuvres of that year. The traffic conveyed was, approximately, 514 +officers, 14,552 men, 208 officers' horses, 2,474 troop horses, 25 guns, +34 limbers, and 581 wagons and carts. "The military authorities and the +Army contractors," it is said, "expressed their pleasure at the manner +in which the work was performed by the Company's staff." + +[35] "General Principles, Organisation and Equipment of Royal +Engineers," _Royal Engineers Journal_, February, 1910. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MILITARY RAILWAYS + + +By the expression "military railways" is meant lines of railways which, +as distinct from commercial lines serving public purposes, have been +designed expressly for military use. The fact that any line forming +part of the ordinary railway system of the country is employed for the +conveyance of troops either direct to the theatre of war or to some port +for embarkation therefrom does not constitute that line a "military" +railway, in the strict sense of the term, whatever the extent of its +use for military transport for the time being. Such line remains a +commercial railway, all the same, and the application to it of the +designation "military" is erroneous. + +Military railways proper fall mainly into two groups--(1) "field" +or "siege" railways, constructed on the theatre of war for moving +heavy guns, platform materials, etc., to their position; conveying +ammunition and supplies to siege batteries, magazines, advanced +trenches or bombproofs; bringing up reinforcements rapidly in case of +a sortie; conveying working-parties to and from their work; removing +sick and wounded to the rear, and other kindred purposes, the loads +being generally hauled by animals, by gasoline motor or by men; and +(2) "supply" railways, specially constructed to convey troops, stores, +etc., from the base to the front, in time of war, or from an ordinary +main-line railway to a military camp or depôt in time of peace, where +local lines of railway are not available for the purpose. + +These two main groups include various types of railways coming under +one or the other designation, and ranging from a very light portable +tramway, put down at express speed to serve an emergency, and worked +by small engines, mules or horses, to substantially built lines, of +standard gauge, designed both to be worked by locomotives and to carry +the largest possible number of troops or amount of freight. + +In any case, the details of construction, equipment and operation of +a military railway vary from those of a commercial railway since the +one would be intended to serve only a specific and possibly temporary +purpose, in the attainment of which the question of speed would be a +secondary consideration, whereas the other would require to assume +a permanent form, be capable of higher speeds, and afford adequate +guarantee of safety for the public, by whom it would be used. The +building, also, of a military railway may be, and generally is, carried +out by a corps of Railway Troops to which are specially delegated +the duties of laying, working, maintaining, repairing, restoring or +destroying railways; and, provided the desired lines were built with +sufficient dispatch, and answered the desired purpose, the military +commanders who would alone be concerned might well be satisfied. + +In many different ways the resort to military railways, whatever +their particular type, has greatly extended the range of advantages +to be gained from the application of rail-power to war. A full record +of all that has been accomplished in this direction could hardly be +attempted here; but a few typical examples of what has been done in this +direction--though not always with conspicuous success--may be offered. + + +THE CRIMEAN WAR + +The earliest instance of a purely military railway being constructed +to serve the purpose of a campaign occurred in the Crimean War; and, +although the line then made would to-day be regarded as little more than +an especially inefficient apology for a railway, it was looked upon at +the time as a remarkable innovation in warfare. It further established a +precedent destined to be widely followed in later years. + +Between the camp of the allies at Sebastopol and their base of supplies +at Balaklava the distance was only seven or eight miles; yet in the +winter of 1854-55 the fatigue parties sent for rations, clothing, fuel, +huts, ammunition and other necessaries were frequently no less than +twelve hours in doing the return journey. The reason was that during +the greater part of that time they were floundering in a sea of mud. +The soil of the Crimea is clay impregnated with salt, and, under the +combined influence of climatic conditions and heavy traffic, the route +between camp and base had been converted into a perfect quagmire. +Horses, mules and carts were, at first, alone available for transport +purposes; but, although plenty of animals were to be obtained in the +surrounding country, only a limited number could be employed by reason +of the lack of forage, a totally inadequate supply having been sent +out from England. As for the animals that were used, their sufferings, +as the result of those terrible journeys, their own shortage of food, +and the effect of the intense cold on their half-starved bodies, were +terrible. "In the rear of each Division," says General Sir Edward +Hamley, in "The War in the Crimea," "a scanty group of miserable ponies +and mules, whose backs never knew what it was to be quit of the saddle, +shivered, and starved, and daily died." They died, also, on every +journey to or from the base. The toil of going through the quagmire +even for their own forage, or of bringing it back when they had got it, +was too great for them, and the whole line of route was marked by their +remains. + +As for the troops, they experienced great hardships owing to the +inadequate supplies of provisions and fuel at the camp, although there +might be plenty of both at the base. Apart from the physical conditions +of the roads, or apologies for roads, between the two points, the +campaign was begun without transport arrangements of any kind whatever. +A transport corps formed for the British Army in 1799, under the title +of the Royal Wagon Train, had been disbanded in 1833, and, whether from +motives of economy or because the need for war preparations in time +of peace was not sufficiently appreciated, no other corps had been +created to take its place. Hence the troops sent to the Crimea were +required, at the outset, to look after the transport themselves, and in +many instances they even had to do the work of mules and horses. It was +not until January 24, 1855, that a Land Transport Corps, composed of +volunteers from various arms of the service, was raised by Royal Warrant +and began to provide for a defect in the military organisation which +had, in the meantime, involved the allies, and especially the British, +in severe privations owing to the frequent shortage of supplies. +The original intention to establish a depôt at head-quarters before +Sebastopol had had to be abandoned because of the hopelessness of any +attempt to get a sufficient surplus of provisions to form a store. + +Such were the conditions that the pioneer military railway was designed +to remedy. Built, at a very slow rate, by English contractors, who +arrived at the Crimea with their men and material during the month +of January, 1855, the line was a single-track one, with a 4 feet 8½ +inch gauge. For the first two miles from Balaklava it was worked by a +locomotive. Then the trucks were drawn up an incline, eight at a time, +by a stationary engine. Six horses next drew two trucks at a time up +another incline. After this came a fairly level piece of road, followed +by two gullies where each wagon was detached in succession and made to +run down one side of the gully and up the other by its own momentum. +Then horses were again attached to the trucks and so drew them, finally, +to the end of the line on the Upland. + +Five locomotives, of from 12 to 18 tons weight, were provided, and +there were about forty ordinary side-tip ballast wagons--all entirely +unsuitable for use on a military railway. + +At first the men belonging to the contractors' staff--navvies and +others--were entrusted with the working of the line. The question had +been raised as to whether their services should not be made use of in +other directions, as well. On their being sent out from England the +idea was entertained that they might construct trenches and batteries, +in addition to building the railway, and there was a suggestion that +they should, also, join the siege parties in the attack on Sebastopol. +In order to test the question (as recorded by Major-General Whitworth +Porter, in his "History of the Corps of Royal Engineers"), Sir John +Burgoyne wrote to Mr. Beattie, principal engineer of the Railway +Department, asking if he would approve of an invitation being given to +the men to undergo such training as would qualify them to defend any +position in which they might happen to be. In his answer Mr. Beattie +wrote:-- + + The subject of your letter was very fully and anxiously + discussed in London before I left, and it was determined _not_ + to arm the men. They were considered too valuable to be used as + soldiers, and were distinctly told that they would not be called + upon to fight. + +Their value, however, did not stand the test it underwent when they +were called on to work the railway they had built. They were found to +be lacking in any sense of discipline; they repeatedly struck work when +their services were most urgently needed, and they had to be got rid of +accordingly. They were replaced by men from the Army Works Corps and the +Land Transport Corps, then in operation in the Crimea, and the members +of the new staff--constituting a disciplined force--worked admirably. +Major Powell, who became traffic manager of the line in March, 1855, +and chief superintendent in the following July, has said concerning +them[36]:-- + + Many lost their lives in the execution of their duty. When + I required them to work night and day to throw forward supplies + for the great struggle--the capture of Sebastopol--several of + them remained seventy-two hours continuously at work. + +The quantities of ammunition and stores which could be carried were +below the requirements of the troops engaged in the siege operations; +but during the last bombardment of Sebastopol--when the line was worked +continuously, night and day, by a staff increased to about 1,000 men, of +whom 400 were Turks--the transport effected rose from 200 tons a day, +the limit attained under operation by the undisciplined navvies, to +700 tons. The line also did excellent work on the re-embarkment of the +troops at the end of the campaign. + + +AMERICAN CIVIL WAR + +In the American War of Succession, the existing lines of railway +were supplemented in various instances by "surface railroads," which +consisted of rails and sleepers laid on the ordinary ground without +any preparation of a proper road bed, yet serving a useful purpose, +notwithstanding the rough and ready way in which they were put together. + + +THE ABYSSINIAN CAMPAIGN + +How a railway specially constructed for the purpose may assist a +military expedition in the prosecution of a "little war" in an +uncivilised country, practically devoid of roads, and offering great +physical difficulties, was shown on the occasion of the British Campaign +in Abyssinia in 1867-68; though the circumstances under which the +line in question was built were not in themselves creditable to the +authorities concerned. + +Sent to effect the release of the British prisoners whom King Theodore +was keeping in captivity at Magdala, the expedition under Sir Robert +Napier (afterwards Lord Napier of Magdala) entered upon what was to be +quite as much an engineering as a military exploit. Not only was Magdala +300 miles from Annesley Bay, the base of operations on the Red Sea, but +it stood, as a hill fortress, on a plateau more than 9,000 feet above +the sea-level. To reach it meant the construction of roads in three +sections. The first, which, in parts, had to be cut in the mountain +side, rose to a height of 7,400 feet in 63 miles; the second allowed +of no more than a cart road, and the third and final stage was a mere +mountain track where the only transport possible was that of mules or +elephants. + +When, in October, 1867, the advance Brigade landed at Zoulla, the port +in Annesley Bay from which the advance inland was to be made, they took +with them the materials for some tramway lines intended to connect +two landing piers with the depôts it was proposed to establish a mile +inland. In November these plans were altered in favour of a line of +railway, twelve miles in length, from the landing-place to Koomayleh, at +the entrance of the Soroo Pass, the route to be taken by the expedition +on its journey to the Abyssinian highlands. All the necessary plant +was to be supplied by the Government of Bombay, who also undertook to +provide the labour; but it was the middle of January, 1868, before a +real start could be made with the work. + +Even then, as told by Lieut. Willans, R.E.,[37] who took part in the +expedition, the progress made was extremely slow. The rails obtained +from different railway companies in India were of five different +patterns, of odd lengths, and varying in weight from 30 lb. to 65 lb. +a yard. Some of them had been in use many years on the harbour works +at Karachi, had been taken up and laid down several times, and had, +also, been bent to fit sharp curves or cut to suit the original line. +Some single-flanged rails had been fitted in the Government workshops +at Bombay with fish-plates and bolts; but the holes in the plates and +rails were not at uniform distances, and the bolts fitted the holes so +tightly as to allow of no play. Then, when the rails arrived, no spikes +came with them, and without spikes they could not be laid. When the +spikes followed, it was found that the augurs for boring holes in the +sleepers had been left at Bombay, to come on by another ship; though +this particular difficulty was met by the artisans of the 23rd Punjab +Pioneer Regiment making augurs for themselves. + +If the rails gave much trouble--and even when they had been laid it was +no unusual thing for them to break between two sleepers and throw the +engine off the line--the locomotives and rolling stock caused still +more. + +Six locomotives were shipped from Bombay; but, owing to the great +difficulty in landing and the labour involved in putting them together, +only four were used. Of these, one was a tank engine which, although +just turned out from the railway workshops at Bombay, required new +driving wheels after it had been running a fortnight. Another came with +worn-out boiler tubes, and these had to be replaced at Zoulla. The +two others, tank engines with only four wheels each, had previously +seen many years' service at Karachi. All the engines were very light, +weighing with coal and water from 16 to 20 tons each. The best of them +could do no more than draw fifteen small loaded trucks up an incline of +one in sixty. + +The sixty wagons sent were ordinary trolleys having no springs, no +spring buffers and no grease boxes. Their axle-boxes were of cast iron, +and wore out within a fortnight, owing to the driving sand. As the +railway came into use, every truck was loaded to its fullest capacity, +and the combination of this weight with the jarring and oscillation on a +very rough line led either to the breaking of the coupling chains or to +the coupling bars being pulled from the wagons at starting. When fresh +coupling chains were asked for it was found that the boxes containing +them had either been left behind at Bombay or were buried beneath +several hundred tons of other supplies on board ship. At least forty per +cent. of the trucks were either constantly under repair or had to be put +aside as unfit for use. In May a number of open wagons with springs and +spring buffers arrived from Bombay. Some of these were converted into +passenger carriages. + +Difficulties arose in other directions, besides. + +The plant forwarded was adapted to the Indian standard gauge of 5 feet +6 inches, and was heavy and difficult to handle, especially under the +troublesome conditions of landing. To-day, of course, a narrow-gauge +railway, easily dealt with, would be employed in circumstances such as +those of the Abyssinian expedition. + +The Indian natives who had been sent in the first instance to construct +the line were found unsuitable, and had to be replaced by gangs of +Chinese picked up in Bombay. The latter worked well and gave no trouble. + +The country through which the line was laid was timberless, if not, +also, practically waterless. Wells had to be sunk for the water wanted +for the locomotives and the working-parties. + +The heat was excessive. The temperature at times was 180 degrees Fahr. +in the sun. English navvies could not have made the line at all. + +The two piers where the incoming vessels could alone be unloaded got +so congested with traffic that it was only with the greatest trouble +railway material could be landed. + +Use began to be made of the line as soon as any of it was ready, and the +traffic at the shore end at once became so heavy that it was difficult +to get materials and supplies through to the construction parties at +the other end. Officers, also, who should have been superintending the +construction had to devote a good deal of time, instead, to details of +operation, or to looking after the repairs of rolling stock. + +In all these circumstances one cannot be surprised at the slow rate of +progress made. One may, rather, wonder that the line got built at all. +As it was, four months were spent on eleven miles of railway, or a total +of twelve miles including sidings. There remained still another mile or +so to be built when, at the end of April, news arrived that the object +of the expedition had been attained, and that Magdala had fallen. It was +then decided not to complete the line, but to devote all energies to +preparing for the heavy traffic to be dealt with in the conveyance of +troops, baggage and stores on the return journey. + +From the middle of May to the middle of June the resources of the line +were severely taxed; but a great improvement had been made in the +working arrangements, and a railway which had involved so much trouble +in the making was eventually found to be of great practical service. +Lieutenant Willans says of it:-- + + The Abyssinian railway was a great success, if one may gauge + it by the amount of assistance it gave to the expedition, by + the celerity and dispatch with which, by its aid, stores were + landed and brought up to the store sheds, and by the rapidity + and ease with which the troops and their baggage were brought + back and re-embarked at once.... + + As an auxiliary to the expedition, and as an additional + means of transport, no one who had anything to do in connection + with it can have doubted its extreme utility. + +Faulty, therefore, as had been the conditions under which the line +was constructed, the results nevertheless established definitely the +principle that, in such campaigns as the one in Abyssinia, military +railways might serve an extremely useful purpose in facilitating the +transport of troops and supplies. + +The Abyssinian experiences did, however, further show the desirability +of any country likely to find itself in a position requiring the +construction of military railways--as an aid to wars small or +great--creating in advance an organisation designed to enable it, as far +as possible, to meet promptly whatever emergency might arise, without +the risk of having to deal with defective material, unsatisfactory +labour, and administrative mismanagement. + +The same lesson was to be enforced by other expeditions in which +England has taken part, and, down to the period when improvements in +our system--or lack of system--began to be effected, there was much +scope for criticism as to the way in which military railways, designed +to facilitate operations undertaken in countries having a lack of +communications, had been either constructed or worked. Writing, in +1882, in the "Professional Papers" of the Royal Engineers (Chatham) on +"Railways for Military Communication in the Field," Col. J. P. Maquay, +R.E., observed in regard to what had been the experiences to that date:-- + + In most of the wars that England has undertaken during + the past thirty years, attempts have been made to construct + railways for the transport of stores and materials from the base + of operations. This base must necessarily be on the sea coast + for a country situated as England is. These railways have not + been successful chiefly because, when war had broken out, such + material was hastily got together as seemed most suitable to + the occasion; and, further, the construction of these lines was + not carried out on any system. It is not surprising, therefore, + that our military railways were never completed in time to be + of much use to the troops they were intended to serve. + + +FRANCO-GERMAN WAR + +In the Franco-German War of 1870-71 the Germans constructed two military +railways--(1) a line, twenty-two miles in length, connecting Remilly, on +the Saarbrück Railway, with Pont à Mousson, on the Metz-Frouard line; +and (2) a loop line, three miles long, passing round the tunnel at +Nanteuil, blown up by the French. + +Special interest attached to these two lines inasmuch as they were the +result of construction work done, not in anticipation of a war, or even +immediately preceding hostilities, but during the course of an active +campaign. In addition to this, they afforded an opportunity for showing +what Prussia could do, under pressure, with the Construction Corps she +had formed in order, among other things, to meet just such contingencies +as those that now arose. + +At the beginning of the war the Prussian General Staff had (according to +Rüstow) assumed that Metz would offer a prolonged resistance, and that +the defenders would be certain to make an attempt to interrupt the rail +communication between Germany and her troops in the field. To meet the +position which might thus be created, it was decided to build from Pont +à Mousson to Remilly a field railway which, avoiding Metz, would link up +at Remilly with the line proceeding thence to Saarbrück, and so ensure +the maintenance of direct rail communication to and from Germany. On +August 14, 1870, the day of the rearguard action at Borny, the survey +and the levelling of the ground were begun, and three days later a start +was made with the construction. Altogether some 4,200 men were employed +on the work, namely, 400 belonging to two Field Railway Companies; 800 +forming four Fortress Pioneer Companies, and about 3,000 miners from the +colliery districts of Saarbrück who had been thrown out of work owing to +the war and accepted employment on the railway. The building corps had +at their disposal a park of 330 wagons and other vehicles, and patrol +and requisition duties were performed for them by a squadron of Cavalry. + +Notwithstanding that so considerable a force was available for the +purpose, the work of building the twenty-two miles of railway took +forty-eight days, the line not being ready for operation until October +4. This was in no way a great achievement, and it did not compare +favourably with much that was done by the Federal Construction Corps +employed in the American War of Secession. It is true that the +irregularities of the ground were such as to render necessary numerous +cuttings and embankments, and that two bridges and two viaducts had +to be provided; but the cuttings were only about 3 feet deep, and the +embankments were only 5 feet high, except near one of the viaducts, +where they were 10 feet high. The viaducts and bridges were of timber, +with spans of about 16 feet. The building of the line was, therefore, in +no way a formidable undertaking, from an engineering point of view. + +Not only, however, did it take over 4,000 men nearly fifty days to make +twenty-two miles of line, but the work had been done in such a way that +when the autumn rains came on the track settled in many places; traffic +on the lines became very dangerous; one of the bridges was washed away +by the floods, and almost as many men had to be put on to do repairs as +had previously been employed for the construction. Traffic of a very +moderate description--each locomotive drawing only four wagons at a +time--was carried on for just twenty-six days, and then, happily for the +engineers concerned, the developments in and around Metz rendered the +line no longer necessary. + +How the restoration of the traffic interrupted through the explosion of +French mines in the tunnel at Nanteuil occupied from September 17 to +November 22 has already been told on page 128. + + +RUSSO-TURKISH WAR + +In the opinion of one English military critic, what short lines were +made in the Franco-German War "were neither so speedily constructed +nor so successful in result as to encourage the idea that lines of any +length could be made during a campaign"; but a different impression +is to be derived from the story of what was accomplished in the same +direction in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. + +Russia planned her campaign against Turkey in the hope and expectation +that it would be short, sharp and decisive. She started her mobilisation +in good time, that is to say, in November, 1876, although she did +not declare war until April 24, 1877. Making the mistake, however, +of despising her foe, she anticipated no serious opposition from the +Turks, but expected, rather, to paralyse them by a rapid advance, have a +triumphal march to Constantinople, secure the desired safeguards for the +Christians in Turkey, and see the war over before the end of the summer. + +One reason why Russia specially desired to bring the campaign to so +early a conclusion lay in the deficient and precarious nature of the +rail communication. Under a convention which had been agreed to with +Rumania on April 16, 1877, Russia was to have a free passage for her +troops through that country. She was, also, to have the use of the +Rumanian railways and of all their transport facilities. But the only +line then running through Rumania was one that went from Galatz, on the +Russo-Rumanian frontier, to Bucharest, and thence (with a branch to +Slatina) to Giurgevo, on the Danube, where it connected with a Bulgarian +line from Rustchuk, on the south of the river, to Varna, the Turkish +base of supplies on the Black Sea. Not only was the Rumanian railway +system thus limited in extent, but the lines had been indifferently +constructed, they were badly maintained, and they had an inadequate +personnel together with an insufficiency both of rolling stock and of +terminal facilities. Still further, the fact that the Russian railways +had a broader gauge than the railways of Rumania (among other European +countries) caused great delay in the transfer, at the frontier, from the +one system to the other, not alone of 200,000 men, but of the 850 field +and 400 siege guns, of the ammunition, and of much other material the +troops required to take with them. The alternative to dependence on the +railway was a resort to roads impassable in wet weather. + +What really caused the Russian plans to miscarry, however, was the +obstinate defence of Plevna by Osman Pasha, who took up his position +there on July 19, subjected the Russians to successive repulses, and did +not capitulate until December 10, the siege costing the Russians 55,000 +men and the Rumanians 10,000. + +When it was realised that the check at Plevna rendered certain a +prolongation of the campaign, Russia set about the construction of +a series of new lines of railway during the course of the war. The +principal lines thus taken in hand were:-- + +1. A line in Russia, from Bender, on the Dniester, to Galatz, +establishing direct communication between the Odessa railways and the +Rumanian frontier, and affording improved facilities for the sending of +reinforcements to the seat of war. + +2. A line from Fratesti, on the Bucharest-Giurgevo Railway, to Simnitza, +the point on the north bank of the Danube where, on the night of June +26-7, the Russians built the bridge which enabled them to cross the +river. + +3. A line from Sistova, on the south side of the Danube, to Tirnova +(Bulgaria), situate about thirty miles south-east of Plevna, and about +twenty-five north of the Shipka Pass. + +Of these three lines the construction of the first, 189 miles in +length, was begun at the end of July, 1877. The original intention +was to build a railway to serve the purposes of the war only; but the +conclusion that ulterior strategical and commercial purposes would +alike be served by linking up Odessa with the Rumanian frontier led +to the building of a railway likely to be of permanent usefulness. +The line was a single-track one, with a sufficient number of stations +and passing places to allow of the running of seven trains in each +direction in the twenty-four hours. The construction, carried out by +contract, involved the building of a number of timber bridges and the +provision of several embankments, one of which was over three miles in +length. Great difficulties were experienced in regard to labour, and +especially by reason of the refusal of the men to work either on Sundays +or on their numerous saints' days. Trains were, nevertheless, running +on the line within 100 days of the construction being started, and this +notwithstanding the fact that the number of actual working days had been +only fifty-eight. Whereas, therefore, the Germans had, in 1870, with the +help of a Construction Corps over 4,000 strong, taken forty-eight days +to build twenty-two miles of railway between Pont à Mousson and Remilly, +the Russians in 1877 built, by contract, 189 miles of railway in just +over double the same period. + +A railway from Fratesti to Simnitza had become indispensable inasmuch +as the main line of communication for the Russian Army could not be +continued for an indefinite period along the forty miles of defective +roads--speedily worn out by the heavy traffic--which separated the +Bucharest-Giurgevo line from the bridge built across the Danube. The +only important earthwork necessary was an embankment a mile and a half +long and fourteen feet high. The bridges to be provided included one +of 420 feet and two of 210 feet each. In this instance the troubles +experienced were due to the difficulty in getting the necessary +materials for the work of construction owing partly to the existing +Rumanian lines being blocked with military traffic, and partly to the +state of the roads and to the use of all available draught horses for +Army transport purposes. There could thus be no great celerity shown in +construction, and the forty miles of railway, begun in the middle of +September, were, in fact, not ready for working until the beginning of +December. + +Like difficulties were experienced, though to a still more acute degree, +in regard to the Sistova-Tirnova line, the length of which was to be +seventy-five miles; and here only the earthworks could be finished +before the end of the campaign. + +What, however, had been accomplished during the time the war was in +progress was (1) the completion of 229 miles of new railway, and the +making of the road-bed for another seventy-five miles, together with the +carrying out of a number of minor railway works; (2) the acquisition, +by purchase in different countries, of 120 locomotives and 2,150 wagons +and trucks, all new, and (3) the provision of a steam railway ferry +across the Danube.[38] + +So the development of the rail-power principle in warfare was +carried still further by this construction, during the course of the +Russo-Turkish conflict, of a greater length of railways, designed for +military use, than had ever been built under like conditions before. +The world gained a fresh lesson as to the importance of the rôle played +by railways in war, and it was offered, also, a striking example of +what could be done in the way of rapidly providing them in a time of +emergency. + +On the other hand it had to be remembered that, of the three railways in +question, the one which included 189 miles out of the total 229 miles +built was constructed on Russian territory where there was no danger of +interruption by the enemy, while the delays which occurred with the two +other lines, owing to the congestion of traffic, under war conditions, +on existing railways depended upon for the supply of materials, seemed +to point (1) to the risk that might, from this cause, be run if the +building of lines necessary or desirable in the interests of some +prospective campaign were left until the outbreak of hostilities, and +(2) to the wisdom of constructing all such lines, as far as necessary +and practicable, in time of peace. + + +THE SUDAN + +If we turn now to the Sudan, we gain examples of military railways +which, designed for the purposes of war, and constructed, in part, +during the progress of active hostilities, first rendered great services +in facilitating the conquest of a vast area, and then developed into a +system of Government railways operated, in turn, for the purposes of +peace, and accomplishing results as conspicuously successful in the +latter direction as they had previously done in the former. + +During the time that Saïd Pasha was Viceroy of Egypt (1854-63) there +was brought forward a scheme for the linking up of Egypt and the Sudan +by means of a single line of railway from Cairo to Khartoum, with a +branch to Massowa, on the Red Sea. It was an ambitious proposal, and, +if it could have been carried into effect, the opening up of the Sudan +to civilisation, by means of an iron road, might have altered the +whole subsequent history of that much-suffering land. But the cost was +regarded as prohibitive, and the scheme was abandoned for a time, to +be revived, however, in a modified form in 1871, when Ismail Pasha was +Khedive. It was then proposed that the line should start at Wady Halfa +and be continued to Matemmeh (Shendy), situate about 100 miles north of +Khartoum--a total distance of 558 miles. In 1875 a beginning was made +with the building of this railway, which was to consist of a single +line, with a gauge of 3 feet 6 inches, and was to be made with 50-lb. +rails and 7-ft. sleepers; but when, in 1877, after an expenditure of +about £400,000, the railway had been carried no farther than Sarras, +thirty-three and a half miles from the starting-point, it was stopped +for lack of funds. + +In the autumn of 1884 the British expedition to Khartoum, where General +Gordon was endeavouring to maintain his position against the Mahdi's +followers, was resolved upon, and it was then decided to extend the +Sudan Railway beyond the point already reached, at Sarras, in order to +facilitate still further the journey of the troops along the valley of +the Nile, which had been selected as the route of the expedition. + +Platelaying for the extension was begun in September by a party of +English and Egyptian infantry and native labourers, afterwards joined +by the 4th Battalion Egyptian Army and the 8th (Railway) Company of the +Royal Engineers. While, however, materials previously stored at Sarras +were found to be still available, the trucks containing rails, etc., +for the extension work had to be pushed by hand from Sarras to railhead +owing to the absence of engines; sleepers were carried on the backs of +camels, of which 300 were employed for the purpose, and the coolie work +was entrusted to 700 native labourers, mainly old men and boys, most +of whom had deserted by the end of October, when further platelaying +was discontinued. By that time the extension works had reached the +thirty-ninth mile, and the line from Sarras to this point was opened on +December 4. + +Following on the fall of Khartoum and the death of Gordon in January, +1885, came the decision to extend the line to Firket (103 miles), in +view of a then projected further campaign in the autumn of that year. +The extension was sanctioned towards the end of February; fifty-two +miles of permanent way were ordered from England; 300 platelayers +and railway mechanics were obtained from India, to supplement the +construction forces already available; and on August 7 the extension was +completed as far as Akasha (87 miles). + +Meanwhile, however, there had been a change of policy which affected +the whole situation. On the return of the expeditionary force to +Korti (situate at the southern extremity of the great Nile bend), the +whole of the country to the south thereof passed under the control of +the Dervishes; and the British Government, reluctant at that time to +enter on the formidable task of reconquest, decided that no further +military operations should be taken in hand, and that the Sudan must be +definitely abandoned. Orders were accordingly given by Lord Wolseley in +May, 1885, for the withdrawal of the troops from all stations south of +Dongola, which itself was abandoned on June 15, the retreat continuing +as far as Akasha. Beyond this point, therefore, platelaying for the +proposed railway extension was not carried, although the formation +levels had been completed to Firket. + +Subsequently the British retreat was continued to Wady Halfa, which then +became the southern frontier of Egypt, the railway extension thence to +Akasha, together with all posts to the south of Wady Halfa, being also +abandoned. + +Excellent service had, nevertheless, been rendered by the railway, as +far as it was carried. + +Operation of the line had been taken over by the 8th (Railway) Company, +R.E., who, at the outset, had at their disposal only five more or less +decrepit locomotives, fifty open trucks, five covered goods vans, and +six brake vans. The troops were conveyed in the open trucks, and by the +end of 1884 all the stores for the opening of the campaign had been +passed up. During the course of 1885 additional locomotives and rolling +stock were obtained from the Cape. + +Summing up the work done on the Sudan Military Railway for the Nile +Expedition of 1884-5, Lieut. M. Nathan, R.E.,[39] says that it included +(1) the repair and maintenance of thirty-three and a half miles of +existing railway; (2) the construction of fifty-three and a half +miles of new line through a nearly waterless desert, with no means of +distributing material except the line itself; (3) the transport, for +the most part with limited and indifferent stock, of about 9,000 troops +round the worst part of the second cataract when going up the river, and +round nearly the whole of it when coming down; and (4) the carriage of +40,000 tons for an average distance of thirty-six and a half miles. + +As against what had thus been achieved in the Nile Valley must be set a +failure on the Red Sea. + +When, on the fall of Khartoum in January, 1885, the British Government +first decided on an extension of the Nile Valley Railway, they further +resolved on the building of a military railway from Suakin to Berber, +on the Nile, in order to have a second line of communication available +for Lord Wolseley's Army; and an Anglo-Indian force was sent to Suakin, +under the command of General Sir Gerald Graham, in order, first, to +defeat the Dervishes in the Eastern Sudan, and then to protect the +construction of the proposed railway. Such a line would obviously have +been of great strategical value to a Nile expeditionary force; but +the attempt to build it broke down owing, in part, to the defective +nature of the organisation resorted to, though still more to the active +opposition of the enemy. + +Sir Andrew Clarke, Inspector-General of Fortifications, had from the +first advocated that the line should be supplied and laid by the +military engineering strength then available; but he was over-ruled, and +the work was given to an English firm of contractors in the expectation, +as Major-General Whitworth Porter tells, in volume two of the "History +of the Corps of Royal Engineers," "that the necessary material would be +supplied more readily, and in shorter time, through civilian agency." +It was, however, decided to send the 10th (Railway) Company of Royal +Engineers both to carry out some local works in the neighbourhood of +Suakin and to assist the contractors in the longer undertaking; and +this military element was strengthened, not only by a force of Indian +coolies, but, also, by the addition of thirty-nine members of Engineer +Volunteer Corps in England who had enlisted for the campaign, all having +had experience in trades qualifying them for railway work.[40] There was +thus practically a dual system, workable, in the opinion of Sir Andrew +Clarke, "only by a species of compromise which was both unscientific and +uneconomical." + +As for interruptions by the Dervishes, these took the form of constant +attacks both on the line under construction and on the workers. Several +actions were fought, and at Tofrik, near Suakin, the British sustained a +serious loss of life. Posts were erected as the work slowly progressed, +and the bullet-proof train mentioned on page 76 was used for patrolling +the line at night; but in face of all the difficulties experienced the +work was definitely abandoned when only twenty miles of the intended +railway had been completed. The troops were recalled in June, 1885, +the railway material not used was brought back to England, and a line +linking up Suakin (and Port Sudan) with Berber, via Atbara Junction, was +not finally opened until 1906. + +Reverting to the Nile Valley Railway, it is gratifying to be able to +say that the success already spoken of as having been attained in this +direction was but a prelude to still more important developments that +were to follow. + +To prevent the carrying out of schemes which the Dervishes were known to +be preparing for an invasion of Egypt, the British Government decided, +early in 1896, to allow Egypt to resume occupation of the country along +the Nile Valley abandoned at the time of the withdrawal in 1885, and +on March 12, 1896, Sir Herbert (now Earl) Kitchener, who had succeeded +to the command of the Egyptian army in 1892, received instructions +to advance to the south from Wady Halfa. Akasha, the point to which +the Nile Valley Railway had been built, was occupied on March 20, the +Dervishes retreating to Firket. + +As a means towards realising the objects of the expedition, Sir Herbert +Kitchener resolved to continue the railway along the Nile Valley to +Kerma; but this meant the construction of practically a new railway, +since the Dervishes had torn up over fifty of the eighty-seven miles of +the original line between Wady Halfa and Akasha, burning the sleepers +and twisting the rails, while the remainder of the line was in such +a condition that it required relaying. The work of construction was +entrusted to a staff of Royal Engineers operating under Lieut. (now +Major-General Sir E. Percy C.) Girouard, and it was pushed forward with +great energy, the line being urgently required for the forwarding of +stores to the front, and especially so on account of the impediments to +navigation along the Nile due to the cataracts. + +With the help of the railway, so far as it had then been restored, Sir +Herbert Kitchener concentrated a force of 9,000 men at Akasha, and +early in June he made a successful advance on Firket. The Dervishes +retired to Dongola; but it was thought prudent, before following them +up, to await a further extension of the railway. This was completed as +far as Kosha, 116 miles from Wady Halfa, by August 4, 1896. Three weeks +later some heavy rains, lasting three days, were the cause of floods +which, in a few hours, destroyed twelve miles of the newly-constructed +line. The repairs were completed in about a week, but in the same month +there was an outbreak of cholera which carried off a large number of the +working staff. + +Utilising the railway as far as Kosha, Sir Herbert Kitchener +concentrated the whole of his force at Fereig, on the north of the +Kaibar cataract, and from thence a further advance was made to Dongola, +which place the Dervishes made no attempt to defend. + +The immediate purpose of the expedition had thus been attained; but, in +the meantime, a further campaign had been resolved upon for the purpose +of breaking down the power of the Khalifa and effecting the conquest +of Khartoum. To this end the railway was continued another hundred +miles, from Kosha to Kerma, which point was reached in May, 1897. Some +216 miles of railway had thus been completed in about thirteen months, +notwithstanding interruptions which had led to very little progress +being made during five months of this period, and notwithstanding, also, +the fact that construction work had to be carried on simultaneously with +the transport of troops and stores so far as the line had been completed. + +Before, however, Kerma was reached, Sir Herbert Kitchener instructed +the staff of the Royal Engineers to make a survey of the Nubian Desert +with a view to seeing whether or not it would be practicable to build +an alternative line of railway across it from Wady Halfa direct to Abu +Hamed (a distance of 232 miles), thus giving a direct route to Khartoum. + +A survey carried out at the end of 1896 showed that the work was not +likely to present any unsurmountable engineering difficulties, and that +the absence of water could be overcome by the sinking of wells. The +only doubtful point was whether construction could be carried through +without interruption by a still active enemy. + +It was seen that the proposed desert line was likely to be of far +greater importance, both strategically and politically, than a +continuation of the Wady Halfa-Kerma line round the remainder of the +Nile bend. The cutting off of this bend altogether would confer a great +advantage on the Expeditionary Force. It was thus resolved to build the +line, to run the risk of attacks by the enemy, and to push construction +forward with the greatest energy. + +A start was made with the work on May 15, 1897, the staff which had +been engaged on the Nile Valley line to Kerma returning to Wady Halfa +in order to take the desert line in hand. By the end of July, 115 of +the 232 miles of line had been completed, and Sir Herbert Kitchener, +utilising the railway which had already been constructed to Kerma, then +sent a force along the Nile Valley to effect the capture of Abu Hamed. +This was accomplished on August 7, and the constructors of the desert +line were thus enabled to resume their work with greater security and +even accelerated speed. Abu Hamed was reached on October 31, 1897, +the two extreme points of the great Nile bend being thus brought into +communication by a direct line of railway. The construction of the +232 miles of track had been accomplished in five and a half months, +notwithstanding the fact that the work was carried on during the hottest +time of the year. An average length of a mile and a quarter of line +was laid per day, while on one day in October a maximum of three and a +quarter miles was attained. So well, too, had the work been done that +trains carrying 200 tons of stores, drawn by engines weighing, without +tender, fifty tons, were taken safely across the desert at a speed of +twenty-five miles per hour. + +From Abu Hamed the line was at once pushed on in the direction of +Berber, and its value from a military point of view was speedily to +be proved. Receiving information, towards the end of 1897, that the +Dervishes were planning an attack on Berber, Sir Herbert Kitchener sent +to Cairo for a Brigade of British troops to join with the Egyptian +forces then at Berber in opposing this advance, and the Brigade arrived +in January, 1898, having travelled by the desert railway not only to Abu +Hamed, but to a point twenty miles farther south, which then constituted +railhead. Early in March the Anglo-Egyptian Army was concentrated +between Berber and the Atbara river, and the battle of Atbara, fought in +the following month, led to the complete annihilation of the forces sent +by the Khalifa to drive the Egyptians out of Berber. + +There was known to be still an army of 50,000 men in Omdurman, at the +command of the Khalifa; but it was considered desirable, before any +further advance was made by the Anglo-Egyptian forces, to await not +only the completion of the railway to the Atbara but the rise, also, of +the Nile, so that the river would be available for the bringing up of +steamers and gunboats to take part in the attack on Omdurman. + +Once more, therefore, Lieut. Girouard and his staff had to make the most +strenuous efforts, and these were again so successful that the line was +carried to the Atbara early in July. It was of the greatest service in +facilitating the concentration of an Anglo-Egyptian Army, 22,000 strong, +at Wad Hamed, and the victory of Omdurman, on September 2, 1898--when +20,000 of the enemy were killed or wounded--followed by the occupation +of Khartoum, meant the overthrow of the Mahdi, the final reconquest of +the Sudan, and the gaining of a further great triumph in the cause of +civilisation. + +In the account of these events which he gives in volume three of the +"History of the Corps of the Royal Engineers," Colonel Sir Charles M. +Watson says concerning this ultimate outcome of a rebellion which had +lasted, altogether, for a period of eighteen years:-- + + Lord Kitchener, of course, by the skill and determination + with which he conducted the operations to a successful + termination, deserves the principal credit for the happy + conclusion of the campaign. But it must not be forgotten that + a large part of the work was carried out by the officers of + the Royal Engineers, especially those who had charge of the + construction and maintenance of that railway without which, it + is fair to say, the campaign could not have been conducted at + all. + +The final triumph was the more gratifying because, although the desert +railway had contributed so materially thereto, dependence upon it had +not been without an element of serious risk which cannot be told better +than in the words of Lord Cromer, in his book on "Modern Egypt":-- + + The interval which elapsed between the occupation of Abu + Hamed and the final advance on Khartoum was a period of much + anxiety. Sir Herbert Kitchener's force depended entirely on + the desert railway for its supplies. I was rather haunted with + the idea that some European adventurer, of the type familiar + in India a century and more ago, might turn up at Khartoum and + advise the Dervishes to make frequent raids across the Nile + below Abu Hamed with a view to cutting the communication of the + Anglo-Egyptian force with Wady Halfa. This was unquestionably + the right military operation to have undertaken; neither, I + think, would it have been very difficult of accomplishment. + Fortunately the Dervishes ... failed to take advantage of the + opportunity presented to them. To myself it was a great relief + when the period of suspense was over. I do not think that the + somewhat perilous position in which Sir Herbert Kitchener's army + was undoubtedly placed for some time was at all realised by the + public in general. + +Within about two months of the battle of Omdurman the plans were made +for a further extension of the railway from Atbara to Khartoum, and +Khartoum North was reached on the last day of 1899. The construction +of a bridge over the Blue Nile subsequently allowed of trains running +direct into Khartoum. + +To-day this same railway has been carried a distance of 430 miles south +of Khartoum. It continues along the Blue Nile to Sennah, where it turns +to the westward, crosses the White Nile at Kosti, and has its terminus +at El Obeid, the capital of Kordofan Province. What this means is that +an enormous expanse of territory has been opened up both to civilisation +and to commercial development. + +Apart from the important gum trade of which El Obeid is the centre, the +Sudan is pre-eminently a pastoral country. The number of its cattle, +sheep and goats is estimated at "several millions"; it has thousands of +square miles available for cotton-growing, already carried on there for +centuries, and it has wide possibilities in other directions, besides; +though stock-raising and cotton cultivation should alone suffice to +ensure for the Sudan a future of great wealth and commercial importance. + +Beyond the districts immediately served by the extension there are +others which are to be brought into touch with the railway, either +direct or via the Nile, by means of a "roads system" linking up towns +and villages with a number of highways extending to all the frontiers of +the Sudan. On these roads and highways motor traction will, it is hoped, +be gradually substituted for transport animals, the troubles caused by +the tsetse fly and other pests being thus avoided. + +The scheme here in question is certainly an ambitious one, considering +that the Sudan covers an area of 1,000,000 square miles, and is equal +in extent to the whole of British India; but already the outlook is +most promising. For twelve years before its rescue from heathenism by +the British and Egyptian forces in 1898, Khartoum, which formerly had +a population of 50,000, was represented by the mass of ruins to which +it had been reduced by order of the Khalifa. To-day it is a large, +beautiful, and well-built city, possessed of a Governor-General's +palace, cathedrals, a mosque, schools, hospitals, hotels, broad streets, +public gardens, boulevards, imposing business premises, a good water +supply, electric light, tramways, ferries, and other essentials of a +capital city of the most progressive type. Khartoum itself has now about +30,000 inhabitants; in Khartoum North, on the other side of the Blue +Nile, there are 20,000, and in Omdurman 70,000, a total of 120,000 for +the three sister cities. Not only, also, have the natives, once living +under the terror of their oppressors, settled down to peaceful pursuits, +but many thousands of immigrants have come into the Sudan from West +Africa (a striking testimony of the confidence felt by native tribes +in the justice and security of British rule), while great expansion +has taken place in the commercial interests of the Sudan and more +especially in the export of cattle and sheep. + +In the bringing about of these developments, affecting the peace and +prosperity of so huge a country and of so many millions of people, +the Sudan Military Railways have played a leading part. They rendered +possible, in the first instance, the conquest of the Sudan, and then +(save for the now abandoned line from Wady Halfa to Kerma) they became, +with their extensions and improvements, the system of "Sudan Government +Railways," having their branches to-day both from Atbara to Port Sudan +and Suakin, on the Red Sea, and from Abu Hamed to Kareima, on the south +side of the great Nile bend, whence there is free communication by water +to the third cataract at Kerma. Concurrently, also, with the carrying +out of the railway extension schemes, and in order to make greater +provision for the prospective increase of traffic, 460 miles of the line +north of Khartoum were relaid with 75-lb. rails, in place of the 50-lb. +rails originally used, and the whole of the track from Khartoum to El +Obeid was also laid with the heavier rails. + +So we are enabled to regard military railways from still another point +of view--that, namely, in which they may develop into lines of permanent +communication and promote the blessings of peace and security no less +than afford unquestionable advantages in the prosecution of war. Other +examples of a similar kind might be offered from the history of British +rule in Africa; but the record of what has been accomplished in the +Sudan may suffice to establish the further claim here presented as to +the varied purposes that military railways may serve. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[36] See lecture by Capt. C. E. Luard, R.E., on "Field Railways and +their general application in war." Journal of the Royal United Service +Institution, vol. xvii, 1873. + +[37] "The Abyssinian Railway." By Lieut. Willans, R.E. Papers on +Subjects Connected with the Duties of the Corps of Royal Engineers. New +Series. Vol. xviii. 1870. + +[38] "The Construction of Military Railways during the Russo-Turkish +War of 1877-8." By Captain M. T. Sale, R.E. Journal of the Royal United +Service Institution, vol. xxiv, 1881. "De la Construction des Chemins de +Fer en temps de guerre. Lignes construites par l'armée russe pendant la +campagne 1877-78." Par M. P. Lessar, Ingénieur du Gouvernement russe. +Traduit du russe par M. L. Avril. Paris, 1879. + +[39] "The Sudan Military Railway." By Lieut. M. Nathan, R.E. +"Professional Papers of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Occasional +Papers," vol. xi, 1885. + +[40] In his dispatch of May 30, 1885, Sir Gerald Graham said concerning +these Volunteers: "Their services would have been of great value had +the campaign lasted longer. As it was the Volunteers worked well with +their comrades of the Royal Engineers.... It may be considered the first +experiment in associating the Volunteer force with a combatant branch of +the Regular Army on active service." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +RAILWAYS IN THE BOER WAR + + +The South African campaign of 1899-1902 afforded to Great Britain and +to British Imperial interests their greatest, most instructive, and, +also, their most anxious experiences, down to that time, not only of +the services railways can render in the conduct of war, but of the +difficulties and complications which may result from their employment, +and especially from dependence on them for the purposes of military +transport; though, in the result, the services so rendered were a +material factor in the success by which the military operations carried +out by the British forces were crowned. + +When the Boers declared war in October, 1899, the various railway +systems, working in direct communication with one another, in South +Africa, had a total length of 4,268 miles, namely, British South Africa, +3,267; the Transvaal, 918; the Orange Free State, 388; and in Portuguese +territory, 55. These railways consisted of single-track, narrow-gauge +lines (3 feet 6 inches), never designed for such heavy traffic as the +transport of an army and all its impedimenta would involve; but it was +obvious from the first that they must needs play a part of paramount +importance in the campaign. Independently of all that was involved in +the conveyance of troops, munitions, supplies, etc., from England to the +Cape, there was the consideration that from Cape Town, the principal +base of our forces, to Pretoria, their eventual objective, the distance +was 1,040 miles. From Port Elizabeth it was 740 miles, and from Durban +511 miles. Journeys such as these could be made only by rail, and +there was seen to be an imperative need, not only for the railways +themselves, but for an organisation which would, among other things, +superintend military rail-transport in order to ensure efficiency in +the movement of troops, stores, etc., and, also, provide for the speedy +repair or rebuilding of damaged lines as well as for the operation of +lines taken possession of in the captured territory. + +In view of the uncertainty of events in the Transvaal, and as a +precautionary measure, the 8th (Railway) Company, Royal Engineers, was +sent out to the Cape in July, 1899; and when, subsequently, the dispatch +of an Army Corps was being arranged by the British Government, it was +decided to create a _Department of Military Railways_, of which Major +Girouard, R.E. (now Major-General Sir E. Percy C. Girouard, K.C.M.G.), +who had rendered such valuable services in connection with military +railways in the Sudan, and was then President of the Egyptian Railway +Administration, was put in charge as "Director of Railways for the South +African Field Force." A number of other Royal Engineer officers who had +had experience of railway work in India and other parts of the British +Empire were selected to serve as Assistant Directors or staff officers +in various capacities, and the 10th (Railway) Company, Royal Engineers, +with the 6th, 20th, 31st and 42nd Fortress Companies, were sent to join +the 8th (Railway) Company in the carrying out of railway work. + + +ORGANISATION AND CONTROL + +The creation of this Department of Military Railways for South Africa +carried still further the development of those questions of organisation +and control which, as we have seen, had already raised important issues +in the United States, in Germany, and in France. + +According to the official "History of the War in South Africa, +1899-1902," the Director and his staff were (1) to be the intermediaries +between the Army and the technical working administration of the +railway; (2) to see that the ordinary working of the railway was carried +on in such a manner as to ensure the greatest military efficiency; +and (3) to satisfy the demands of the Army on the railway without +disorganising the working of the railway system as a whole. + +"In war," the official "History" further declares, "these services are +essential, for the officers of a civil railway administration cannot +discriminate between the demands of the various branches and departments +of the Army, or class them in the order of urgency." This is perfectly +true of the civil railway administration, and it is only what could be +expected of railwaymen who, while competent to discharge their ordinary +railway duties, might not be well versed in military matters, and ought +not to be left with the responsibility of deciding between the possibly +conflicting orders of different military commanders. + +All the same, there was another side to the question; and this is dealt +with by Sir Percy Girouard in his "History of the Railways during the +War in South Africa," wherein he says, in regard to rail transport +conditions in time of war:-- + + Military commanders who have not previously studied the + working of a railway attempt to seize and work the portion of + line nearest to them, regardless of the remainder of the system. + They often look upon trucks as another form of commissariat + wagon which may be kept loaded for an indefinite period. They + expect trains to stop and off-load, or load, on the main line. + They like to have a number of trains ready, either loaded or + unloaded, in case they should be required. They are apt to + give orders for large entrainments and detrainments to be + carried out at any part of the line, regardless of the railway + facilities at that point, although perhaps a suitable place is + within reasonable distance. Frequently they have been known + to countermand their orders for entrainments, heedless of the + fact that, once arrangements have been made to concentrate + rolling stock on a certain place, it takes time to alter these + arrangements, and is sure to cause confusion. Many of them + expect railway accommodation for troops to be on a liberal + scale, and consider that there is no necessity, when close to a + railway, to make any effort to cut down baggage and stores.... + + Commandants of posts on the line, which are very often + placed at railway stations, are inclined to think that, because + they are called "station commandants," it means that they are + in charge of the railway station, and can give orders to railway + officials as to traffic and other matters.... + + Civil railway officials have been heard to say that attacks + by the enemy are not nearly so disturbing to traffic as the + arrival of a friendly General with his force. + +It was under these circumstances that Sir Percy Girouard saw from the +first the necessity for having in South Africa, for the duration of +the war, a staff of officers whose business it would be, as he himself +defines their duties, (_a_) to keep the military commanders fully +informed of the capacity and possibilities of the railway, and to convey +their orders and requests to the civil railway staff; and (_b_) to +protect the civil railway administration from interference by military +commanders and commandants of posts; in fact, to act as intermediaries +between the army and the civil railway officials. + +In arriving at this conclusion Sir Percy was especially impressed by +the rail transport experiences of France in her war with Prussia in +1870-1; and in his Report he gives a digest of Jacqmin's facts and +recommendations by way of further justifying the step that he himself +took. He thought it absolutely necessary that the staff of the Director +of Railways should be paramount on the railway, and that no officer +should be able to give any orders to railway staff officers or other +railway officials unless fighting was actually proceeding at that spot. +"This," he adds, "was the system adopted with great success by the +Germans, the want of which caused such chaos on the French railways, and +the correctness of which has been entirely established by the experience +of this war. It is not too much to say that, unless it had been adopted +in South Africa, the chaos would have been past belief." + +The _Military Railway Controlling-Staff_ created, in accordance with +these principles and policy, to co-operate with the technical working +staff under the Director of Railways, was constituted as follows:-- + +I. An _Assistant-Director of Railways_ for Cape Colony, who was on +the staff both of the Director of Railways and on that of the General +Officer Commanding Lines of Communication, Cape Colony. His business +it was to co-operate with the General Traffic Manager of the Cape +Government Railway, in whose office he was given accommodation. In +this dual capacity it was his duty to inform both the General Officer +Commanding and the Director as to the traffic capacities of the +railways; to take the orders of the G.O.C. while advising him as to the +best method of carrying them out; to inform the railway officials what +was required, and, Sir Percy adds, in giving these details, "to protect +them from interference by unauthorised military officers." It was the +duty, also, of the Assistant-Director to see that proper regulations +were issued to the Army for (_a_) the efficient conduct of entrainments +and detrainments; (_b_) the forwarding of stores, and (_c_) the keeping +of financial accounts in respect to the use made of the lines for +military purposes. As between the General Officer Commanding and the +Chief Traffic Manager, the Assistant-Director of Railways was the sole +channel of communication. + +II. Four _Deputy-Assistant-Directors_, undertaking similar duties over +particular sections of the railway system. + +III. _Railway Staff Officers_, located at leading stations to +superintend all important movements, and constituting the only means of +communication between the Army and the stationmasters. The latter were +to take orders in respect to military requirements from no one else, +and were, in turn, to be protected by the railway staff officers from +interference with by other officers having no authority to give them +direct orders. + +The defective step in the scheme, as originally planned, was in respect +to the railway staff officers, who, of all those constituting the +Military Railway Controlling Staff, were, under Army Regulations, on +the staff of officers commanding lines of communication and thus not +controlled by the Director of Railways. The officers in question, though +charged with the duty of looking after entrainments, detrainments, etc., +were in no way to interfere with the railway staff in the shunting +or marshalling of trains or in regard to the traffic arrangements +generally. For this reason the framers of the Army Regulations had +assumed that there was no need for the railway staff officers to have +any knowledge of railway operation, or to be under the control of others +who did possess such knowledge. + +After the annexation of the Orange Free State railways, the Chief +of the Staff agreed that the railway staff officers in that State +should be under the orders of the Director of Railways through his +Deputy-Assistant-Directors; and a like course was adopted shortly +afterwards in respect to the railway staff officers in Cape Colony. In +this way an undivided chain of responsibility was secured, affording +a much greater guarantee of efficiency alike in control and in actual +operation. + +Concerning the Deputy-Assistant-Directors, Sir Percy Girouard says +they were found to be of great benefit to the railway officials, who +appreciated their work and laboured in hearty co-operation with them; +though they experienced difficulty in establishing their position with +the Generals and Staff officers, to whom the arrangement was an entire +novelty, and one they did not at first understand. + +In the first instance the principle of military control applied +specially to the lines in Cape Colony, those in Natal being still +operated by the Natal Government Railway Department, with certain +assistance in the matter of repairs; though after eighteen months of +war, the military transport system first established in Cape Colony +became uniform throughout British South Africa. + + +TRANSPORT CONDITIONS + +The need for the elaborate organisation thus brought into existence was +all the greater because of the difficulties by which those responsible +for the conduct of military transport were faced. + +In November, 1899, considerable portions of the lines both in Cape +Colony and in Natal were in the possession of the Boers, so that, beyond +a certain distance, the British would have to fight for every mile +of railway before they could make use of it. After, also, regaining +possession of the lines on British territory controlled by the Boers, +they would require first to capture and then to operate those on the +enemy's territory; and in each case they would have to be prepared to +repair the damage the enemy would be certain to do to the lines in order +to prevent their use by the advancing forces. Meanwhile the traffic +must be kept open, as far as possible, for the conveyance of troops and +stores to the theatre of war and for the carrying out of such strategic +movements as the requirements of the military situation might render +necessary, adequate protection of the lines being meanwhile assured. +There were, in fact, occasions when the whole issue of the campaign +seemed to turn upon the question as to whether or not the British could +either secure possession of the railways or, alternatively, repair them +as fast, more or less, as the enemy could demolish them. + +Although, again, so elaborate a system of organisation had been +arranged, there was much that required to be done to adapt it to the +conditions of African warfare. Initial mistakes had to be remedied; +old evils reappeared in new forms; regulations had to be made or +modified according to experiences gained; and, while there was at no +time any general failure of transport, there certainly were partial +failures. Not only was there an inadequate supply of trucks, partly +because of the considerable number in the Boer States at the time of +the declaration of war and partly because of the number locked up in +Kimberley and Mafeking, but trucks were kept loaded when they should +have been promptly unloaded and released for service elsewhere; lines +were seriously blocked at critical moments by these loaded trucks, while +chaos in certain large troop movements was only avoided owing to the +control of Cape Town facilities by the Director's staff and to the fact +that the Deputy-Assistant-Directors of Railways were enabled to have +special officers at all important points. + + +HOW THE SYSTEM WORKED + +As regards the _operation of the railways_ during the war Sir Percy +Girouard says:-- + + Although not, perhaps, so much a matter of railway as of + general staff administration, a word should be said as to the + methods whereby the very limited resources of the single line of + railway communication were allotted to ensure an equal attention + to the requirements of the Army as a whole. + + The allocation of railway facilities was reserved strictly + to the Chief of Staff, without whose order, in each case, + nothing could pass by rail towards the front. The number of + trains, or, more accurately, the number of trucks which could + be hauled daily in the "up" direction, being communicated by + the railway authorities to Lord Kitchener, he placed a number, + liable to vary from day to day, at the disposal of the supply + and remount departments, either generally for the maintenance of + their depôts or for specific traffic. + + The number reserved for hospital, ordnance, engineer and + special stores was even more closely calculated, and the demands + of these departments had to be submitted for approval in the + utmost detail. All authorisations were passed to the railway + representatives at Headquarters, whose business it was to + notify when the total of such orders outstanding for dispatch + from the advanced base was exceeding the accommodation which + could be provided within a reasonable time under the scheme of + proportion in force for the time being. In such case the issue + of permits fell temporarily into abeyance, or the outstanding + list was revised to accord with the necessities of the moment. + No truck could be loaded and no troops dispatched by rail + without such authority, with the single exception of details + and small parties, who were invariably made to travel upon + the loaded supply trucks. Proposed troop movements by rail + requiring separate accommodation had to be carefully considered + in view of the supply traffic they would displace, and, when + time permitted, were generally made by road. It was this system + alone which co-ordinated the railway requirements of the various + departments and did so much to falsify previously accepted + figures as to the limits of the fighting force which could be + maintained by a single line of railway. + + +THE IMPERIAL MILITARY RAILWAYS + +Following the questions which arose as to the working of railways on +British territory within the sphere of the military operations came +those concerning the _railways taken from the enemy_ in the Boer States, +and converted into a system of Imperial Military Railways for which the +Department also became responsible. + +The occupation of Bloemfontein led to that place becoming the base of +supplies for an army of 35,000 men, likely to increase to 100,000, while +eventually the Imperial Military Railways included 1,130 miles of line. +Efficient operation thus became a matter of grave importance, and the +task to be accomplished was one of considerable magnitude, especially +considering that a staff for the working of the system had to be +created. In the traffic and locomotive departments alone no fewer than +3,000 white workers were needed. + +Many of the employés of the Netherlands Railway Company were kept on, +even at the risk of their showing hostility to the British; but the +number who thus made themselves available was quite inadequate, even +if they could all have been trusted. The Cape Government Railways were +drawn on to the fullest possible extent for workers; the Railway and +the Fortress Companies of the Royal Engineers in South Africa were +employed in operating the lines; railwaymen in the Special Railway +Reserve in England were sent for, and, of the remaining posts, from +800 to 1,000 were filled--the approval of the Commander-in-Chief being +first obtained--by inviting soldiers and reservists serving in the Army +who had had experience of railway work in civil life to join the staff +of the Imperial Military Railways, pay at Royal Engineer rates being +guaranteed to them. Positions of the least importance were filled by +men who had had no previous railway experience at all. Railway staff +officers were also obtained mainly from among the troops; though many +even of these, being unfamiliar with the details of railway operation, +had to be taught their special duties before they could attempt to +discharge them. + +On September 30, 1900, the staff employed on the Imperial Military +Railways comprised close on 18,000 officers and men. From the time these +railways were brought under the control of the British forces to August +31, 1900, they carried 177,000 passengers, 86,000 animals, and 520,000 +tons of goods. + +As the moral to be drawn from his experiences in having to create, under +circumstances of exceptional difficulty, a staff for the operation of +railways captured from the enemy, Sir Percy Girouard says:-- + + The South African campaign has fully shown the necessity of + having a number of traffic employés registered in peace time, + who are paid a small retaining fee which will render them liable + to be called out in case of war at home or abroad. The want of + this system forced the Director of Railways in South Africa to + employ a large number of men who had been employed by the enemy, + and who could not be relied on, and also to withdraw from the + fighting-line a large number of soldiers with railway experience + prior to enlistment; and he was compelled to work the railways + with this heterogeneous mass of individuals whose qualifications + were unknown. The amount of correspondence entailed over + conditions of service, pay, transfer, etc., of all these men, + coming from different parts of South Africa and from different + units, was tremendous. The registration system would also + arrange for the men on the railways being subject to Military + Law, the necessity for which has been clearly proved. + + +REPAIR OF RAILWAYS + +Whilst all these arrangements in regard to operation and transport +were thus being perfected, the need had arisen for an equally complete +organisation in another direction, that, namely, of providing for the +_repair or restoration of railway lines_ damaged or destroyed by the +enemy. + +Since the American Civil War the art of railway demolition had +made considerable advance by reason of the use for this purpose of +dynamite--an agency which was now to be employed very freely by the +Boers. With dynamite they easily blew up the bridges, or material +portions thereof; they destroyed the track for considerable distances +by the simple process of exploding dynamite cartridges under alternate +rail-joints; they wrecked culverts, pumps and water tanks, and they +effectively damaged locomotives which they had not time or opportunity +to remove. Then, among other things, they derailed engines and trucks +by means of mines; they caused obstructions by throwing down into the +railway cuttings boulders of up to two or three tons in weight; they cut +telegraph lines; they removed or smashed up instruments and batteries at +railway stations; they wrecked the stations; they burned many railway +trucks, or otherwise rendered them useless; they set fire to stacks of +fuel, and, when dynamite cartridges were not available, they deprived +the locomotives of their vital parts and tore up considerable lengths of +rails. + +By December, 1899, it had become evident that the Railway Companies +and the Fortress Companies of the Royal Engineers, sent out to the +Cape and brought up to their fullest strength, would be unequal to the +requirements of the prospective situation. The Railway Corps thus formed +was, accordingly, augmented by a Railway Pioneer Regiment, composed of +miners, artisans and labourers who had been employed at Cape Town or +Johannesburg, volunteers from the ranks of the Army (preference being +given to those already possessed of experience in railway work), and +employés of the Orange Free State Railway. Some Field Railway Sections, +created to form the nucleus of a staff to take over the working of +railways in the enemy's country became construction parties, doing +repairs only, and having no control of traffic except at railhead. In +addition to all these, a large number of natives were engaged through +Native Labour Depôts opened at De Aar, Bloemfontein and Johannesburg, +the number so employed at any one time attaining a maximum of about +20,000. + +It was in the Orange Free State and the Transvaal that the Boers +displayed their greatest activity in the way of railway destruction. +At Norval's Pont and Bethulie they broke down the bridges crossing the +Orange River, which divided Cape Colony from the Orange Free State. +Before leaving Bloemfontein (occupied by the British March 13, 1900), +they destroyed all the bridges and all the culverts on the railway in +their rear; they blew up miles of the permanent way, and they left the +railway itself an almost complete wreck. North of Bloemfontein they +pursued similar tactics along 180 miles of track, on which they wrecked +more or less completely no fewer than fifty bridges, including the one +over the Vaal River--a high structure with seven spans each of 130 feet. +No sooner, too, had the line been reopened as far as Johannesburg than +Commandant De Wet made a raid on it and undid all that the repairing +parties had done over a length of thirty miles. Speedily following the +re-establishing of rail communication with Pretoria, the Boers began +a fresh series of guerilla attacks on the lines both in the Transvaal +and in the Orange Free State; and they continued these attacks for +months--until, in fact, their power for doing further mischief had been +finally checked. + +In carrying out repairs and reconstruction work of such vital importance +to the advance and security of the British forces, the policy adopted +by the Director of Railways was that of employing Royal Engineers to do +rapid temporary repairs--with a view to having a line of some sort made +available with the least possible delay--and leaving permanent or even +semi-permanent repairs to the Railway Pioneer Regiment. At convenient +sidings on the railways throughout the theatre of war _construction +trains_ were stationed in charge of permanent-way inspectors and +sections of Royal Engineers who had at their disposal, at each of such +sidings, a gang of men--whites and natives--varying in number from 300 +to 1,000, according to circumstances. Infantry working-parties were also +obtained wherever possible. + +Gangers began a patrol of the lines at dawn. Information as to any +break or alarm was communicated to the nearest military post and +telegraphed to the Deputy-Superintendent of Works, who thereupon ordered +the dispatch of a construction train to the scene of any reported or +prospective break without waiting for confirmation of the news received +or of the suspicions aroused. + +This well-organised system operated to great advantage. At 2.30 +a.m. on January 1, 1901, for instance, information reached the +Deputy-Superintendent of Works at Bloemfontein that a break of the line +had occurred at Wolvehoek, sixty-three miles distant. The construction +train was instantly dispatched, and the repairs were completed by 8 +a.m. Rail communication with Johannesburg, notwithstanding the great +amount of destruction done by the Boers, was restored within eleven +days of the arrival of Lord Roberts at that place. It was restored to +Pretoria within sixteen days of the occupation thereof by our troops. On +the western side, where the enemy had been no less active than in the +Orange Free State, rail communication was reopened within thirteen days +of the relief of Mafeking. + +In the official report on Field Transport in the South African War, it +is said in regard to the Railways Department:-- + + All temporary repairs in the Cape Colony, Transvaal, and + Orange River Colony were carried out, with a few exceptions, + by the military railway staff. Up to 31 October, 1900, these + temporary repairs included the restoration of seventy-five + bridges, ninety-four culverts, and 37 miles of line. A detail + of the general advance from Bloemfontein to Johannesburg, a + distance of 265 miles, will give some idea of the expedition + with which repairs were affected. The period during which the + advance was being made was from 3 May to 11 June, 1900, in which + space of time the following temporary repairs were executed: + Twenty-seven bridges, forty-one culverts, 10 miles of line, + including seven deviations, varying in length from 200 yards to + 2 miles. + + From 6 June to 15 November, 1900, the Imperial Military + Railways were more or less seriously damaged by the enemy on 115 + occasions, but all such damages were promptly repaired, and did + not materially affect the working of the railways, except that + the running of trains after dark had to be suspended. During the + same period fully 60 per cent. of damaged bridges and culverts + were permanently or semi-permanently repaired. + +Of _bridges_, over 200, with spans ranging from nine feet to 130 feet, +were destroyed wholly or in part during the progress of the war; but +even here the speedy restoration of traffic did not, as a rule, present +any very grave difficulty. The course generally adopted, as one suited +to South African conditions, was, not to start at once on the repair +of the damaged bridge, but, in order to meet the exigencies of the +moment, to construct a diversion or deviation line alongside, with small +low-level bridges on piers, built of sleepers and rails.[41] These +deviation lines offered great disadvantages by reason of their sharp +curves, their steep approaches and their liability to be washed away in +wet weather. The building even of temporary bridges across deep rivers +having a considerable volume of water also caused inevitable delays. +But the lines in question served their purpose until the reconstruction +of the damaged bridges--taken in hand as speedily as possible--could +be effected. Anticipating the needs for this more permanent work, the +Director of Railways had arranged before leaving England for a supply +of girders, similar to those in use in South Africa, to be sent out, +together with sufficient timber, of useful dimensions, to rebuild the +whole of the railway bridges in the Orange Free State, should it become +necessary so to do--as, in point of fact, it did. Of new rails he had +available, at one time, a total length of 300 miles. + +By October, 1900, the makeshift repairs completed on all the lines +taken from the enemy were being gradually converted into permanent or +semi-permanent reconstruction by the Works Department of the Imperial +Military Railways; but the continuous guerilla raids of the enemy still +made it impossible to run trains by night. These conditions led to a +resort to the system of _blockhouses_ which, first constructed for the +defence of railway bridges in Natal during the advance for the relief +of Ladysmith, and used extensively when Lord Roberts marched from +Bloemfontein into the Transvaal, leaving a long track of railway lines +behind him, were subsequently so far extended that the whole of the +railway lines in the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony were provided +with them.[42] So well did they answer the purpose that by April, 1901, +the worst of the trouble involved in maintaining railway communications +was over, although another year was to elapse before peace was restored. + + +MILITARY TRAFFIC + +An especially remarkable achievement with which, under the various +conditions here narrated, the Department of Military Railways is to be +credited was in connection with the concentration of the force with +which Lord Roberts marched from the Modder River to Bloemfontein. The +movement began on January 21, 1900, by which time the repairs of the +lines had been completed, and within three weeks no fewer than 20,000 +men, 13,590 horses and over 24,000 tons of stores had been conveyed over +a single line of railway. + +Taking the sum total of the military traffic carried on the Cape +Government and the Natal Government Railways respectively during the war +period, we get the following substantial figures:-- + +Cape Government Railways, from October 1, 1899, to March 31, +1901:--Officers, men, and other passengers, 1,247,000; supplies, etc., +1,058,000 tons; horses and other live stock, 540,321, besides many +wagons and guns. + +Natal Government Railways:--Officers, men, prisoners of war, sick and +wounded, women and children (including Boer refugees), natives and +Indians, 522,186; baggage and stores, supplies, hay, forage, etc., +861,000 tons; ammunition, 9,784 boxes; guns, 454; vehicles, 6,430; +pontoons, 48; traction engines, 84; horses and other live stock, 399,000. + + +MISCELLANEOUS SERVICES + +The figures here given as to the military traffic carried do not +represent the full extent of the work that was done by the South African +railways during the course of the war. One must also take into account +the wide variety of subsidiary services rendered, and these are the +more deserving of attention because they show, more than had, perhaps, +been the case in any previous war, that railways can afford valuable +aid in the conduct of a campaign apart from the achievement of their +fundamental purpose in the transport of men and matériel. + +If we look atthe list of services rendered by the Natal Government +Railways we find that the Railway Department--in addition to the +transport work represented by the above figures--adapted six armoured +trains; prepared special carriages for the 6 in. and 4·7 in. guns; +adapted and equipped three hospital trains, withdrawing for this +purpose fully a quarter of the most serviceable carriage stock from +the ordinary traffic; wired and lamped the hospitals at four different +centres, supplying them, also, with electric current; mounted the +electric search-light apparatus with engine, dynamo, etc.; supplied +30,000 troops at Colenso with water; found the plant and fuel at +Ladysmith for condensing water from the Klip River for 20,000 persons +during the four months' siege; allotted and arranged a portion of the +goods-shed as the Base Medical Stores at Durban, and fitted up vans to +follow the army with reserve medical supplies. + +The Department's Engineering Staff speedily restored, or temporarily +provided--either on the Natal system or along 100 miles of the Transvaal +railways, when these passed under control of the British forces--72 +bridges and culverts, varying in length from 10 to 600 feet; 32 +different portions of permanent way; and many water tanks, etc. The +Engineering Staff also effected in seven days a clearance through the +Lang's Nek Tunnel, blown in by the Boers, and constructed several miles +of new lines, sidings and deviations. + +The Natal Railway Pioneer Staff advanced with General Buller and worked +the Netherlands Railway as far as Greylingstad, 100 miles beyond +Charlestown (the point of traffic exchange with the Transvaal system), +until the line was taken over by the Imperial authorities on August 15, +1900. + +"For nearly six months, up to the relief of Ladysmith," says Mr. C. W. +Francis Harrison, from whose official work on "Natal"[43] these details +are mainly taken, "the Natal lines were robbed of about 40 per cent. of +their total mileage and a quantity of their stock. On the clearance of +the enemy from Natal and the south-eastern portion of the Transvaal, +large supply depôts were formed at Newcastle, Volksrust, Standerton and +intermediate points; and on the joining of the two main portions of the +British army at Heidelberg, the greater portion of the stores for the +forces was conveyed via Natal; and this continued unceasingly until the +termination of hostilities." + + +ARMOURED TRAINS + +It was, again, in the South African war that armoured trains underwent +their greatest development--down to that time--for the purposes alike +of line protection and of attack on the enemy, although their real +usefulness and the conditions necessary to their efficient operation +were not established until after certain early experiences which had +tended to throw doubts upon their efficiency, and had even led to their +being regarded as of little or no account for the purposes of war. + +In view of prospective requirements, five armoured trains had been +constructed in advance in the locomotive shops at Cape Town and another +at Natal. Others were put together shortly afterwards; but one of the +Cape trains was wrecked by the Boers the first night of the war, and +two of the Natal trains were locked up in Ladysmith. The remainder +were employed on scouting expeditions during the earlier phases of the +war. Their use not being then rightly understood, they were often sent +considerable distances without any support, with the result that one of +the Natal trains was destroyed by the Boers at Chieveley, on November +15, 1899, and the Cape trains had several narrow escapes of sharing the +same fate. + +On the occupation of Bloemfontein by the British, more armoured trains +were constructed at the railway workshops there, and eventually the +number available was increased to a fleet of twenty. Under an improved +system of control and operation, and converted, by the addition of guns, +into what were virtually batteries on wheels, the trains came to be +regarded as offering possibilities of much practical usefulness. + +In a lecture on "Railways in War," delivered by him at the Royal +Engineers' Institute, Chatham, and reported in the "Royal Engineers +Journal" for July, 1905, Sir Percy Girouard, said:-- + + The South African War at one time threatened to produce + a siege, that of Pretoria, where fairly modern forts with + modern armaments were known to exist. At the same time the + enemy at Modder River were giving us some trouble with their + heavy artillery. The Navy came to our rescue with heavy B.L. + guns mounted on wheels. With a view to trying the use of the + railway itself, it was pointed out that the railway department + had both the shops and the goodwill to mount heavy guns, if + required. This offer was approved, and in a few weeks the two + heaviest siege guns ever seen in the field were made ready. + The carriages, designed by the combined wit of the machinery + officers and the Chief Locomotive Superintendent of the Cape + Government Railway, were most creditable achievements, old + engine and tender frames being used as a foundation. The guns + mounted were a 6-inch B.L., and no less a monster than a 9·2 + inch B.L. The 6-inch went into action at Modder River. It + was deemed unsafe to fix it at an angle of more than sixteen + degrees to either side of the centre line of the railway; but + by placing it on a so-called firing curve a wider field of fire + was secured. The gun behaved exceedingly well in every way; and + later on it was fired at right angles to the railway, without + any damage either to itself or to the line. + +The 9·2-inch gun gave good results in its trials, but, although it was +run up to Pretoria on its truck, there was no opportunity of firing it +on the enemy. + +Sir Percy says in his "History" that-- + + The experiments demonstrated the possibility of big guns + being used in siege operations without any difficulty, the only + limit to the size of the gun being the weight which the railway + bridges will stand. + +Apart from the powers of usefulness offered by these batteries on +wheels, there arose, in the early days of the war, the further question +whether the usefulness of armoured trains proper might not be marred as +the result of a defective system of control. + +At the outset the trains were placed entirely under the orders of +officers commanding sections of the line; but the arrangement was found +unsatisfactory as the trains were constantly being rushed out regardless +of Traffic Department regulations, and sometimes without even a "line +clear" message. Having, also, the trains at their disposal, as they +considered officers commanding sections of the line often made use of +them to inspect posts between stations, other traffic being stopped +while the inspections were being made. On one occasion, when a large mob +of cattle was being sent to Pretoria and there were no mounted troops +available to convoy them, the expedient was resorted to of employing an +armoured train for the purpose. The train had to adapt its speed to the +rate of progress of the cattle alongside, and such was the interference +with other traffic that the entire length of railway on the Delagoa +main line was blocked until the cattle had reached their destination. +In fact, instead of assisting traffic by preventing the enemy from +interrupting it, the armoured trains caused, Sir Percy Girouard +declares, "more interruptions than the enemy themselves." + +With a view both to meet these particular difficulties and to ensure +a better use of the trains, there was appointed an Assistant-Director +of Armoured Trains who was placed on the staff both of the +Commander-in-Chief and of the Director of Railways and had under his +control all the armoured trains in South Africa. Captain H. C. Nanton, +R.E., the officer so appointed, had practical acquaintance alike with +railway requirements and regulations and with armoured trains. In touch +with Headquarters, and kept informed as to which portions of the line +were most threatened by the enemy, it became his duty to order where +the trains should be sent. Once despatched to a particular section of +the line, an armoured train was to be under the control of the General +or other officer commanding that section. The Assistant-Director +had power to remove it, however, if he thought it was more urgently +required elsewhere. It was his duty, also, to work in harmony with +the officers in question; but they, in turn, were not to use as a +private conveyance the train sent to them, and they were not to alter +its garrison or equipment, or to give orders to the officer in charge +which were contrary to the spirit of the general instructions. The +Assistant-Director was himself required to instruct officers in command +of the trains as to the proper tactics to adopt, the best methods +of patrolling, etc., and to see that they "worked in harmony with +the railway officials, and were an assistance and not a hindrance to +traffic." + +These improved conditions led to a recognised system for the employment +of armoured trains, the purposes and duties of which were eventually +defined as follows[44]:-- + +1. In conjunction with columns in the field, to intercept the enemy whom +the columns were driving on to the line. + +2. To act on the flank of a column or line of columns, the train being +well advanced so as to prevent the enemy breaking to that flank. + +3. To reinforce stations and camps on the railway which were threatened +by the enemy. + +4. To escort ordinary traffic trains. + +5. To reconnoitre. + +6. To patrol by day and night. + +7. To protect traffic routes generally. + +The garrison of an armoured train consisted of an Infantry escort and +Royal Artillery and Royal Engineer detachments. The R.E. detachment +consisted of one N.C.O. and six sappers skilled in railway repairing +work and in re-setting derailed engines and trucks; two telegraph +linesmen; one telegraph clerk; two engine-drivers and two firemen. +When the train was engaged, all counted as effective rifles with the +exception of the driver and firemen on the footplate, and even they +carried rifles in their engine cab for use against an enemy endeavouring +to gain possession of the engine. + +Responsibility for the efficiency of the garrisons was placed upon the +Assistant-Director of Armoured Trains. Whenever, also, a concentration +of the trains had been decided upon, he was to attach himself to one of +them, and take charge of the concerted action of the whole. + +In reference to the operation of the trains Captain M. H. Grant +writes[45]:-- + + It was important that the officer commanding the train + should be a man of judgment and strong nerve. He was often + called upon to act on his own responsibility. His strong + armament and defences enabled him to attack superior forces. + Yet his vulnerable points were many. He had ever to be alert + that the enemy did not cut the line behind him. In addition + to his visible foes and the constant risks of traffic in war + time, he had to contend with skilfully-used automatic and + observation mines, and had to keep his head even amid the roar + which followed the passage of his leading truck over a charge + of dynamite, and then to deal with the attack which almost + certainly ensued. Officers, therefore, had to be chosen from + men of no common stamp. The danger from contact mines was to + a certain extent obviated by a standing order that each train + should propel a heavily-loaded bogie truck. Such trucks had + low sides and ends; they in no way obstructed the view, or + fire, from the trains; and they performed the double purpose of + exploding contact mines and carrying the railway and telegraph + materials. The necessity for this propelled unoccupied bogie was + exemplified on several occasions. + +As regards their protection of the railway lines, the armoured trains +rendered an invaluable service, and this was especially the case when +the blockhouse system had been fully developed, and when, concurrently +therewith, the enemy's artillery became scarce. In recording this +opinion, Sir Percy Girouard further observes:--"There is no doubt, also, +that the enemy disliked them intensely, and the presence of an armoured +train had a great moral effect." + +In addition to the organisation and running of these armoured trains, +there was included in every ordinary train, as far as possible, a +special gun-truck on which was a pedestal-mounted Q. F. gun, under the +charge of an escort. The trains also carried a machine gun at each end, +arranged with a lateral sweep, to allow the fires to cross on either +side of the train at a distance of from fifty to eighty yards. In +addition to this, armour plates were hung on each side of the driver's +cab, and the first train run each morning had two or three trucks in +front of the engine as a precaution against any mine that might have +been laid over-night. + + +AMBULANCE AND HOSPITAL TRAINS + +Supplementing the references already made on pp. 95-6 to the employment +of ambulance and hospital trains in the South African War, it may here +be stated that three out of the seven adapted from rolling stock already +in use on the Cape or the Natal Government lines had been prepared in +advance of the outbreak of hostilities, namely, two at the Cape and one +in Natal, and these three were, consequently, available for immediate +use. + +"In Cape Colony," as stated in "_The Times_ History of the War in South +Africa," "the two hospital trains that had been prepared in September +were manned by a complete _personnel_ from England, and were kept in +constant touch with Lord Methuen's advance. In most cases they were +run up almost into the firing line, and during the actions at Belmont, +Graspan, Modder River and Magersfontein, they relieved the force of its +sick and wounded in an incredibly short time, conveying some to De Aar +and Orange River, and others to the general hospitals at Cape Town." The +services thus rendered by the hospital trains were greatly facilitated +by the fact that during the first three months of the war the fighting +was almost entirely on or alongside the railways. It was, therefore, +possible to arrange for a speedy evacuation of wounded from the field +hospitals. + +The same two trains, after working along the line of communication in +Cape Colony, reached Bloemfontein early in April, 1900; and here they +were of great use in helping to remove the sufferers from the enteric +fever which was filling up, not only all the hospitals, but every other +available building, as well, and finally attained, by the end of May, a +maximum of 4,000 cases. Unable to meet all requirements arising under +these exceptional conditions, the two hospital trains were supplemented +by a number of locally-prepared or ordinary trains, made available for +the transport either of sick or of convalescents. + +In regard to Natal, "_The Times_ History" says that of all the medical +arrangements made in connection with the war, "those during Sir Redvers +Buller's operations in Natal presented the most satisfactory features." + +The line of communication with the base was short, and it was amply +supplied with hospital trains. In addition to the one that had been +formed before the outbreak of hostilities, a second and similar +train was prepared in November, 1889. The hospital train, "Princess +Christian," constructed in England at a cost of £14,000, mainly raised +by Her Royal Highness--with a handsome contribution from the town of +Windsor--reached Cape Town early in February, 1900. It was sent on in +sections to Durban, where it was put together in the Natal Government +Railway workshops. Under the charge of Sir John Furley, who had also +supervised its reconstruction, the train was the first to cross the +temporary trestle bridge provided to take the place of the one across +the Tugela, at Colenso, which had been destroyed by the Boers, and it +was, also, the first train to enter Ladysmith (March 18, 1900) after the +siege. Between this time and September 5, 1901, it made 108 journeys, +mainly on the Natal side and on the Pretoria-Koomati Poort line; it ran +a total of 42,000 miles, and it carried (in addition to the medical and +nursing staff) 321 officers and 7,208 non-commissioned officers and men, +a total of 7,529 sick and wounded, of whom only three died _en route_. +In June, 1901, the train was formally presented by the Central Red Cross +Committee to the Secretary of State for War as a complete hospital +train unit for the use of the military forces in South Africa; but, on +the assumption, apparently, that no further use for its services as a +hospital train was likely to arise, it was subsequently dismantled. + +As showing the extent of the work done by the other hospital trains +during the course of the war, it may be added that No. 2 ran 114,539 +miles, in 226 trips, between November 22, 1898, and the end of August, +1902, conveying 471 officers and 10,325 non-commissioned officers and +men, a total of 10,796, of whom only seven died _en route_. + + +TRANSVAAL RAILWAYS AND THE WAR + +To the foregoing account of the British use of railways for military +purposes during the course of the South African War it may be of +interest to add a few notes giving the experiences of the Boers, as +detailed in a statement on "The Netherlands South African Railway +Company and the Transvaal War," drawn up at Pretoria, in April, 1900, by +the Secretary of the Company, Mr. Th. Steinnetz, and published in _De +Ingenieur_ of July 14 and 21, 1900.[46] + +Under the terms of the concession granted to the Netherlands South +African Railway Company (otherwise the Nederland Zuid Afrikaansche +Spoorweg Maatschappij) by the Government of the Transvaal Republic, +the latter were, in the event either of war or of danger of war, to +have complete control alike over the railway and over everything--and +everybody--necessary for its use, subject to certain undertakings +as to the payment of compensation to concessionaires. By virtue of +these powers the Executive Raad issued a decree on September 13, +1899, establishing Government control over the lines, and stating +further:--"With the view of ensuring that proper use can be made of +the railway, the whole of the _personnel_ of the company are ... +commandeered to do duty on the railways in the functions they now +occupy, and they are placed under the orders of the Commandant-General +and the war officers indicated by him, or of other officials." The +Government, in effect, took possession of all the lines, rolling stock, +workshops and other properties of the railway company for the purposes +of military transport, and they assumed control over the staff in order +to ensure the working, not only of the company's own lines, but, also, +of the lines in such portions of British territory as might be occupied +by the forces of the Republic. + +Against the possibility of an immediate invasion of the +Transvaal--"about which," says the statement, "there was much anxiety +on account of the armoured trains, which the English advertised so +loudly"--precautions were taken by preparing for demolition some of the +bridges on the south-eastern section of the company's lines. Guards +were, also, stationed at bridges and other important points throughout +the Transvaal in order to protect them against attack or interference by +"the great number of Anglophiles" assumed to be still in the Republic; +but the statement seems to suggest that, as shown by the small number +of attempts made in this direction, the British rather neglected their +opportunities. + +In regard to the transport of Transvaal troops, difficulties arose at +the outset owing to the absence of data, even of the vaguest character, +as to the numbers of burghers, horses and wagons it would be necessary +to convey by train. Consequently, no military time-tables could be +drawn up, and the traffic demands were met as best they could be when +they were made. No more, however, than eleven trains a day, in each +direction, could be run on the south-eastern branch--a single-track +line, with stations and crossing places about one hour's journey apart. +Concerning the amount of traffic carried, Mr. Steinnetz says:-- + + The total military traffic to the frontier was not so great + as one would expect, in spite of only a portion of the burghers + having taken up arms. From various districts the commandos + marched mounted, with ox-wagons, to the place of assembly, as + had been the custom in the past, although the use of the railway + would have saved time and trouble to both horses and men. Yet + it was not the first time that the Transvaalers had had the + opportunity of learning the use of railways in warfare. At the + time of the Jameson Raid and the Magato Campaign full use had + been made of them. + +Among the railway bridges which the Boers had prepared for destruction, +in case of need, was an iron one of 116 ft. span, the blowing up of +which would have checked the anticipated British invasion of the +Transvaal via Lang's Nek; but the concentration of the British forces +at Dundee and Ladysmith allowed the Boers to enter Natal without +resistance; and they took over, in sections, the working of the Natal +railway in proportion as they advanced. At various stations in northern +Natal long platforms had been specially constructed by the British, +and other arrangements made, to permit of large movements of troops +and especially the detraining of cavalry. These improvements, says Mr. +Steinnetz, came in very handy for the Federal Army. The _personnel_ +of the lines had "retired in a great hurry," without attempting any +demolitions or doing any damage to the lines beyond what could be easily +repaired. The Lang's Nek tunnel was "wholly untouched." Mr. Steinnetz +continues:-- + + The Boers themselves, however, through fear of being + surprised by armoured trains, and for other reasons, gave + the breakdown gangs more work to do. The telegraph line was + destroyed by them for long distances, the track was broken up + and two bridges were damaged. In order to obstruct the retreat + of General Yule from Dundee a bridge of two 30-foot spans on + the Dundee branch line was blown up by the Irish Brigade with + a dynamite charge in the central pier. The damage done was not + very great and was easily repaired. The same ineffective measure + was applied with greater success to a similar bridge over a + small spruit near Waschbank. But even here the repair was not + difficult. + +These admissions as to the ease with which the work of destruction +could, as a rule, readily be put right again are in full accord with +Sir Percy Girouard's report, in dealing with the same subject. It is +only fair to accept, in turn, the assertion made by Mr. Steinnetz that +the damage which the British did to certain of the railway bridges was +"speedily repaired." + +Some of the later destruction work carried out by the Boers was of +a more serious character. The blowing up of the Tugela bridge at +Colenso--a structure consisting of five iron lattice girder spans of +100 ft. each on masonry piles--was entrusted by the Boer military +authorities to an inspector of the railway company who had served in the +Dutch engineers. It was accomplished by the simultaneous detonation of +forty dynamite charges all connected by leads to a Siemens and Halske +"exploder," the bridge being "thoroughly demolished." In the destruction +of the three-span bridge over the Orange River at Norval's Pont the +charge employed consisted of about three and a half chests of dynamite, +or 198 lbs. Concerning the general destruction of bridges by which the +Boers sought to check pursuit after their abandonment of the siege of +Ladysmith, Mr. Steinnitz says:--"There was no lack of explosives, and no +need to spare them." + +The central workshops of the Netherlands Company were made use of by the +Government for the repair of guns, rifles, wagons, etc., and for the +manufacture of war material. Four complete ambulance trains were also +fitted up there for the use of wounded burghers. + +All the traffic on the lines was done on Government orders, and all +expenses were charged to them. No private traffic at all was carried. +There were, consequently, no railway receipts, and the railway company +had no responsibility. + + +DEVELOPMENT OF RAIL POWER + +In one way or another the South African War of 1899-1902 was concerned +in many of the most complicated of the problems that arise in connection +with the use of railways for military purposes.[47] + +In various ways, also, it advanced to a still further stage the whole +question of the nature and possibilities of rail-power in war. + +It confirmed under especially remarkable conditions a fact which +the American War of Secession had already established, namely, that +even single lines of railway, passing through country occupied by or +belonging to the enemy, may allow of campaigns being conducted at +such distances from the base of supplies as, but for this means of +communication, would render war impracticable. + +It offered further evidence as to the possibility, in favourable +circumstances, of employing railways for the carrying out of important +tactical movements. + +It re-established the essential need of organisation for the attainment +of efficiency in military transport and especially in so far as such +organisation deals with questions of control and co-ordination of the +military and the technical elements. + +It placed on a recognised and clearly defined basis the uses of armoured +trains and the best methods to be adopted for their construction and +operation. + +It showed still more clearly, perhaps, than any previous war had done, +the useful and beneficent purposes served by ambulance and hospital +trains, whether constructed for the purpose or adapted from existing +railway stock. + +It proved that, however apparently insecure a line of rail communication +may be, and however active and destructive the attacks made on it by +a pertinacious enemy, yet, with a strong and well-organised force of +Railway Troops following close on the advancing army, and supplemented +by an efficient system of line-protection, repairs and reconstruction +can be carried out with such speed that comparatively little material +delay will be caused, the final result of the campaign will not +necessarily be affected, and the value of rail-power as an instrument of +war will suffer no actual reduction. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[41] In Vol. II of the "Detailed History of the Railways in the South +African War" (Chatham: Royal Engineers Institute, 1904), there is +a series of 45 full-page photographs of damaged bridges and of the +low-level deviations constructed to take their place. + +[42] For a description of these blockhouses, see vol. iii, pp. 125-6, of +the "History of the Corps of the Royal Engineers," by Col. Sir Chas. M. +Watson. Royal Engineers Institute, Chatham, 1915. + +[43] "Natal: An Illustrated Official Railway Guide and Handbook." +Compiled and edited by C. W. Francis Harrison. Published by Authority. +London, 1903. + +[44] "History of the War in South Africa, 1899-1902. Compiled by +Direction of His Majesty's Government." Vol. IV, Appendix 10: "Notes on +the Military Railway System in South Africa." London, 1910. + +[45] Official "History," Vol. IV, Appendix 10. + +[46] For English translation, see "Journal of the Royal United Service +Institution," January, 1902. + +[47] In the preface of his standard work on "Military Railways," Major +W. D. Connor, of the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, says: +"On the military side I refer to the reports of Colonel Sir E. P. C. +Girouard, K.C.M.G., R.E., of the British Army, whose work in Egypt and +South Africa has set a high standard for any engineer who in future may +be required to meet and solve railway problems in the theatre of war. +These reports give the solution of many points as worked out in the +field, and confirm the main lessons to be learned from the history of +the military railways in our Civil War." (See "Bibliography.") + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR + + +The Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5 was a test not so much of the military +strength of the two combatants as of their respective means of +communication and concentration. + +From Moscow to Port Arthur the distance is 5,300 miles, and, save for +the sea journey via the Baltic, the North Sea, the Atlantic and the +Indian Ocean, the Russians were dependent for the transport of their +troops and stores to Manchuria on such very inadequate railways as they +then controlled. Japan, on the other hand, was able to rely on her fleet +and her considerably developed mercantile marine; and, as soon as she +had paralysed the Russian fleet and established her own command of the +sea--as she did within two days of the outbreak of hostilities--she +could land her forces whenever she chose at almost any convenient point +on the sea-board of the theatre of war. + +The situation recalled, somewhat, the still worse position in which +Russia had found herself at the time of the Crimean War when, in the +absence of any rail facilities at all, her troops had to march, and +their supplies and munitions had to be conveyed, hundreds of miles over +dreary steppes--"huge columns that had quitted the far north and east of +the interior dwindling to a few broken-down Battalions before they came +in sight of Sebastopol"--whereas the allies could send their troops all +the way to the Crimea by sea. + +While there are many other causes which, rightly or wrongly, have been +regarded as contributing to the defeat of Russia by Japan--included +therein being personal shortcomings of the Russian officers; mistakes +made by them in strategy and tactics; defects in the Russian military +system, and the half-hearted interest of the Russian nation in the +struggle--the really decisive factors in the situation were the +transport deficiencies of the Siberian and Manchurian railways. + +The construction of a _Trans-Siberian Railway_ as a great strategic +line stretching across Asia, facilitating the development of a vast +territory, and, above all, calculated to foster the realisation of +Russia's aims in the Far East, first came under discussion about the +year 1860. It was made the subject of an exhaustive study by a Committee +of Ministers in 1875, but it was not until 1891 that the first sod was +turned. + +Military and political considerations being paramount, such energy was +shown in the work of construction that by 1896 the western section +had been carried through Irkutsk to Lake Baikal and from the eastern +shores thereof to Strietensk, while the eastern section--known as the +Usuri Railway--had been made through Russia's Maritime Province from +Vladivostok to Khabarovsk. The original design was that the line should +be constructed on Russian territory all the way to Vladivostok; but +this meant that from Strietensk it would have to follow the great bend +made to the north by the Amur, the southern boundary of Russia, and the +Russian Government thought it desirable to secure a more direct route. + +Towards the end of 1896, in return for the great services which she +considered she had rendered to China in the war between that country and +Japan, Russia obtained the concession for a railway which, starting from +Chita, Trans-Baikalia, about 200 miles west of Strietensk, would pass +through Manchuria to Vladivostok, avoiding the great bend of the Amur, +though still offering the disadvantage that one important section of the +through route would not be on Russian territory. Under a contract made +between the Chinese Government and the Russo-Chinese Bank, a _Chinese +Eastern Railway Company_ was formed to build and operate the line thus +conceded; but the arrangements made were carried out through the Russian +Minister of Finance, and the line was directly dependent on the Russian +State. + +Russia's occupation of Port Arthur in March, 1898, led, in the spring +of the following year, to the further construction being begun of a +southern branch of the Chinese Eastern Railway from Harbin, a station on +the Chita-Vladivostok line, to the extremity of the Liao-tung peninsula. + +It was these two railways, the Trans-Siberian and the Chinese Eastern, +terminating at Vladivostok in the one direction and at Port Arthur in +the other, which came into special consideration in the war of 1904-5. +It was on the Trans-Siberian line, more especially, that Russia was +mainly dependent (as the German official report on the war points out) +not only for the concentration and maintenance of her army but even for +the raising and organisation of most of its units. + +When the Trans-Siberian was first built, the desire to avoid undue +expenditure on a line which must necessarily involve a huge expenditure, +with little or no prospect of yielding a return sufficient for the +payment of interest thereon, led to the adoption of an economy which was +to hamper very materially the transport capacity of the railway. Only a +single line of rails was allowed for; a limit was placed on the breadth +of the embankments; the curves were greater than considerations of speed +and safety should have permitted; the gradients were either dangerously +varied or so excessive that divisions of the trains were necessary; +the rails used were of no greater weight than from 42 lbs. to 47 lbs. +per yard, and they were badly laid, even then; the bridges across the +smaller streams were made of wood only; the crossing-places and the +railway stations were few and far between, while all the secondary +constructions were provided on what was almost the cheapest possible +scale. + +These conditions necessitated the limitation of the traffic, when the +line was first opened, to the running of three trains a day in each +direction. The length of the trains was restricted to sixty axles. It +was thus impossible to meet the demands even of the ordinary traffic +in peace time, apart altogether from any question as to military +requirements in time of war. No sooner, therefore, were the main +portions of the line ready, in 1898, than there was set aside, for +a railway which was already to cost over £350,000,000, a further sum +of £9,130,000 for relaying those portions of the line with a better +quality of rails and sleepers, the reconstruction of sections dangerous +to traffic, the provision of more stations and more rolling stock, and +other improvements. It was expected that this additional work would be +completed by 1904, by which time the line was to be equal to the running +of thirteen pairs of trains daily. + +Reporting on the condition of the Russian railways in 1900 (at which +date the Eastern Chinese line was still unfinished), General Kuropatkin, +then War Minister, afterwards Commander-in-Chief in Manchuria, did not +hesitate to declare that it was still impossible for them to cope with +heavy traffic. + +Relations between Russia and Japan became strained towards the end of +1903, though the Government of the former country were desirous that any +outbreak of hostilities should be avoided until they were better able +to undertake them. In his account of "The Russian Army and the Japanese +War" General Kuropatkin says concerning the position at this period:-- + + Our unreadiness was only too plain, and it seemed at that + time that we should be able, with two or three years' steady + work, so to strengthen our position in the Far East, and improve + the railway, the fleet, the land forces, and the fortresses of + Port Arthur and Vladivostok that Japan would have small chance + of success against us. + +Regarding war as inevitable, and disinclined to give Russia an +opportunity of first strengthening her position in the directions here +suggested, Japan broke off diplomatic relations with Russia on February +6, 1904, this being the immediate prelude to the hostilities that +followed. + +In anticipation of a possible rupture, Russia had already despatched +reinforcements and stores to the Far East by sea; but the rupture, +when it did come, found her quite unprepared to send further large +reinforcements by land, while her forces in the Far East were scattered +over the vast area extending from Lake Baikal to Vladivostok, and from +Port Arthur to Nikolaievsk. No orders for mobilisation had been issued; +the army was in the midst of rearmament and reorganisation, and the +unreadiness of the railways had prevented the drawing up of time-tables +for the concentration of the troops. Ten days after the outbreak of war +the Russian Government issued a statement in which they said:-- + + The distance of the territory now attacked and the desire of + the Tsar to maintain peace were the causes of the impossibility + of preparations for war being made a long time in advance. + +Not only, too, was the seat of war 5,000 miles away, and not only was +a single-track ill-equipped line of railway the only practicable means +of sending troops and war material there by land, but an exceptionally +great obstacle to traffic had to be met owing to the interruption of +rail communication by Lake Baikal. + +Having a length of 380 miles, a breadth ranging from eighteen miles to +fifty-six miles, a mean depth of 850 feet (with a maximum, in parts, of +no less than 4,500 ft.), and a total area of over 13,000 square miles, +_Lake Baikal_ ranks, next to the great lakes of the United States and +Central Africa, as the largest fresh-water lake in the world; though it +should, in reality, be regarded less as a lake than as a great inland +sea. As it happened, also, this vast expanse of water stood in the +direct line of route of the Trans-Siberian railway, and the crossing of +it by the Russian reinforcements going to the Far East constituted a +seriously defective link in the chain of communication. + +At an elevation of 1,360 feet above sea level, the lake is subject +alike to severe gales, to heavy fogs, and to frosts so intense that in +mid-winter the water may be frozen to a depth of ten feet. From the end +of April to the end of December troops and travellers arriving by rail +at one side of the lake crossed to the other by passenger steamers. +Goods wagons were taken over by ferry-boats which, also, acted as +ice-breakers early and late in the winter season, so long as the passage +could be kept open. When, in the winter, the ice was strong enough +to bear, traffic was conducted by transport sledges; but when there +was sufficient ice to stop the ferry-boats, though not sufficient to +permit of the sledges being used--conditions which generally prevailed +for about six weeks in the year--the traffic had to be discontinued +altogether. + +The question will naturally be asked,--Why had not the constructors of +the line avoided these disadvantages by carrying it round the lake? The +reply is that this had not been done, prior to the outbreak of war, +owing to the formidable nature of the work involved from an engineering +point of view. + +Lake Baikal is bordered, on the south--the route a Circum-Baikal line +would have to take--by mountains which rise sheer up from the water's +edge to a height of, in places, no less than 4,600 ft. Across the +mountains, along the rocky shores, and over the intervening valleys the +railway would require to be carried for a distance of 160 miles in order +to link up the two sections then divided by the lake. The difficulties +of the work were likely to be as great as the cost would certainly be +enormous, compared with that of the remainder of the Trans-Siberian +railway. So it was that when the war broke out there were still 112 +miles of the Circum-Baikal line to be constructed. + +So it was, also, that, pending the completion of this line round the +lake, Russia's reinforcements from Europe for the Far East had to +cross the lake itself; and the outbreak of hostilities in the month of +February placed Russia at an especially great disadvantage in regard to +transport. + +The combined ferry-steamers and ice-breakers had made their final +journey for the winter on January 27, and at first the only way in +which the troops could cross the ice was by marching or by sledge. +After a day's rest at Irkutsk, they were brought by train to Baikal +station, at the lake side, arriving there at about four o'clock in +the morning in order that they could complete the journey to Tanchoi +station, on the other side of the lake--a distance of about twenty-five +miles--in the day. The track was marked out by posts, supplemented by +lanterns at night, and it was kept in order by gangs of labourers. +Small bridges were placed over cracks in the ice. Shelters, in +telephonic communication with one another, were provided at four-mile +distances alike for the purpose of rest and for the distribution of food +prepared by regimental field kitchens; but the principal meal of the +day was taken at a more substantial half-way house, where the cooking +arrangements were on a more elaborate scale and better accommodation +was provided. Around the half-way house at night petroleum flares were +burned, so that it could be seen a long way off. In foggy weather, or +during snow storms, bells were rung at all the shelters. Inasmuch as the +temperature fell, at times, to 22 deg., Fahr., below zero, the provision +of these rest-houses must have been greatly appreciated. Baggage was +taken across in sledges, the normal supply of which had been increased +by an additional 3,000. Some of the troops also made the journey by this +form of conveyance, four men being seated in each sledge. The batteries +crossed with their own horses. + +As soon as the ice attained a thickness of about 4½ ft., the expedient +was adopted of laying a pair of rails along it in order, more +especially, that the additional engines and railway wagons urgently +needed on the lines east of the lake could be taken across. The +rails were laid on sleepers of exceptional length, the weight being +thus distributed over a greater surface of ice; but, even with this +precaution, it was no easy matter to keep the line in working order +owing to the extreme cold, to storms, to the occasional ice movements +and cracks, or to the effect of earthquake shocks in destroying lengths +of line, sections of which sometimes required to be relaid almost as +soon as they had been put down. The line was begun on February 10 and +completed by the 29th of the same month. Between March 1 and March 26 +there were taken across the lake, by this means, sixty-five dismantled +locomotives (rebuilt on arrival on the eastern side), twenty-five +railway carriages, and 2,313 goods wagons. Transport was provided by +horses, the number so used being about 1,000. + +Constructed to serve an exclusively military purpose, this +twenty-five-mile line across Lake Baikal may certainly be regarded as +a "military railway," while as a military ice-railway it holds a unique +position in the history of warfare. + +When, owing to the advancing season, the ice on the lake could no longer +be trusted to bear either railway trucks or sledges, and when navigation +was again open, dependence had to be placed on the ferry services. There +were, however, only two vessels available for the transfer of railway +trucks across the lake, and each of these, accommodating twenty-seven +trucks at a time, could make no more than three return crossings in the +twenty-four hours. + +Only in one way could an improvement be effected in these obviously +inadequate facilities for getting an army to Manchuria, and that was in +carrying the railway round the southern end of the lake, thus avoiding +the delay caused by the hitherto unavoidable transshipment and crossing, +and ensuring a continuous rail journey. The need for this _Circum-Baikal +link_ had, in fact, become urgent, and the work was pushed on with the +greatest vigour. + +Mention has already been made of the engineering difficulties which the +construction of the line involved. These will be better understood if +it is added that the 160-mile link passes through thirty-four tunnels, +having an aggregate length of over six miles; that it is carried across +valleys, or open spaces, on two hundred bridges, and that numerous +cuttings and many large culverts had also to be provided. The total +cost worked out at no less than £52,000 per mile--probably the largest +sum per mile ever spent on a railway designed, in the first instance, +to serve a distinctly military purpose, and exceeding by £35,000 the +average cost per mile, down to that date, of the entire system of +Russian railways. Delays occurred, also, through strikes and other +causes, and, in the result, it was not until September 25, 1904--more +than seven months after the outbreak of war--that the line was ready for +use, and that an interruption of the rail journey by the crossing of +Lake Baikal became no longer necessary. + +Meanwhile, an inadequate supply of engines and rolling stock had been +a serious hindrance to traffic alike on the Trans-Baikal section of +the Siberian line and on the Eastern Chinese lines. The locomotives and +wagons taken across Lake Baikal either on the ice-railway or on the +ferry boats had served a useful purpose, but six months elapsed before +the Eastern Chinese lines could be worked to their full efficiency. + +There were other directions, as well, in which _traffic hindrances_ +arose. The freezing, down to the very bottom, of the rivers between +the eastern side of Lake Baikal and Harbin (Manchuria) was a cause of +serious difficulty in the early part of the year in getting water even +for such locomotives as were available. In the western Siberian section +the supply of water was impaired by the great percentage of salt in the +streams. In Manchuria the fuel reserve was inadequate; soldiers were +the only reliable portion of the subordinate railway staff; the railway +workshops were poorly equipped; there were not nearly enough engine +depôts; large supplies of rails, fish-plates, sleepers and ballast were +needed, and much work had to be done in the construction of additional +sidings, etc. All these shortcomings required to be made good whilst +the war was in actual progress, though for the transport of most of the +necessary materials and appliances there was only a single-track line of +railway already overtaxed for the conveyance of troops, munitions and +supplies. + +The _number of trains_ that could be run was extremely limited. The +capacity of the line of communication as a whole was fixed by that +of the Eastern Chinese Railway between Chita and Harbin; and after +three months of war it was still possible to run from west to east in +each twenty-four hours no more than three military trains (conveying +troops, supplies, stores and remounts), one light mail train, and, when +necessary, one ambulance train; though these conditions were improved +later on. + +The _speed_ at which the trains ran--allowing for necessary stops in +stations or at crossing places on the line--ranged from five to eleven +miles an hour, with seven miles an hour as a good average. For the +journey from Warsaw to Mukden the military trains took forty days, +including one day's rest for the troops at the end of every 600 or 700 +miles. In April and May the journey from Wirballen, on the frontier +of Russia and Germany, to Liao-yang, situate between Mukden and Port +Arthur, took fifty days--an average speed of five and a quarter miles +per hour. + +What with the transport and other difficulties that arose, it was not +for three months after the outbreak of hostilities that the Russian +troops in the Ear East received reinforcements. It was not until after +seven months of war that the three Army Corps sent from European Russia +to join the field army were all concentrated in Manchuria. + +Under these conditions the Japanese, free to send their own armies by +sea to the theatre of war, and able to concentrate them with far greater +speed, had all the initial advantage. The Russian reinforcements arrived +in driblets, and they were either cut off as they came or, as regards, +at least, the fighting from May 14 to October 14, provided only 21,000 +men to replace 100,000 killed, wounded or sick; whereas the Japanese +were able to maintain a continuous flow of reinforcements to make good +their own casualties. + +General Kuropatkin is of opinion that if the Russians had been able +to command better transport from the outset the whole course of the +campaign would have been changed. He thinks that even a single extra +through troop train per day would have made a material difference, while +the running, from the start, of six trains a day would, he believes, +have secured for Russia alike the initiative and the victory. Referring +to the Siberian and Eastern Chinese Railways he says:-- + + If these lines had been more efficient, we could have + brought up our troops more rapidly, and, as things turned out, + 150,000 men concentrated at first would have been of far more + value to us than the 300,000 who were gradually assembled during + nine months, only to be sacrificed in detail.... If we had had a + better railway and had been able to mass at Liao-yang the number + specified, we should undoubtedly have won the day in spite of + our mistakes. + +Kuropatkin himself certainly did all he could to improve the transport +conditions. In a statement he submitted to the Tsar on March 7, 1904, +he declared that of all urgently pressing questions that of bettering +the railway communication between Russia and Siberia was the most +important; and he added:--"It must, therefore, be taken up at once, in +spite of the enormous cost. The money expended will not be wasted; it +will, on the contrary, be in the highest sense productive inasmuch as it +will shorten the duration of the war." + +On the Trans-Baikal section six new stations were added, and additional +crossing places to facilitate the passing of trains were provided +elsewhere, so that by May some additional trains per day could be +run. In June orders were given by the Government for the execution of +extensive works designed to increase the capacity of the Siberian and +Eastern Chinese main lines to seven trains per day in each direction, +and that of the southern branch to twelve per day. The cost of these +improvements was estimated at £4,400,000. + +In November, 1904, Kuropatkin submitted to the Tsar a recommendation +that the lines should be at once doubled throughout their whole length. +The reinforcements, he declared, were even then still coming in +driblets. "Supplies despatched in the spring are still on the Siberian +side. Waterproofs sent for the summer will arrive when we want fur +coats; fur coats will come to hand when waterproofs are wanted." + +There was need, also, to provide stores of provisions for the troops. So +long as the army was a comparatively small one it could depend mainly on +local resources. In proportion as it increased in size it became more +and more dependent on supplies from European Russia; but the collection +of a sufficiency for a single month meant the running of five extra +trains a day for a like period. Even when ample supplies were available +at one point, weakness and inefficiency in the transport arrangements +might lead to the troops elsewhere suffering privations which should be +avoided. + +Whether for financial or other reasons, the Russian Government did not +adopt the idea of converting the single track of the railway system +into double track; but the improvements made in the traffic facilities +(including the provision of sixty-nine additional places for the passing +of trains) were such that by the time peace was concluded, on September +5, 1905, the Russians had ten, or even twelve pairs of full-length +trains running in the twenty-four hours, as compared with the two per +day which could alone be run six months before the outbreak of war and +the three per day which were running nine months later. The capacity of +the lines had been increased practically fourfold; though the general +situation remained such as to evoke the following comment from the +writer of the official German account of the war[48]:-- + + In spite of the efforts made to improve the line, the + connection of the Russian forces in East Asia with their home + country was, and remained, an unreliable and uncertain factor + in the calculations of Army Headquarters. No measures, were + they ever so energetic, could be designed to remove this + uncertainty, and it was only gradually, as the Manchurian Army + itself increased and concentrated, and as the railway works + advanced, that greater freedom of action was assured to the + Commander-in-Chief; but even then the army as a whole, with all + its wants and supplies, remained dependent on the Siberian and + Eastern Chinese Railways. + +What the railways did was to enable the Russians to collect at the +theatre of war, by the time the war itself came to an end, an army of +1,000,000 men--of whom two-thirds had not yet been under fire--together +with machine-guns, howitzers, shells, small-arm ammunition, field +railways, wireless telegraphy, supplies, and technical stores of all +kinds. Kuropatkin says of this achievement:-- + + The War Department had, with the co-operation of other + departments, successfully accomplished a most colossal task. + What single authority would have admitted a few years ago the + possibility of concentrating an army of a million men 5,400 + miles away from its base of supply and equipment by means of a + poorly-constructed single-line railway? Wonders were effected; + but it was too late. Affairs in the interior of Russia for which + the War Department could not be held responsible were the cause + of the war being brought to an end at a time when decisive + military operations should really have only just been beginning. + + +Russia, in fact, agreed to make peace at a time when the prospect of her +being able to secure a victory was greater than it had been at any time +during the earlier phases of the war; but the Japanese failed to attain +all they had hoped for, the primary causes of such failure, in spite +of their repeated victories, being, as told in the British "Official +History" of the war, that "Port Arthur held out longer than had been +expected, and the Trans-Siberian Railway enabled Russia to place more +men in the field than had been thought possible."[49] + +Thus, in respect to rail-power, at least, Russia still achieved a +remarkable feat in her transport of an army so great a distance by a +single-track line of railway. Such an achievement was unexampled, while, +although Fate was against the ultimate success of her efforts, Russia +provided the world with a fresh object lesson as to what might have +been done, in a campaign waged more than 5,000 miles from the base of +supplies, if only the line of rail communication had been equal from the +first to the demands it was called upon to meet. + +Apart from this main consideration, there were some other phases of the +Russo-Japanese War which are of interest from the point of view of the +present study. + +The _Field railways_, mentioned on the previous page, constituted a +network of, altogether, 250 miles of narrow-gauge railways built and +operated by the Russian troops--either alone or with the help of Chinese +labourers--and designed to act as subsidiary arteries of the broad-gauge +Eastern Chinese Railway by (1) providing for the transport therefrom of +troops and supplies to the front; (2) conveying guns and munitions to +the siege batteries, and (3) bringing back the sick and wounded. Horses, +ponies and mules were employed for traction purposes. Each of the three +Russian armies in the field had its own group of narrow-gauge lines, +and the lines themselves served a most useful purpose in a country of +primitive roads and inadequate local means of transport. + +In one instance a broad-gauge branch line was built inland, during the +course of the war, from the Eastern Chinese Railway for a distance of +twenty-five miles. A depôt was set up at its terminus, and thence the +supplies were conveyed to the troops by a series of narrow-gauge lines +extending to every part of that particular section of the theatre of war. + +Construction of the narrow-gauge line serving the Second Army, and +extending nineteen miles from a point on the Eastern Chinese Railway +near to Port Arthur, necessitated the provision of six bridges and three +embankments. Three lines, the building of which was begun in January, +1905, were siege lines specially designed to serve the positions taken +up at Liao-yang; but all three were abandoned on the evacuation of +Mukden, early in March. It was, however, subsequent to the retreat from +Mukden that the greatest degree of energy in constructing narrow-gauge +lines was shown by the Russians. In addition to the 250 miles brought +into use, there was still another 100 miles completed; but these could +not be operated owing to the inadequate supply of wagons--a supply +reduced still further through seizures made by the Japanese. + +During the course of the war the traffic carried on these military +narrow-gauge lines included over 58,000 tons of provisions, stores, +etc., 75,132 sick and wounded, and 24,786 other troops.[50] + +For the carrying out of all this construction work, and, also, for the +operation of the Manchurian and Ussuri railways, Russia had twenty-four +companies of _Railway Troops_, the total force of which was estimated +at 11,431. In the first part of the war she relied upon her six East +Siberian Railway Battalions. As the work increased other Battalions were +brought from European Russia. + +The Japanese were not well provided with Railway Troops; but they were +none the less active in endeavouring to destroy the Russian lines of +communication, on which so much depended. For instance, the railway +to Port Arthur was cut by them near Wa-fang-tien at 11 p.m. on May 6. +The Russians repaired the line, and by May 10 a further train-load of +ammunition was sent over it into Port Arthur. Three days later the +Japanese cut the line at another point, and from that time Port Arthur +was isolated. + +As regards the _operation_ of the Siberian and Eastern Chinese Railways, +Colonel W. H. H. Waters says:--[51] + + Taking the railway as a whole, from Chelyabinsk, which is + the western terminus of the Siberian portion, to Mukden, a + distance of close upon 4,000 miles, it has worked better than I + expected; but the one great fault connected with it has been, + and is, the incapacity of Russian railwaymen, civil or military, + to handle heavy station traffic properly. If Russia were to pay + a British or American goods-yard foreman, say from Nine Elms + station, a salary, no matter how high, and let him import his + own staff of assistants, the improvement of the Asiatic lines in + question would be remarkable. + +Then, again, Captain C. E. Vickers, R.E., writing on "The Siberian +Railway in War," in the issue of "The Royal Engineers Journal" (Chatham) +for August, 1905, points to the need which was developed for the +_control_ of the railway during war by a separate staff, as distinct +from the staffs concerned in arranging operations, distributing supplies +and munitions, and other military duties. + +Whether due to the personal incapacity spoken of by the one authority +here quoted, or to the lack of a separate organisation alluded to by the +other, the fact remains that the operation of the Siberian and Eastern +Chinese lines did give rise to a degree of confusion that must have +greatly increased the difficulties of the position in which the Russians +were placed. + +When, for example, in September, 1904, reservists were urgently +wanted at Mukden after the retreat from Liao-yang, the traffic was so +mismanaged that it took the troops seven days to do the 337 miles from +Harbin--an average speed of two miles per hour. On December 5, Harbin +Junction was so blocked in all directions by trains which could neither +move in nor go out that traffic had to be suspended for twelve hours +until the entanglement was set right. Still further, after the fall of +Port Arthur, on January 2, 1905, and the augmentation of the Japanese +forces by Nogi's army, the arrival of reinforcements then so greatly +needed by the Russians was delayed for over one month to allow of the +forwarding of a quantity of stores which had accumulated on the line. + +Some, at least, of the difficulties and delays experienced in operation +were undoubtedly due to developments of that _interference by individual +officers_ with the working of the railways of which we have already had +striking examples in the case of the American War of Secession and the +Franco-German War of 1870-71. Colonel Waters writes on this subject:-- + + It is interesting to note how the working of the line was + interfered with by those who should have been the first to see + that no extraneous calls were made upon it when the organisation + of the army and the strengthening of Port Arthur were of vital + importance. + + The chief of the Viceroy's Staff was the intermediary + between Admiral Alexeiev and General Kuropatkin, the former + being at Mukden and the latter at Liao-yang, thirty-seven miles + distant. Frequent conferences took place between Kuropatkin + and this officer, who always used to come in a special train + to Liao-yang. This necessitated the line being kept clear for + indefinite periods of time and dislocated all the other traffic + arrangements, as the then chief of the railways himself declared. + + In the first days of May, 1904, the Viceroy and the Grand + Duke Boris were at Port Arthur, and wished to leave it before + they should be cut off. I heard that they actually took three + special trains to quit Port Arthur, namely, one for each of + them, and one for their baggage and stores. This entirely upset + the troop train, supply and ammunition services, at a time, + too, when the scarcity of heavy gun munition in the fortress was + such that, within a week, Kuropatkin called for volunteers to + run a train-load through, which was done a few hours only before + the place was definitely invested. + + There were, throughout 1904, plenty of other instances + of special trains being run for, and siding accommodation + occupied by, various individuals, so that the organisation and + maintenance of the army was considerably hampered thereby. + +These experiences simply confirm the wisdom of the action which other +countries had already taken (1) to ensure the efficient operation of +railways in time of war by staffs comprising the military and the +technical elements in combination, and (2) to prevent the interference +of the former in the details of the actual working by the latter. + +Russia was, in fact, distinctly behind Western nations in these respects +in 1904-5, and the need for placing her military transport system on a +sounder basis was among the many lessons she learnt--and acted upon--as +the result of her experiences in the war with Japan. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[48] "The Russo-Japanese War. The Ya-Lu. Prepared in the Historical +Section of the German General Staff." Authorized Translation by Karl von +Donat. London, 1908. + +[49] "Official History of the Russo-Japanese War." Prepared by the +Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. London, 1910. + +[50] "Construction et exploitation des chemins de fer à traction animale +sur le théâtre de la guerre de 1904-5 en Mandchourie." _Revue du Genie +Militaire_, Avril, Mai, Juin, 1909. Paris. + +[51] "The Russo-Japanese War. Reports from British Officers attached to +the Japanese and Russians Forces in the Field." Vol. III. General Report +[dated March, 1905] by Col. W. H. H. Waters. London, 1908. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +STRATEGICAL RAILWAYS: GERMANY + + +Between "strategical" and "military" railways there are certain +fundamental differences, just as there are, also, between both of them +and ordinary commercial railways. + +While designed partly, mainly, or, it may be, exclusively, to serve +military purposes, strategical railways, unlike military railways +proper, form part of the ordinary railway system of the country in which +they are built. They approximate to commercial lines in construction, +equipment and operation, and they are worked in connection with them +for the ordinary purposes of trade and travel; though in their case any +considerations as to whether the traffic they carry is remunerative +does not arise, provided only that they are capable of fulfilling +their real purpose--that, namely, of ensuring such military transports +as may, sooner or later, be required of them. It is possible that in +times of peace the amount of actual traffic passing over them will +be comparatively small, if not even practically _nil_, and that many +years may elapse before the special facilities they must necessarily +offer,--such as extensive siding accommodation and long platforms for +the loading and unloading of troop trains--are likely to be employed to +the fullest extent; but they nevertheless form an integral part both +of the railway system and of the military system of the country, and, +having been constructed, they are, at least, available for military +purposes whenever wanted. + +One must, however, again bear in mind that a railway built to meet +the ordinary requirements of trade and travel does not become a +"strategical" any more than a "military" railway simply because, in +time of war, it is used, to whatever extent, for the conveyance of +troops, supplies or war material. The essential factor in each instance +is, not the use that is made of the line, but the particular, or, at +least, the main object it has been built to serve. Just, also, as a +commercial line remains a commercial line notwithstanding its use for +military traffic, so, in turn, a strategical line remains a strategical +line whatever the amount of civilian traffic it may carry in time of +peace. + +Yet while the distinction thus drawn between general railways and +strategical railways is abundantly warranted, the increase of the former +may still have an important bearing on the operation of the latter +because of the improvement of transport facilities in the interior, +and because of the greater amount of rolling stock which will be made +available for war purposes. "From a military point of view," said von +Moltke in the Prussian Herrenhaus on March 26, 1876, "every railway is +welcome, and two are still more welcome than one"; and he developed +this idea in a further speech on December 17, 1879, when, in declaring +that the ownership and operation of the leading Prussian railways was +desirable from a military standpoint, he said:--[52] + + Railways have become, in our time, one of the most essential + instruments for the conduct of war. The transport of large + bodies of troops to a given point is an extremely complicated + and comprehensive piece of work, to which continuous attention + must be paid. Every fresh railway junction makes a difference, + while, although we may not want to make use of every railway + line that has been constructed, we may still want to make use of + the whole of the rolling stock that is available. + +Another important distinction between military and strategical railways +is that whereas the building of the former will be governed primarily +by military requirements, that of the latter may be fundamentally due +to considerations of State policy. Strategical railways are wanted +to serve the purposes of national defence or, alternatively, of +national expansion. They are especially provided to ensure the speedy +concentration of troops on the frontier, whether to resist invasion by +a neighbouring country or to facilitate the invasion either of that +country or, it may be, of territory on the other side thereof. The fact +that they have been built may, in some cases, even further the interests +of peace, should the increased means they offer for military transports +render the country concerned a more formidable antagonist than it +might otherwise be, and influence the policy of other States or lands +accordingly. + +In tropical dependencies the building of railways as a practical proof +of "effective occupation" is often regarded as preferable to military +conquest, being likely, in most cases, to answer the same purpose while +offering many other advantages, besides. In West Africa there are not +only railways of this class but others that have, in addition, been +designed as a precautionary measure against a not impossible invasion, +at some future date, by Mohammedan tribes from North Central Africa. All +such lines as these belong to the strategical type, though they may, +also, serve an important part in furthering the economic development of +the territories concerned. + +Strategical railways, whether designed for defensive or aggressive +purposes, may, in turn, be divided into two main groups, (1) those that +constitute a network of lines; and (2) single or individual lines for +short or long distances. + +A network of strategical railways is generally found in direct +association with frontiers. Single or individual strategical lines fall +into various groups including (1) short lines or branches running out +to some point on or near to a frontier; (2) single lines carried for +long distances, and, possibly, crossing entire continents; (3) circular +or short lines, connecting different railway systems with one another, +in order to facilitate the movement of troops during mobilisation or +concentration or for defensive purposes in the event of invasion; (4) +lines passing round cities or large towns in order to avoid delay of +troop trains; and (5) lines for coast defence. + +The ideal conditions for a network of strategical railways was already +a subject of discussion in Germany in 1842, when Pönitz brought +forward his proposal that that country should provide herself with +such a system. There were, he said, theorists who designed, on paper, +strategical railways which, starting from a common centre, radiated in +straight lines to different points on the frontier and were connected +with one another by parallel or intersecting lines of railway on the +principle of a geometrical design, or, he might have added, of a +spider's web. Pönitz admitted the excellence of the idea, suggesting +that if there were, indeed, a group of lines to the frontier connected +by cross lines allowing of a complete interchange of traffic, the enemy +would never know at what point a sudden advance in force might not be +made, while the linking up of the entire system would greatly facilitate +working. + +In practice, however, as he proceeded to point out, this ideal system +could not be fully adopted, partly because the planning of railways is +influenced by the configuration of the country, which may not permit +of geometrical designs for iron roads; and partly because the trunk +lines of national systems of rail communication had already been laid +by private enterprise on the principle of catering for the social and +economic needs of the community and of returning interest on capital +expenditure, rather than of serving military or political purposes. + +In the proposals which Pönitz himself advanced for providing Germany +with a complete network of strategical lines he sought to combine, as +far as possible, the commercial and the military principle; though the +subsequent predominance, in most countries, of the economic element in +regard to railways in general strengthened the force of his contention +that an ideal system was not necessarily a practicable one. The +suggested geometrical design was, nevertheless, not lost sight of, +and it continued to be regarded as the plan that should, at least, be +followed in respect to strategical railways, as far as circumstances +would permit. + +Dealing with this particular subject in his "Geschichte und System +der Eisenbahnbenutzung im Kriege" (Leipzig, 1896), Dr. Josef Joesten +included the following among the conditions which, theoretically +and practically, should enable a railway system to respond to the +necessities of war:-- + +1. To each of the strategical fronts of the national territory there +should be the largest possible number of railway lines, all independent +the one of the other. + +2. The converging lines terminating at the bases of concentration, and +more especially those leading to the coast or to great navigable rivers, +should be crossed by numerous transverse lines in order to allow of the +rapid passing of troops from any one of the lines of concentration to +any other. + +3. Positions or localities having a recognised strategical value should +be selected as the places where the two types of lines should cross, and +these intersection points, when they are near to the frontier, should +themselves be protected by fortifications serving as _points d'appui_ +for movements of advance or retirement. + +It is possible that, if the building of railways in Germany had been +left entirely to the State from the outset, these principles would have +been generally followed there; but in Prussia the private lines taken +over as the result of the policy of nationalisation adopted by that +country--the total length of those acquired since 1872 being now nearly +10,000 miles--had been originally constructed to serve, not strategic, +but economic purposes, and, more especially, the industrial interests +of Westphalia and the Rhineland, the Government having been left by +private enterprise to provide, not alone the strategical lines, but, +also, the lines that were wanted to serve the less promising economic +requirements, of Eastern Prussia. To say, therefore, as some writers +have done, that the Prussian--if not the German--railways as a whole +have been designed to serve military purposes is erroneous. It is none +the less true that the adoption of the principle of State ownership +conferred alike on Prussia and on other German States a great advantage +in enabling them both to build strategical lines as, ostensibly, part +of the ordinary railway system and to adapt existing lines to military +purposes so far as conditions allowed and occasion might require. + +In these circumstances any close adherence to ideal systems has, indeed, +not been practicable; yet the activity shown in Germany in providing +either new or adapted strategical lines of railway has been beyond all +question. + +Such activity has been especially manifest since the Franco-German war +of 1870-1. It is, indeed, the case that during the last twenty-five +years there have been constant representations by Prussian trading +interests that the railways in Westphalia and Rhineland, numerous +as they might appear to be, were unequal to the industrial needs +of those districts. The reasons for these conditions were that the +Administration, eager to secure railway "profits," had neglected to +provide adequately for improvements, widenings and extensions of +line, and for additions to rolling stock. No one, however, is likely +to suggest that Prussia has shown any lack of enterprise in the +construction of strategical lines which would enable her to concentrate +great masses of troops on her frontiers with the utmost dispatch. "The +rivalry between neighbouring States," writes von der Goltz in "The +Conduct of War," "has had the effect of causing perfectly new lines +to be constructed solely for military reasons. Strategical railways +constitute a special feature of our time"; and in no country has this +fact been recognised more clearly, and acted upon more thoroughly, than +in Germany. + +It would, nevertheless, be a mistake to attempt to form a reliable +estimate of the situation, from a strategical point of view, on the +basis of the ordinary German railway maps, and certain reproductions +thereof recently offered in the English Press have been wholly +misleading. Not only may these maps be hopelessly out of date--one, for +instance, that was published in a military journal in the autumn of 1914 +contained none of the strategical lines built by Prussia since 1900 +for troop movements in the direction of Belgium--but they invariably +draw no distinction between State-owned lines which do come into +consideration in regard to military transports and agricultural or other +lines--including many narrow-gauge ones--which serve local purposes +only and are still owned by private companies, the State not having +thought it necessary in the general interest to take them over. + +A more accurate idea of the real bearings of German railways on the +military and strategical situation can be gathered from the large map +("Kartenbeilage I") which accompanies the "Bericht" presented to the +Kaiser, in 1911, by the Prussian Minister of Public Works under the +title of "Die Verwaltung der öffentlichen Arbeiten in Preussen, 1900 bis +1910." On this map a clear distinction is drawn between State-owned and +company-owned lines, while difference in colouring shows the additions +made to the State system during the decade either by construction of new +lines or by State acquisition of existing lines. + +One especially noticeable feature brought out by this map is the fact +that, in addition to the innumerable railway lines built either to the +frontiers or establishing intercommunication and exchange of traffic +between those lines themselves, there is an almost unbroken series +running parallel to the coasts of _Pomerania_ and _East Prussia_, and +thence southward all along and close to the frontiers of Russia and +Russian Poland. In this way troops can be moved, not only by different +routes _to_ many points along the Baltic coast or the Russian frontier, +but, also, _from_ one of these coastal or frontier points direct to +another, as may be desired. + +The strategical significance of this arrangement is sufficiently +obvious; but any possible doubt as to the purpose aimed at is removed +by some observations thereon made by Joesten, who further says in his +"Geschichte und System der Eisenbahnbenutzung im Kriege":-- + + If it is true that, generally speaking, the best + railways for general purposes constitute excellent lines of + communication for armies, it is no less true that good, or + very good, strategical lines cannot, and ought not to, in all + cases constitute good commercial lines. In support of this + assertion one can refer to the immense extent of railway lines + on the coasts of Pomerania. These lines, which are of the + first importance from a strategical point of view, have only + a moderate value from a commercial standpoint, considering + that they do not connect the interior of the country with any + district providing goods or passenger traffic on a material + scale, and only provide means of communication between + localities having identical needs. + +What is thus admitted in regard to the coastal railways of Pomerania +applies no less to many, if not to most, of the frontier lines in East +Prussia, West Prussia and Silesia. + +Not only, again, is the number of German lines going to the frontiers, +and no farther, out of all proportion to the number of those providing +for international communication, but the map on which these observations +are based shows that between 1900 and 1910 there were added to the +Prussian State system many lines which (1) established additional +transverse links between those already going to the Russian frontier, +(2) provided alternative routes thereto, or (3) supplemented the +lines which skirt the frontier, a few miles inland, by branches going +therefrom to strategic points actually on the frontier itself. + +As against this construction of an elaborate network of strategical +lines towards and along _the Russian frontier_, there must be put the +fact that although, by this means, Germany acquired the power to effect +a great and speedy concentration of troops on the frontier itself, her +locomotives and rolling stock would not be able to cross into Russia and +run on the railways there because of _the difference in gauge_. On the +eastern frontier the question as to how an invasion in large force could +be effected was, consequently, quite different from that which would +present itself on the western frontiers, where the railway gauges of +Belgium, Luxemburg and France were the same as those of Germany. + +It was certain that whenever, in the event of war, German troops were +able to enter Russian territory, Russia would withdraw into the interior +or else destroy such of her locomotives and rolling stock as the enemy +might otherwise utilise for his own purpose. If, therefore, the Germans +wanted to use the existing Russian lines, they would either have to +build, in advance, locomotives and rolling stock capable of running +thereon, or they would have to convert the Russian gauge of 5 feet to +the German gauge of 4 feet 8½ inches, so that German trains could run +on the other side of the frontier. As already remarked on page 61, the +reduction of the broader gauge into a narrower one would involve fewer +engineering difficulties than an expansion of the German gauge into the +Russian gauge; yet even the former procedure, if carried out over any +considerable length of line, would take up a good deal of time, and +this would be still more the case if the Russians, when they retreated, +destroyed the railway track and bridges behind them, as they might +confidently be expected to do. + +Dependence, again, on the existing lines across the frontier would, +apart from questions of conversion and reconstruction, still give +Germany only a very small number of railway routes into Russia, and +these, also, at points where the opposition offered might be especially +active. + +What, in these circumstances, Germany evidently planned to do as soon +as her troops crossed the frontier, in the event of a war with Russia, +was to supplement the strategical lines on her own side of that frontier +by military light railways which, laid on the ordinary roads, or on +clearances to be effected, on Russian territory, would render her +independent of the ordinary railways there, while offering the further +advantage (1) that the laying of these narrow-gauge military lines--in +rough and ready fashion, yet in a way that would answer the purposes of +the moment--could be effected in shorter time than the gauge-conversion +and the reconstruction of the Russian trunk lines would take; and (2) +that these military railways could be built from any points along +the frontier which were capable of being reached direct from the +German strategical lines, and offered either an existing road or the +opportunity of making one for the purpose. + +In the light of this assumption, one can understand more clearly the +reason for those short lines which, branching out from the German +strategical railways that run parallel to the Russian frontier though +some miles from it, are carried to the frontier and there suddenly stop. +It was, presumably, from such terminal points as these that the laying +of the military railways on Russian territory would begin. + +As regards the type of railways to be employed and the preparations made +in advance for supplying and constructing them, we have the testimony of +Mr. Roy Norton, an American writer, who says in "The Man of Peace"--one +of the "Oxford Pamphlets, 1914-15," published by the Oxford University +Press:-- + + On February 14 of this year (1914) I was in Cologne, and + blundered, where I had no business, into what I learned was + a military-stores yard. Among other curious things were tiny + locomotives loaded on flats which could be run off those cars + by an ingenious contrivance of metals, or, as we call them in + America, rails. Also there were other flats loaded with sections + of tracks fastened on cup ties (sleepers that can be laid on the + surface of the earth) and sections of miniature bridges on other + flats. I saw how it was possible to lay a line of temporary + railway, including bridges, almost anywhere in an incredibly + short space of time, if one had the men.... Before I could + conclude my examination I discovered that I was on _verboten_ + ground; but the official who directed me out told me that what I + had seen were construction outfits. + +Mr. Norton further quotes the following from a letter he had just +received from a Hollander who was a refugee in Germany at the outbreak +of the war, and reached home on August 30, 1914:-- + + Never, I believe, did a country so thoroughly get ready + for war. I saw the oddest spectacle, the building of a railway + behind a battle-field. They had diminutive little engines and + rails in sections, so that they could be bolted together, and + even bridges that could be put across ravines in a twinkling. + Flat cars that could be carried by hand and dropped on the + rails, great strings of them. Up to the nearest point of battle + came, on the regular railway, this small one.... It seemed to + me that hundreds of men had been trained for this task, for in + but a few minutes that small portable train was buzzing backward + and forward on its own small portable rails, distributing food + and supplies.... I've an idea that in time of battle it would + be possible for those sturdy little trains to shift troops to + critical or endangered points at the rate of perhaps twenty + miles an hour.... A portable railway for a battle-field struck + me as coming about as close to making war by machinery as + anything I have ever heard of. + +One may thus reasonably conclude, in regard to the Russo-German +frontier, (1) that the broader gauge of the Russian railways would +itself offer no real obstacle to the German troops whenever the time +came for their invading Russian territory; (2) that in this eventuality +the Germans would be able, by reason of the preparations made by them in +advance, to lay down along the ordinary Russian roads lines of military +light railways already put together in complete sections of combined +rails and sleepers, which sections would only require to be fastened +the one to the other to be at once ready for use; and (3) that these +portable military railways, to be built on Russian territory, were +designed both to supplement and to render still more efficient Germany's +network of strategical railways along her eastern frontier. + +In _southern Silesia_ many improvements in the rail communication with +Austria were made in 1900-10. New connections were established with the +frontier railways, offering alternative routes from interior points, +while various lines which stopped short of the frontier were extended to +it and linked up with Austrian lines on the other side. + +In her relations with _France_, Germany's efforts to improve still +further her rail communications to the eastern and north-eastern +frontiers of that country have been continuous since the war of 1870-1, +on which campaign she started with a great advantage over the French +since she was able to concentrate her troops on those frontiers by +nine different routes, namely, six in North Germany, and three in +South Germany, whereas France herself had then only three available. +The course adopted by Germany has been (1) to secure a larger number +of routes to the French frontier, South Germany's three lines, for +instance, being increased to six; (2) to provide double track, or to +substitute double for single track, for lines leading to the frontier +and having a strategical importance; (3) to construct lines which +cross transversely those proceeding direct to the French frontiers, +thus allowing of intercommunication and transfer of traffic from one +to another; and (4) improvement of the interior network of lines, +with a view to facilitating military transport services in time of +war. "Altogether," says Joesten, "we have nineteen points at which +our railways cross the Rhine, and sixteen double-track lines for the +transport of our troops from east to west, as against the nine which +were alone available for concentration in 1870." + +While showing all this activity on the immediate frontiers of France, +Germany was no less zealous in providing alternative routes for a fresh +invasion of French territory, the adoption of this further policy being +obviously inspired by the energy that France was herself showing in the +strengthening of her north-east frontier against invasion. + +One such alternative route was represented by _Luxemburg_. Not only +did Germany have lines of her own on the north, south, and east of +Luxemburg, but the lines within the Grand Duchy itself had passed under +German control; and if Germany thought fit to disregard her treaty +obligations, and use the lines for strategical purposes, Luxemburg was +powerless to prevent her from so doing. + +Another alternative route was by way of _Belgium_; and the various +developments of Germany's railway policy on the Belgian frontier since +1908 point in an unmistakable manner to deliberate preparation on her +part for an invasion of that country, whether for the purpose of passing +through it, as a means of reaching a more vulnerable part of French +territory than the strongly fortified north-east corner, or in pursuance +of designs against Belgium itself. + +The full story of Germany's activity in this direction will be found in +a series of articles from the _Fortnightly Review_ reproduced by the +author, Mr. Demetrius C. Boulger, in "England's Arch-Enemy: A Collection +of Essays forming an Indictment of German Policy during the last sixteen +years" (London, 1914).[53] + +The story opens with the establishment by Germany, about the year 1896, +of a camp at Elsenborn, ten miles north-east of Malmédy, a town situate +close to the Belgian frontier and four miles from the Belgian town of +Stavelot. The camp was begun on a small scale, and at the outset the +establishment of it on the site in question was declared by the Prussian +authorities to have no strategical significance. It steadily developed, +however, in size and importance, and its position, character and +surroundings all suggested that it was designed for aggressive rather +than defensive purposes. + +At first the camp was reached from Hellenthal, a station, fourteen miles +away, on a light railway connected with the lines in the Eifel district, +between Cologne and Treves (Trier), on the Moselle; but in 1896 a light +railway was constructed from Aix-la-Chapelle parallel with the Belgian +frontier as far as St. Vith, a distance of fifty miles, the main purpose +of this line being stated to be the securing of a better connection, +from Sourbrodt, for the camp at Elsenborn. The line was, nevertheless, +extended to Trois Vièrges (Ger. Uflingen), where it connected both +with the railway system of the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg and with the +main lines of the Belgian System from Pepinster, via Spa, Stavelot, +Trois Ponts and Gouvy, to Trois Vièrges. From Trois Ponts there is a +direct route to Liége, while Gouvy, situate only a few miles from Trois +Vièrges, is the junction both for Libramont, on the main line from +Brussels to Metz and Alsace, and for the further junction of Beatrix, +the central point of a Belgian line running parallel with the French +frontier from Dinant to Luxemburg. + +The single-track line from Aix-la-Chapelle along the Belgian frontier, +supplemented by a light-railway branch from Weismes to Malmédy, met all +the traffic requirements of a scantily-populated and primitive district, +devoid alike of industries and of local resources, and offering very +little traffic; but in 1908 the Prussian Government suddenly decided +to double the line, first as far as Weismes, and then to St. Vith, +notwithstanding that there was no apparent justification for such a +procedure. The widening involved, also, the reconstruction of a high +embankment originally designed for one set of metals, a fact which +showed that only a few years previously--since when the local traffic +had not materially increased--there was no idea that a double-track +line would ever be wanted. Still more significant was the fact that, in +addition to the second set of metals, sidings were provided on such a +scale at the stations _en route_, in localities possessing only a dozen +or so of cottages, that, in the aggregate, trains containing a complete +Army Corps could have been accommodated on them. At one station three +sidings, each about 500 yards long, were supplied, and at another a +perfect network of sidings was constructed, including two which were at +least half a mile long and were, also, equipped with turntables.[54] + +The provision, more especially, of sidings such as these at local +stations where the trains were few and far between and the ordinary +merchandise was represented by some occasional coal trucks, could have +but one purpose. They were obviously designed--in conjunction with +the substitution of double for single track--to permit of a large +body of troops, whether from Aix-la-Chapelle (an important point of +concentration for the Prussian Army, on mobilisation), or elsewhere, +being assembled in the immediate neighbourhood of Weismes, the junction +of the branch line to Malmédy, for an invasion of Belgium. The doubling +of the rails as far as Weismes was completed by May, 1909. It was +afterwards continued to St. Vith, and so on to Trois Vièrges. + +We have thus far, however, got only the first chapter of the story. The +second opens with the further attempt of the Prussian Government to +secure an extension of the Weismes-Malmédy line as a "light railway" +across the frontier to Stavelot, three miles east of Trois Ponts, thus +giving a shorter route from Aix-la-Chapelle and the camp at Elsenborn +to Liége, Namur, Louvain and Brussels, and a second route to Gouvy for +Libramont, Bertrix and the north of France. + +As the result of the influence they were able to bring to bear on them, +the Germans succeeded in persuading the Belgian Government, not only to +agree to the Weismes-Malmédy branch being continued to Stavelot, but +themselves to build the greater part of this connecting link, and even +to cut, on the north of Stavelot, a tunnel without which that town would +have remained inaccessible by rail. + +Once more there could be no suggestion that this connecting link, opened +in October, 1913, was wanted in the interests of the ordinary traffic, +the needs of which were adequately met by the diligence running twice +a day between Malmédy and Stavelot. What was really aimed at was a +rail connection with the Belgian system by means of which the troops +concentrated in those extensive sidings on the Aix-la-Chapelle-St. +Vith line could be poured into Belgium in a continuous stream for the +achievement of designs on Belgium or--operating from either the Belgian +or the Luxemburg frontier--on France. + +In helping to provide this connection, Belgium, as subsequent events +were to show, was in a position akin to that of a man forced to dig +the grave in which he is to be buried after being shot; but Belgium, +we are told, "yielded in this and other matters because she could not +resist without support, and no support was forthcoming." There certainly +was an attempt to lull possible suspicions by the designation of the +Malmédy-Stavelot link as a "light railway." It was, also, evident that +the physical conditions of the Weismes-Malmédy branch, with which it +was to connect, would not permit of any heavy traffic along it. But +the so-called "light railway" was built with the same gauge as the +main-line systems on each side of the frontier; the powers obtained in +respect to it allowed of trains being run at a speed of forty miles an +hour, as against the recognised speed of sixteen miles an hour on light +railways proper; while no sooner had the link been established than +Germany discarded the defective Weismes-Malmédy branch for the purposes +of military transport, and built a new line from Malmédy to Weywertz, +a station to the north or north-east of Weismes. This Malmédy-Weywertz +branch would, it was understood, be used exclusively for military +traffic, and the station at Weywertz was, in due course, provided with +its own extensive platforms and network of sidings for the accommodation +of troop trains. + +We now come to the third chapter of the story; and here we learn that +what was happening in the immediate proximity of the German-Belgian +frontier was but part of a much wider scheme, though one still designed +to serve the same purpose--that, namely, of ensuring the invasion of +Belgium by German troops with the greatest facility and in the least +possible time. + +From Weywertz, the new junction for Stavelot and the Belgian railways +in general, the Germans built a line to Jünkerath, a station north of +Gerolstein, on the line from Cologne to Treves. Then from Blankenheim, +immediately north of Jünkerath, and from Lissendorf, on the south +of the same station, there were opened for traffic, in July, 1912, +new double-track lines which, meeting at Dümpelfeld, on the existing +Remagen-Adenau line, gave a through route for troops from the Rhine, +across the Eifel district to Weywertz, and so on to Stavelot for +destinations (in war-time) throughout Belgium, Luxemburg, or along the +northern frontier of France. + +This direct route to Belgium offered the further advantage that it +avoided any necessity for troops from the Rhine to pass through +Cologne, where much congestion might otherwise occur. It also left +the Aix-la-Chapelle-Weywertz route free for troops from Cologne and +Westphalia, while a further improvement of the facilities for crossing +the Rhine made Remagen still more accessible for troops from all parts +of Central Germany destined for Belgium--and beyond. + +Reference to the Prussian State Railways official map shows, also, (1) +a new line from Coblenz which joins, at Mayen, the existing railway +from Andernach, on the Rhine, to Gerolstein, in the Eifel, whence the +Belgian border can be reached either via Jünkerath and Weywertz or +via Lammersweiler and the Luxemburg station of Trois-Vièrges; (2) the +extension to Daun, also on the Andernach-Gerolstein route, of a short +branch on the Coblenz-Treves Railway which previously terminated at +Wittlich; and (3) several other small lines in the Eifel district, +offering additional facilities for the concentration of troops on the +Belgian frontier. + +So the Malmédy-Stavelot "light railway"--especially in view of this +series of new German lines all leading thereto--had become a railway +of the greatest strategical importance; and the fourth chapter of the +story (though one upon which it is not proposed to enter here) would +show how this network of strategical lines, developed with so much +energy and thoroughness, was brought into operation in 1914 immediately +on the outbreak of war, and, from that time, constituted one of the +main arteries for the passage of German troops to and from Belgium and +Northern France. + +In regard to _Holland_, one finds a new line of railway from Jülich--a +station reached from Düren, on the main line between Cologne and +Aix-la-Chapelle--to Dalheim, the German frontier station on the direct +line from Cologne via Rheydt to Roermond, a Dutch station on the right +bank of the Meuse (which is here crossed by two bridges), and thence +through the Belgian stations of Moll and Herenthals and across the flat +expanse of the Campine to Antwerp. + +This line obviously offers an alternative route for the transport of +troops from Cologne and Aix-la-Chapelle to Dalheim; but of still greater +significance is the information given by the writer of the _Fortnightly +Review_ articles as to the changes carried out at Dalheim itself, +transforming that place from "an unimportant halting-place" into "a +point of concentration of great strategical importance" on the frontiers +of Holland. + +Inasmuch as the line from Dalheim to Roermond and on to Antwerp was +already a double one, the alterations made at Dalheim were confined +to a liberal provision of railway sidings in order that, as we have +seen was done on the Belgian frontier, a large body of troops could +be concentrated for a possible invasion, in this instance, either of +Holland itself, or of Belgium by the alternative route across the +south-eastern corner of Dutch territory. + +One of the Dalheim sidings, about a quarter of a mile in length, +situate on a high embankment; and, in order that it could be reached +without interfering with other traffic, a bridge over which the main +line runs east of Dalheim station was widened to allow of the laying +across it of a third pair of rails. Other sidings adjoining Dalheim +station have no fewer than ten pairs of parallel rails, and there +are still others on the west of the same station, towards the Dutch +frontier. At Wegberg and Rheydt, east of Dalheim, further sidings were +provided which, like those at Dalheim, would not possibly be required +for other than military reasons. + +Summing up the situation in regard alike to the Belgian and the Dutch +frontiers, Mr. Boulger remarks, in his article of February, 1914:-- + + Thus on an arc extending from Treves to Nijmegen (excluding + from our purview what is called the main concentration on the + Saar, behind Metz), the German War Department has arranged for a + simultaneous advance by fourteen separate routes across Holland, + Belgium and the Grand Duchy. + +In view of all these facts, there is no possible room for doubt as to +the prolonged and extensive nature of the preparations made by Germany +for the war she instigated in 1914; but the particular consideration +with which we are here concerned is that of seeing to what extent those +preparations related either to the construction of strategical lines of +railway or to the adaptation of existing lines to strategical purposes. + +Leaving Belgium and Holland, and looking at the Prussian State lines in +_Schleswig-Holstein_, one finds on the official map the indication of +a new line (partly built and partly under construction in 1910) which, +starting from Holtenau, at the mouth of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal in the +Baltic, continues the short distance to Kiel, then turns to the west, +connects with the Neumünster-Vandrup main line to Denmark, crosses the +canal, and so on to Husum, a junction on the Altona-Esbjerg west-coast +route. This new line would evidently be of strategical advantage in +moving troops from Kiel either for the defence of the Kaiser Wilhelm +Canal or to resist invasion by sea on the north of the waterway. Then +the existing line from Kiel through Eckernförde to Flensburg, on the +Neumünster-Vandrup route to Denmark, and giving through connection from +Kiel to Tondern and Hoyer on the west coast--has been "nationalised," +and so added to the Prussian State system; while from two stations just +to the north of Flensburg there are short new lines which, meeting at +Torsbüll, continue to the Alsener Sund, on the west of the Little Belt, +and may--or may not--be of value in improving Prussia's strategical +position in this corner of the Baltic, and in immediate proximity to the +Danish island of Fünen. + +Finally a large number of additions have been made in recent years to +the State Railway systems in the interior of Germany; and, although a +good proportion of these may have been provided to meet the increased +economic and social needs of the German people, many of them must +be regarded as strategical lines designed to facilitate (1) the +mobilisation of troops on the outbreak of war; (2) their concentration, +by routes covering all parts of the Empire, as arranged long in advance; +and (3) their speedy transfer across country from one frontier to +another, should several campaigns be fought at the same time. + +The resort by Germany to strategical railways in Africa and elsewhere, +as a means of furthering her Weltpolitik, will be dealt with in the two +chapters that follow. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[52] "Gesammelte Schriften." Berlin, 1891, etc. + +[53] The articles which here specially come into question are--"The +Menace of Elsenborn" (published in the _Fortnightly_, July, 1908); "An +Object Lesson in German Plans" (February, 1910); and "A Further Object +Lesson in German Plans" (February, 1914). + +[54] They were "hydraulic turntables," according to Major +Stuart-Stephens. See _The English Review_ for June, 1915. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A GERMAN-AFRICAN EMPIRE + + +Strategical railways in South-West Africa were built by Germany as +a means towards the achievement of her designs on British South +Africa; but these, in turn, were only part of a still greater plan +having for its purpose the transformation of Africa as a whole into a +German-African Empire which should compare in value, if not in glory, +with that of the Indian Empire itself. + +Colonisation societies began to be formed in Germany as early as 1849; +though in the first instance the aims of their promoters were directed +mainly to such parts of the world as Brazil, Texas, the Mosquito Shore, +Chili and Morocco. All such places as these, however, offered the +disadvantage that Germans going there could only become foreign settlers +under the more or less civilised Powers already in possession.[55] +In the 60's and 70's of the nineteenth century attention in Germany +began to be diverted, rather, to Africa as a land where vast expanses, +possessing great prospects and possibilities, and not yet controlled by +any civilised Power, were still available not only for colonisation but +for acquisition. So it was that successive German travellers explored +many different parts of Africa and published accounts of their journeys +designed, not merely as contributions to geographical science, but, +also, to impress a then somewhat apathetic German public with the +importance of their acquiring a "footing" on the African continent. +In 1873 a German Society for the Exploration of Equatorial Africa was +founded. This was followed in 1876 by the German African Society, and +subsequently these two bodies were combined under the name of the Berlin +African Society. + +Not long after this, evidence was forthcoming that something far more +than the settling of German colonists in Africa and the securing of a +"footing" on African soil by Germany was really being kept in view. + +In 1880 Sir Bartle Frere, at that time Governor of the Cape and High +Commissioner for South Africa, forwarded to Lord Kimberley a translation +of an article which had just been contributed to the _Geographische +Nachrichten_ by Ernst von Weber; and, in doing so he informed the +Colonial Secretary that the article contained "a clear and well-argued +statement in favour of the plan for a German colony in South Africa +which was much discussed in German commercial and political circles +even before the Franco-German War, and is said to have been one of the +immediate motives of the German mission of scientific inquiry which +visited southern and eastern Africa in 1870-71." + +Von Weber's proposals[56] pointed, however, to the creation, not simply +of "a German colony" in South Africa, but of a German Empire in Africa. +"A new Empire," he wrote, "possibly more valuable and more brilliant +than even the Indian Empire, awaits in the newly-discovered Central +Africa that Power which shall possess sufficient courage, strength and +intelligence to acquire it"; and he proceeded to show (1) why Germany +should be this Power, and (2) the means by which she might eventually +secure control of the whole country. + +The establishment of trading settlements was to ensure for the Germans +a footing in the districts north of the Transvaal, and this was to +be followed by the flooding of South Africa generally with German +immigrants. The Boers spread throughout South Africa were already allied +to the Germans by speech and habits, and they would, he thought, be +sure to emigrate to the north and place themselves under the protection +of the German colonies there, rather than remain subject to the hated +British. In any case, "a constant mass-immigration of Germans would +gradually bring about a decided numerical preponderance of Germans over +the Dutch population, and of itself would effect the Germanisation of +the country in a peaceful manner. It was," he continued, "this free, +unlimited room for annexation in the north, this open access to the +heart of Africa, which principally inspired me with the idea, now more +than four years ago, that Germany should try, by the acquisition of +Delagoa Bay and the subsequent continued influx of German immigrants +into the Transvaal, to secure future dominion over the country, and +so pave the way for the foundation of a German-African Empire of the +future." + +The procedure to be followed was (1) the acquiring of territory in +Africa by Germany wherever she could get it, whether in the central or +in the coastal districts; (2) co-operation with the Boers as a step +towards bringing them and their Republics under German suzerainty; and +(3) the overthrow of British influence, with the substitution for it of +German supremacy. + +These ideas gained wide acceptance in Germany; they became a leading +factor in the colonial policy of the Imperial Government, and they +reconciled the German people, more or less, to the heavy burdens which +the developments of that policy were to involve. + + +GERMAN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA + +The first steps towards the attainment of the aspirations entertained +were taken by Herr Adolf Lüderitz, a Bremen merchant who, acting under +the auspices of the German Colonial Society, and having received from +the Imperial Foreign Office assurances of its protection, established +a trading settlement, in April, 1883, in the bay of Angra Pequeña, +situate between Namaqualand and Damaraland on the west coast of Africa, +and about 150 miles north of Orange River, the northern boundary of +Cape Colony. Acquiring from a Hottentot chief a stretch of territory +215 miles in extent in the Hinterland of Angra Pequeña, Lüderitz +raised the German flag in the settlement, which thus became Germany's +first colony. Further concessions of territory were obtained, and in +September, 1884, Germany announced that the west coast of Africa, from +26 degrees S. latitude to Cape Frio, excepting Walfisch Bay (declared +British in 1878), had been placed under the protection of the German +Emperor. A treaty made between England and Germany in 1890 defined the +limits of the German South-West African Protectorate as bounded on the +south by the Orange River and Cape Colony, on the north by Portuguese +Angola, on the west by the Atlantic, and on the east by British +Bechuanaland, with the so-called "Caprivi Strip," giving Germany access +from the north-east corner of her Protectorate to a point on the Zambezi +River north of Victoria Falls.[57] The total area comprised within these +boundaries was about 322,200 square miles. + +At the outset, the new Protectorate aroused little enthusiasm in Germany +as a colony where her surplus population could hope to settle and +prosper under the German flag instead of going to foreign countries, +as so many thousands of Germans were then doing. On a coast-line of +900 miles there was no good natural harbour except the one at Walfisch +Bay, owned by the British. Swakopmund and Lüderitzbucht, on which the +German colonists would have to rely, were then little better than open +roadsteads. Considerable expanses of the territory itself consist of +drought-stricken desert. The rainfall in Damaraland and Namaqualand +averages only about three inches a year. In certain districts a period +of five or six years has been known to pass without any rain at all. +A record of rainfall on some parts of the coast has shown a total of +one-fifth of an inch in the course of twelve months. At Walfisch Bay the +British settlement imports its fresh water from Capetown. On the higher +of the series of plateaux rising gradually to the Kalahari desert the +climatic conditions are more favourable, and the better rainfall in the +north-east allows of good crops being grown, while various sections are +favourable for stock-raising. In later years, also, various deposits +of copper were found in the district of Otavi, some 400 miles from +Swakopmund, and diamond fields, which yielded nearly £1,000,000 worth of +stones in the first year, were discovered east of Lüderitzbucht in 1908. +But in Germany the Protectorate was regarded as a desirable acquisition +mainly, if not exclusively, because of the advantages it was expected to +afford as a base for the eventual creation of a German-African Empire. + + +THE HERERO RISING + +The attainment of this higher purpose seemed likely to be furthered as +the result of the steps taken to suppress the risings of the Hereros +and the Hottentots between the years 1903 and 1907. Not only did the +reinforcements sent out from Germany assume such proportions that at one +time the Germans are said to have had no fewer than 19,000 men under +arms in the Protectorate, but the troops took with them a plentiful +supply of pom-poms, mountain guns, field guns and Maxims of various +kinds, the _Revue Militaire des Armées Étrangères_ being led to remark +thereon that "the German columns had an unusually large proportion of +artillery, roughly two batteries to three companies of mounted infantry; +and it is difficult to believe that so many guns were necessary, +especially as the Hereros had no artillery at all.[58] Probably," +the _Revue_ continued, "the artillery could have been dispensed with +altogether; and had this been done, the columns would have been rendered +more mobile." + +The military measures taken appeared to be in excess of requirements +even when allowance was made for the fact that the campaign was fought +in difficult country and that the Germans themselves lost about 5,000 +men; but the real significance of the policy adopted lay in the keeping +of a considerable proportion of the German expeditionary force in the +colony after the rising had, with German thoroughness, been effectively +crushed. + +This procedure attracted attention and adverse comment even in Germany, +where doubts were already being entertained as to whether good value was +being received for the £30,000,000 which the suppression of the troubles +had cost. It was, however, made clear that the still considerable +body of German troops left in the colony was being kept on hand there +in case of the opportunity arising for its employment in another +direction--that, namely, of achieving Germany's aspirations in regard +to the conquest of British South Africa, and the final elimination of +British influence from Africa in general. + +Evidence both as to the nature of these continued aspirations and as to +the further purpose it was hoped the troops on the spot might effect was +forthcoming in various directions. + +In a book of 416 pages, published in 1905, under the title of "Das +neue Südafrika," Dr. Paul Samassa emphasised the part which the German +people had taken in the settlement of South Africa; pointed to the +close relationship and affinity of feeling between Germans and Boers; +encouraged the idea of their mutually looking forward to the opening up +of South Africa as "a land of settlement for the German race," and said, +further:-- + + German South-West Africa is, to-day, a strong tramp card in + our hands, from the point of view of Weltpolitik. In England + much has been said of late as to what a good thing it would + be for that country if our fleet were annihilated before it + became dangerous.... On our side we might cool these hot-heads, + and strengthen the peace party in England, if we reminded them + that, whatever the loss to ourselves of a war with that country, + England would run a greater risk--that of losing South Africa. + We have in German South-West Africa to-day about 12,000 troops, + of whom one-half will remain there for a considerable time. In + the event of a war between Germany and England the South African + coast would naturally be blockaded by England; and there would + then be nothing left for our troops to do but to go on to Cape + Colony--for their food supplies. + +In so doing they could, he argued, count upon the support of the Boers, +of whom there were 14,000 opposed to the English at the end of the +South African war. As against this possible concentration of German +troops and Boers there was the fact that the English garrison in South +Africa did not exceed 20,000. So, he added, the people in England could +consider "what an incalculable adventure a war with Germany might be, +notwithstanding the superiority of the English fleet." + +Speaking in the Reichstag in February, 1906, Herr Ledebour called +attention to the fact that Major von François, who at one time was +in command of German South-West Africa, had declared, in his book, +"Nama und Damara," issued three months previously, that fewer than one +thousand troops would suffice to maintain order in the colony; and Herr +Ledebour added:--"For two years imaginative Pan-German politicians +have been disseminating the idea that a large force must be maintained +in South-West Africa for the purpose of exercising in the sphere of +Weltpolitik pressure upon England, with the eventual object of invading +Cape Colony." + +There is the testimony, also, of "An Anglo-German," who, in the course +of an article on "German Clerks in British Offices," published in _The +London Magazine_ for November, 1910, tells the following story:-- + + During a recent stay in Germany I was introduced by a man + I know to be one of the chief functionaries of the Commerce + Defence League[59] to a friend of his who had just returned + from German South-West Africa. On a subsequent meeting I entered + into conversation with this gentleman, and made inquiries about + German progress in that part of the world. He answered my + questions without reserve. Little headway was being made, and + little was looked for. Men and money were being freely expended, + without present return. The only good harbour (Walfisch Bay) is + a British possession, as likewise are all the islands of any + value which are dotted along the coast. + + "Why then," was my inevitable query, "do the Germans persist + in their occupation of the country?" + + He smiled craftily. + + "We Germans look far ahead, my friend," he replied. "We + foresee a British débácle in South Africa, and we are on the + spot. Thanks to the pioneers of our excellent League, our + plans are all matured. The League finances the scheme and the + Imperial Government supplies the military forces. By cession--or + otherwise--Walfisch Bay will before long be German territory; + but in the meantime British Free Trade opposes no obstacle to + us, and we can pursue our purpose unmolested." + + "But what is that purpose?" I asked, with the object of + leading him on. + + "Surely you are not so blind as to need enlightenment!" was + his reply. "Germany has long regarded South Africa as a future + possession of her own. When the inevitable happens, and Great + Britain finds her hands full elsewhere, we are ready to strike + the moment the signal is given, and Cape Colony, Bechuanaland, + Rhodesia--all frontier States--will fall like ripe apples into + our grasp." + +In order, however, that Germany might be prepared thus to take action +at a moment's notice, two things were essential, in addition to having +troops on the spot, namely, (1) that the colony should possess railways +within striking distance alike of the Cape, of Bechuanaland and of +Rhodesia; and (2) that the military preparations as a whole should be so +complete as to be ready for any emergency. + + +RAILWAYS IN G.S.W. AFRICA + +Railways were indispensable on account, not only of the considerable +distances to be covered, but, also, of the sand-belts and stretches of +desert across which the transport of troops and stores would be a matter +of great difficulty without the help of railways. They were, in fact, a +vital part of the whole scheme. + +Following on Germany's annexation of Damaraland and Great Namaqualand, +and her conversion of them into the Protectorate of German South-West +Africa, a party of German engineers and surveyors landed at Swakopmund +with the design of planning a line of railway to be constructed from +that point to Windhoek, and thence across the Kalahari desert to the +Transvaal. About the same time, also, Germans and Boers were alike +working to secure as much of Bechuanaland as they could, without +attracting too much attention to their proceedings. A realisation +of these further aims might have been of great value to Germany in +facilitating the attainment of her full programme in respect to +Africa; but the scheme was frustrated by Great Britain's annexation of +Bechuanaland in September, 1885, the result of the step thus taken being +to drive a wedge of British territory between German South-West Africa +and the Boer Republics. + +So the railway in question got no further east than Windhoek, the +capital of the colony, a distance inland of 237 miles. + +Having failed in one direction, Germany tried another. Under a +concession granted to them in 1887 by the Government of the Transvaal +Republic, a group of Dutch, German and other capitalists, constituting +the Netherlands South African Railway Company, built a railway from +Delagoa Bay to Pretoria; and the new aim of Germany was, apparently, +to make use of this line, and so get access to the Transvaal--and +beyond--from the east coast instead of from the west. + +Confirmation of this fact is to be found in "A Brief History of the +Transvaal Secret Service System, from its Inception to the Present +Time," written by Mr. A. E. Heyer, and published at Cape Town in 1899. +The writer had held a position in the Transvaal which enabled him to +learn many interesting facts concerning the working of the system in +question. Among other things he tells how, at Lisbon, every effort +was made to obtain a port in Delagoa Bay, and how, "aided by Germany, +Dr. Leyds approached Lisbon over and over again with a view to get +Delagoa Bay ceded to the Transvaal"; though the Doctor got no more +from the Portuguese authorities than a reminder that, under the London +Convention of 1884, the South African Republic could conclude no treaty +or engagement with any foreign State or nation (except the Orange Free +State) until such treaty or engagement had been submitted to the Queen +of England for her approval. + +That Germany, in giving her "aid" in these matters to the Transvaal +Republic, was inspired by a regard for the furthering of her own +particular schemes is beyond all reasonable doubt; but Mr. Heyer shows, +also, that when the negotiations with Portugal were unsuccessful, there +was elaborated a scheme under which Germany and the Transvaal were to +get what they wanted by means of a _coup de main_. Mr. Heyer says on +this subject:-- + + I have before me a copy of a document, dated Pretoria, + August 24, 1892 (the original of which is still in a certain + Government office in Pretoria), wherein a Pretoria-Berlin + scheme is detailed, namely, "How a few regiments of Prussian + Infantry could be landed at Delagoa Bay and force their way into + Transvaal territory, and, 'once in,' defy British suzerainty, + and for all time 'hang the annoying question of her paramountcy + on the nail.'" The name of Herr von Herff, then German Consul + at Pretoria, appears on the document. Any one reading this + cleverly-planned "Descent on Delagoa" would be readily convinced + as to how very easily a German raid on Delagoa territory could + be successfully accomplished. + +This project, also, proved abortive, and, in default of Delagoa Bay, +Germany had still to regard her South-West African Protectorate, with +its railways and its armed forces, as the base from which British +interests were to be wiped out--sooner or later--from the Cape to Cairo. + +At the time of the outbreak of war in 1914, the principal railways in +German South-West Africa--apart from some minor lines which do not come +into consideration--were as follows:-- + + -----------------+---------------+------------------- + | 2 ft. GAUGE. | 3 ft. 6 in. GAUGE. + RAILWAY. | Miles. | Miles. + -----------------+---------------+------------------- + Northern | 121 | 119½ + Otavi | 425 | -- + Southern | -- | 340½ + North-to-South | -- | 317 + -----------------+---------------+------------------- + Total | 546 | 777 + -----------------+---------------+------------------- + +Granting that the Northern Railway was needed to afford a means of +communication between Swakopmund and the capital of the colony, and that +the original purpose of the Otavi line was to provide an outlet for the +copper obtained from the mines in that district, it is, nevertheless, +the fact that the Southern and the North-to-South lines were designed to +serve what were mainly or exclusively strategical purposes. + +When the building of the first section of the Southern line--from +Lüderitzbucht to Aus--was under consideration in the Reichstag, one +of the members of that body, Herr Lattmann, recommended that the vote +should be passed without being referred to a committee; and in support +of his recommendation he said:-- + + This way of passing the vote would be of particular + importance for the whole nation, since the railway would not + then have to be regarded from the point of view of provisioning + our troops, or with regard to the financially remunerative + character of the colony, but because a much more serious + question lies behind it, namely, what significance has the + railway in the event of complications between Germany and other + nations? Yes, this railway can be employed for other purposes + than for transport from the coast to the interior; our troops + can be easily conveyed by it from the interior to the coast and + thence to other places. If, for example, a war had broken out + with England we could send them into Cape Colony. + +From Aus the line was extended in 1908 to Keetmanshoop, a distance +inland of 230 miles from Lüderitzbucht. Situate in the _Bezirk_ +(district) of South-West Africa nearest to Cape Province, Keetmanshoop, +with the railway as a source of supply from the chief harbour of the +colony, developed into the leading military station of German South-West +Africa. + +At Keetmanshoop all the chief military authorities were stationed. It +became the headquarters of the Medical Corps, the Ordnance Department, +the Engineer and Railway Corps, and the Intelligence Corps of the +Southern Command. It was the point of mobilisation for all the troops +in that Command. It had a considerable garrison, and it had, also, an +arsenal which a correspondent of the _Transvaal Chronicle_, who visited +the town about two years before the outbreak of war in 1914 and gathered +much information concerning the military preparations which had then +already been made,[60] described as four times as large, and, in regard +to its contents, four times as important, as the arsenal at Windhoek. +Those contents included--47 gun carriages; fourteen 16-pounders; +eighteen ambulances; 82 covered convoy vehicles; 3,287 wheels, mostly +for trek ox-wagons; three large transportable marquees used as magazines +and containing 28,000 military rifles; huge quantities of bandoliers, +kits, etc.; three further magazines for ammunition, and large stores +of fodder; while further military supplies were constantly arriving +by train from Lüderitzbucht, whither they were brought from Germany +by German ships. In the arsenal workshops was a staff of men actively +engaged on the making of, among other military requirements, 1,000 +saddles and water bags for the Camel Corps kept available for crossing +the desert between the furthest limit of the railway and the Cape +Province border. + +It was, also, in this south-eastern district, and in immediate +proximity, therefore, to Cape Province and Bechuanaland, that the +military forces kept in the colony had all their principal manoeuvres. + +Of still greater importance, from a strategical standpoint, was the +branch of this Southern Railway which, starting from Seeheim, forty +miles west of Keetmanshoop, continued in a south-easterly direction +to Kalkfontein, eighty miles north of Raman's Drift, on the Orange +River, and less than ninety miles from Ukamas, where the Germans had +established a military post within five miles of Nakob, situate on the +Bechuanaland border, only forty miles from Upington, in Cape Province. +From Kalkfontein the branch was to be continued another thirty miles to +Warmbad, and so on to Raman's Drift--a convenient point for the passage +of the Orange River into Cape Province territory by an attacking force. +At Seeheim, the junction of this branch line, a Service Corps was +stationed; Kalkfontein was the headquarters of the Camel Corps of 500 +men and animals; and at Warmbad there was a military post and a military +hospital. + +The North-to-South line allowed of an easy movement of troops between +the military headquarters at Keetmanshoop and Windhoek, or vice versâ. +According to the original estimates this line was not to be completed +before 1913. Special reasons for urgency--as to the nature of which it +would be easy to speculate--led, however, to the line being opened for +traffic on March 8, 1912. From Windhoek, also, troops were supplied to +Gobabis, situate 100 miles east of the capital and about forty miles +west of the Bechuanaland frontier. Gobabis became a German military +station in 1895. Provided with a well-equipped fort, it became the chief +strategical position on the eastern border of German South-West Africa. +A railway connecting Gobabis with Windhoek was to have been commenced in +1915. + +From Windhoek, as already told, there is rail communication with +Swakopmund. + +Grootfontein, the terminus, on the east, of the Swakopmund-Otavi line, +had been a military station since 1899. Its special significance lay +in the fact that it was the nearest point of approach by rail to the +"Caprivi Strip," along which the German troops, conveyed as far as +Grootfontein by rail, were to make their invasion of the adjoining +British territory of Rhodesia. Troop movements in this direction would +have been further facilitated by a link at Karibib connecting the +Swakopmund-Otavi-Grootfontein line with the one to Windhoek and thence +to the military headquarters at Keetmanshoop. Karibib was itself a +military base, in addition to having large railway offices and workshops. + +With, therefore, the minor exceptions, the system of railways in German +South-West Africa had been designed or developed in accordance with +plans which had for their basis an eventual attack on British territory +in three separate directions--(1) Cape Province, (2) Bechuanaland and +(3) Rhodesia. The Southern and the North-to-South lines had, also, been +built exclusively with the standard Cape gauge of 3 ft. 6 in., so that, +when "der Tag" arrived, and German succeeded British supremacy in South +Africa, these particular lines could be continued in order to link up +with those which the Germans would then expect to take over from Cape +Province. Keetmanshoop was eventually to be converted from a terminus to +a stopping-place on a through line of German railway from Lüderitzbucht +to Kimberley, the effect of which, it was pointed out, would be to +shorten the distance from Europe to Bulawayo by 1,300 miles as compared +with the journey via the Cape. Surveys had been made for extensions (1) +from Keetmanshoop, via Hasuur, to the Union frontier near Rietfontein, +and (2) from Kalkfontein, on the southern branch, to Ukamas, also on the +frontier and in the direction of Upington, in Union territory. Each of +these additions would have carried the original scheme a stage further, +though it was not, apparently, thought wise to make them before "der +Tag" actually arrived. + +On these various railways the Government of German South-West Africa +had expended, so far as the available figures show, a total of, +approximately, £8,400,000, defrayed in part from Imperial funds and +in part from the revenue of the Protectorate. This total includes the +amount paid by the Government to the South-West Africa Company for +their line from Swakopmund to the Company's mines at Otavi and Tsumeb, +but it does not include the cost of the original narrow-gauge Government +line from Swakopmund to Windhoek, of which the section between +Swakopmund and Karibib was abandoned when the Swakopmund-Otavi line, via +Karibib, was taken over, the remaining section from Karibib to Windhoek +being then converted into the Cape 3 ft. 6 in. gauge. On most of the +open lines no more than two or three trains a week were run, and on some +of the branches there was only one train in the week.[61] + + +MILITARY PREPARATIONS + +Further details as to the elaborate nature of the preparations made for +the realisation of Germany's dreams of conquest in Africa are supplied +by Mr. J. K. O'Connor in a pamphlet published at Capetown, towards the +end of 1914, under the title of "The Hun in our Hinterland; or the +Menace of G.S.W.A." Mr. O'Connor made a tour through German South-West +Africa a few months before the outbreak of the war, assuming the rôle +of a journalist in search of data concerning the agricultural resources +of the territory. He obtained much information which had other than an +agricultural interest. + +He ascertained, for instance, that the German troops then in the +territory consisted of Mounted Infantry, Field Artillery, Machine Gun +Divisions, Intelligence Divisions, an Engineer and Railway Corps, Field +Railway Divisions, an Etappen-Formation, a Camel Corps, a Police Force +and a Reserve, representing altogether--apart from natives--a trained +European force of approximately 10,000 men, whose duties and location in +the event of war had all been assigned to them in advance. + +He found that the railways had been supplemented by a strong transport +service of natives, who had an abundant supply of oxen and mules for +their wagons. + +He tells how (in addition to the military stations already mentioned) +the Germans had established throughout the territory a network of +block-houses, strengthened by forts at intervals and supplemented by +magazines and storehouses at central points; while 1,600 miles of +telegraph and telephone wires, together with the "Funken-telegraph," +placed all these stations and outposts in touch with one another as well +as with the military headquarters and the various towns.[62] + +He says concerning Keetmanshoop that its conversion into the chief +military station in the territory was "the first move in the German +game." + +He points to the fact that "Das Koloniale Jahrbuch," published by +authority, laid it down that the Boers in British South Africa must be +constantly reminded of their Low-German origin; that German ideas must +be spread among them by means of German schools and German churches, and +he declares:--"For thirty years Teuton ideas have been foisted upon the +Boer population of British South Africa. For thirty years, under the +guise of friendship, Germany has plotted and planned for the elimination +of the Anglo-Saxon element from South Africa." + +Mr. O'Connor further writes:-- + + From what I was able to gather it was evident that the + military plans of the Germans were completed for an invasion of + the Union territory, and that they were only awaiting the day + when Peace would spread her wings and soar from the embassies of + Europe. It was not anticipated, however, that that would be in + August, 1914. + + They were confident of success, and from the conversations + that took place between officers and myself it was evident that + the possession of the African continent was the greatest desire + of the Teutons. + + The smashing up of France and Great Britain were only + incidents that would lead to the whole continent of Africa + becoming a German possession; and it was considered that as + Germany would accomplish this, despite her late entrance upon + the stage as a Colonial Power, she would have more to show for + her thirty years as such a Power than could either England or + France, who had started colonising centuries before her. + + The great aim became to break France and England, for the + purpose of acquiring their African possessions; and, having + broken these Powers, Germany would have turned her attention to + the African possessions of smaller Powers who, having neither + England nor France to rely upon, would have been compelled to + relinquish their possessions, and, by so doing, would have made + Germany the supreme Power in Africa. + +Summing up the conclusions at which he arrived, as the result of all +that he saw for himself and all that he had heard from responsible +German officers during the course of his tour, Mr. O'Connor says:-- + + From the day the Germans set their feet upon South-West + African soil they have prepared themselves for a raid into + British territory. For years the Reichstag has voted two million + pounds per annum for the purpose. Had these millions been spent + on the development of South-West Africa it would, to-day, be a + colony of which any country might be proud. But what can they + show for this expenditure? Nothing but a military camp. + + It is evident, then, that this territory has not been + regarded by the Berliners as a colony, but as a jumping-off + ground for an invasion of British South Africa. + +Here we have simply an amplification of ideas which, as we have seen, +had long been entertained in Germany; though they were ideas it was now +being sought to reduce to practice by a resort, in advance, to every +step that could possibly be taken for ensuring their realisation. Any +suggestion that the system of strategical railways which had been built, +and the elaborate military preparations which had been effected, were +merely precautions against a further possible rising of the natives +would have been absurd. + + +RAIL CONNECTION WITH ANGOLA + +What Mr. O'Connor says in regard to Germany's attitude towards the +African possessions of the smaller Powers gives additional significance +to a report published in the _Leipziger Neueste Nachrichten_ of May 31, +1914, concerning a project for building a line of railway along the +coast of German South-West Africa to connect with Portuguese Angola. +This was to be the first of a series of lines which "after lengthy +discussions with the Imperial Government," were to be carried out in +German South-West Africa by a syndicate of prominent shipping and +banking houses in Germany, controlling an initial capital of 50,000,000 +marks (£2,500,000). It was further reported that in the early part of +1914 the Governor of German South-West Africa made a tour through the +northern part of the Protectorate, going as far as Tiger Bay, in Angola, +"in connection with possible railway construction in the near future." + +Angola was certainly an item on the German list of desirable +acquisitions in Africa. It has been in the occupation of Portugal since +the middle of the fifteenth century; but the point of view from which it +was regarded by advocates of German expansion may be judged from some +remarks made in the _Kölnische Zeitung_ by a traveller who returned to +Germany from Angola in June, 1914:-- + + The game is worth the candle. An enormous market for + industrial products, rich and virgin mineral treasures, a + fruitful and healthy country equally suitable for agriculture, + cattle-breeding and immigration, and the finest harbours on the + west coast--that is the prize that awaits us. + +A territory offering these advantages, having an area estimated at +484,000 square miles, and extending inland for a distance of 1,500 +miles, might be coveted for its own sake; but its possession would +have been of still greater value to Germany (1) as a continuation, +northwards, of German South-West Africa, and (2) as the starting point +for a chain of communications, under German control, extending right +across the African continent, from west to east. + +The coast-railway spoken of by the _Leipziger Neueste Nachrichten_ was +to link up German South-West Africa with Angola, in which country, +also, the Germans hoped to obtain extensive mining and agricultural +concessions, thus forwarding their established policy of peaceful +penetration by means of commerce and railways, and establishing economic +interests which might be expected to lead to political developments in +due course, and so prepare the way for an eventual seizure of "the prize +that awaits us." + +The Germans had also sought to finance the completion eastwards of the +Lobito Bay or Benguela Railway, to which reference will be made later +on in connection with the development of the Katanga district of the +Belgian Congo; but the condition they advanced, namely that the control +of the line should be left in their hands, coupled with their adoption +of suspicious lines of policy in other directions,[63] led to their +railway proposals being declined by the Portuguese, with thanks. + + +GERMAN EAST AFRICA + +Then, in order to understand the full scope of the aspirations Germany +was cherishing towards the African Continent, one must take into account +her railways on the east coast no less than those on the west coast, +since these, also, formed an essential part of the general scheme. + +The line which stretches right across German East Africa, from +Dar-es-Salaam, the capital of the Protectorate, to Kigoma, on Lake +Tanganyika, and north of Ujiji, has a total length of 1,439 miles; +and if the economic development of a territory estimated as having a +total area of 384,000 square miles had been the sole aim in view, the +Tanganyikabahn would have well deserved to rank as a notable enterprise +in German colonial expansion, and one calling for commendation rather +than criticism. The question arises, however, whether, in addition to +the development of German East Africa itself, the railway in question +was not intended, also, to facilitate the realisation of Germany's +designs against Central Africa as part of her aforesaid scheme for the +eventual conquest of the African continent. + +The feverish haste with which the second and third sections of the +railway were built sufficed, in itself, to give rise to suspicions of +ulterior designs. The first section, from Dar-es-Salaam to Morogo (136½ +miles), was constructed by a syndicate of German bankers acting under a +State guarantee of interest, and the work, begun in February, 1905, was +completed in September, 1907. The second section, from Morogo to Tabora +(526½ miles), was to have been completed by July 1, 1914; but in 1910, +the Reichstag voted a special credit both for the earlier completion of +this second section--which was thus finished by February 26, 1912--and +for surveys for the third section, from Tabora to Kigoma (776 miles). +Such, again, was the celerity with which the work on this third section +was pushed forward that, although the date fixed for the completion of +the line was April 1, 1915, through rail communication from the Indian +Ocean to Lake Tanganyika was established by February 1, 1914--that is to +say, one year and two months in advance of time. + +We here come to the two-fold question (1) Why was the railway extended +at all for the 776 miles from Tabora to Lake Tanganyika, considering +that this portion of the German Protectorate offered, in itself, the +prospect of no traffic at all for the line[64]; and (2) why was it +necessary that such haste should be shown in the completion of the +undertaking? + + +"THE OTHER SIDE OF TANGANYIKA" + +To the first of these questions the reply is (1) that the traffic on +which the western section of the Tanganyikabahn was mainly to rely for +its receipts was traffic originating in or destined for the Belgian +Congo; (2) that the control it was hoped to secure over Belgian trade +was, in combination with the strategical advantages offered by the +railway, to be the preliminary to an eventual annexation by Germany of +the Belgian Congo itself; and (3) that like conditions were to lead, if +possible, to the final realisation of von Weber's dream of 1880. + +"That we are directing our gaze to the other side of Tanganyika," said +the _Kolonial Zeitung_ of April 4, 1914, in referring to the completion +of the railway to Kigoma--an event which occasioned a great outburst of +enthusiasm in Germany--"goes, of course, without saying." + +There certainly is much on "the other side of Tanganyika" to which +Germany might look with feelings of envy. In regard to mineral wealth, +alone, the resources of the South-eastern section of the Belgian Congo +could not fail to make a strong appeal to her. + +The great copper belt in the Katanga district,[65] commences about 100 +miles north-west of the British South African post, Ndola (situate +twelve miles south of the Congo border), and extends thence, in a +north-westerly direction, for a distance of 180 miles, with an average +breadth of twenty-five miles. "In the not far distant future, when the +many problems of development are solved, the Katanga copper belt," +says Mr. J. B. Thornhill,[66] "will be one of the controlling factors +in the copper supply of the world." In the report of the British South +Africa Company for the year ending March 31, 1914, it was stated that +the copper-mining industry in Katanga had attained to considerable +dimensions; that furnaces with a capacity of 1,000 tons of copper per +month were at work, and that further large additions to the plant were +being made. + +Katanga has, also, a tin belt, and coal, gold, iron and other minerals +are found there, besides. + +In the German territory on the eastern side of Lake Tanganyika there +are, indeed, minerals; but they are found in no such abundance as in the +Belgian territory on the western side of the lake. German East Africa +can, however, produce in great abundance the wheat, the rice and the +other food supplies necessary for the workers in Katanga mines, and +the German view has been that the eastern and the western sides of the +lake should be regarded as complementary the one to the other, and that +the Tanganyikabahn should convey these food supplies to the lake, for +transfer to the other side by steamer, and bring back the products of +the mines for distribution, via the German east coast route and the +Indian Ocean, among the markets of the world. In the same way it was +hoped that all goods and necessaries likely to be imported into the +Katanga and Mweru districts from Europe would reach their destination +via this German East Africa Central Railway; and German business houses +were strongly advised to establish branches in those districts,[67] so +that, apparently, Germany would eventually control the trade as well as +the transport of "the other side of Tanganyika." + +The development of the south-western section of Germany's east-coast +Protectorate had, in itself, become a matter of vital importance ("eine +Lebensfrage"[68]); but the Belgian Congo was the only quarter to which +that section could look for markets for its produce. The possibility +of securing sufficient traffic for the Central Railway to ensure its +financial success may have been a secondary consideration; but the +railway itself was to serve a most important purpose, economically, by +helping Germany to capture the Tanganyika and trans-Tanganyika trade, +and by making her East Africa colony more prosperous; politically, by +strengthening her hold on the Belgian Congo through the increase of her +commercial interests there; and strategically, by affording her the +means of effecting a speedy concentration of troops in Central Africa, +should the occasion for so doing arise. + +This last-mentioned purpose was to be further attained by the projected +construction of what would have been a purely strategical line from +Tabora, on the Tanganyikabahn, to Mwanza, on the southern shores of the +Victoria Nyanza, whence German troops would--in case of need--be in a +position to make a rear attack on British East Africa. + + +CENTRAL AFRICA + +Germany's hopes of thus strengthening her position in Central Africa +by means of the Tanganyikabahn received, however, a serious set-back +through the activity and enterprise of Belgian and British interests in +providing, opening up or projecting alternative transport routes which +threatened (1) to divert a large proportion of the traffic she had +expected to secure for the East Africa Central line; (2) to diminish +greatly the prospect of her achieving the commercial and political aims +she cherished in regard to the Belgian Congo; (3) to make it still +more difficult for German East Africa to emerge from a position of +comparative isolation, and (4) to impede greatly the realisation of +Germany's aspirations in regard alike to Central Africa and the African +Continent. + +It is the more necessary that the bearing of all these facts on the +general situation should be understood because they tend to indicate +the critical nature of the position into which the said aspirations had +drifted, and the imperative necessity by which Germany may, by 1914, +have considered she was faced for adopting some bold course of action if +she were still to look forward to the possibility of those aspirations +being realised. + +The principle originally adopted by King Leopold in his efforts to +develop the Congo State was that of supplementing navigation on the +Congo by railways wherever these were necessary either to overcome the +difficulties presented by rapids or to supply missing links in the chain +of communication to or from the west coast. The same policy was followed +by the Belgian Government when they assumed control, and the last of +these links--the line, 165 miles long, from Kabalo to Albertville, +connecting the Congo with the Tanganyika--was opened in March, 1915. +One reason, in fact, given in Germany for the express speed at which +the Tanganyikabahn was completed to Kigoma was an alleged fear that +the Belgians might capture the trade and transport of the territory in +question by getting to the lake first. + +This combined river and rail transport still left it necessary for +traffic from the Congo basin to the west coast to follow the winding +course of that river, with a number of transhipments; and if the route +in question had been the only competitor of the Tanganyikabahn, Germany +would have had less cause for uneasiness. Meanwhile, however, the +Compagnie du Chemin de Fer du Bas-Congo had built a line--forming a +continuation of the Rhodesian Railways--from the boundary of Northern +Rhodesia, at Elizabethville, to Kambove (Katanga); and a continuation of +this line to Bukama, on the Lualaba, a navigable tributary of the Congo, +was (1) to give shorter and better access to the Congo for products +from Katanga, and (2) to establish combined rail and water transport +between the entire railway system of South Africa and the mouth of the +Congo. Already the minerals from Katanga were finding their outlet to +the sea on the east coast via the Rhodesian Railways and the Portuguese +port of Beira, instead of via the Tanganyikabahn and the German port of +Dar-es-Salaam. The former had, indeed, become the recognised route for +this important traffic in preference to the latter. The line between +Kambove and Bukama had not been completed when war broke out in 1914; +but the provision of this through route, and the various facilities +it would offer, rendered still more uncertain the prospect of Germany +getting control of the trans-Tanganyika traffic for her own lines. + +There were other important railway schemes, besides. + +From Bukama rail communication is to be continued right across Central +Africa to Matadi, to which point the Congo is navigable for large +vessels from its mouth, less than a hundred miles distant. This line, +in addition to avoiding the great bend of the Congo, will open up and +develop the vast and promising territory in the northern districts of +the Belgian Congo, south of that river. + +Another scheme which is to be carried out is a line from Kambove, in the +Southern Katanga, to the south-western boundary of the Belgian Congo, +and thence across Portuguese territory to the present eastern terminus +of the Lobito Bay Railway. This will give to the mining interests of +Katanga direct rail communication, by the shortest possible route, with +a port on the west coast, while the connection at Kambove with the +Rhodesian and South African systems will make the line a still more +important addition to the railways of Africa for the purposes alike of +development in the central districts and as a shorter route to and from +Europe. German financiers were at one time desirous of undertaking the +extension eastward of the Lobito Bay Railway--mainly, as it seemed, with +a view to furthering German interests in Portuguese territory (see page +314); but the Kambove-Lobito Bay line is now to be constructed with +British capital. + +Finally there is the Cape-to-Cairo Railway which, passing through the +Katanga mining districts, is likely to divert still more of the traffic +Germany had counted upon alike for her Tanganyikabahn and as a means +towards the attainment of her political aspirations in Central Africa. + +Whilst these various developments were proceeding, there were still +others, in the Cameroons, to which attention may now be directed. + + +THE CAMEROONS, LAKE CHAD AND THE SUDAN + +Anticipations of the great results for Germany which would follow from +the building of railways in the Cameroons began to be entertained about +the year 1897. The main objective of the schemes brought forward seems +to have been, however, not simply the internal economic development of +an already vast area, but the carrying of lines of communication to the +furthest limits of that area in order, apparently, to extend German +interests and influence to territories beyond. + +One of these schemes was for the building of a line of railway from +Duala, the chief port of the Cameroons, to Lake Chad (otherwise Tsâd), a +sheet of water some 7,000 square miles in extent which, situate on the +western borders of the Sudan, constitutes the extreme northern limits +of German territory in this direction, while the shores of the lake are +occupied jointly by Germany, England and France. + +The proposed line was to have an estimated total length of about 1,000 +kilometres (621 miles). In September, 1902, the German Imperial +Government granted to a Kamerun-Eisenbahn-Syndikat a concession for +building the line; an expedition sent out by the syndicate made a survey +of the route in 1902-3; and a Kamerun-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, with a +capital of 17,000,000 marks (£850,000), was formed by a group of bankers +and others in Germany to build the first section. + +In December, 1903, the German Emperor, at his reception of the President +of the Reichstag, gave his blessing to all such enterprises by declaring +that an essential condition ("eine Lebensbedingung") for the welfare of +Germany's colonies in Africa was that the building of railways should +be taken earnestly in hand. In 1905 the prospects of the proposed line +seemed so hopeful that the early commencement of construction was +announced as probable; but various difficulties arose, including much +trouble in regard to labour, and the line did not get beyond the end of +its first stage, a distance of only 160 km. (100 miles) from the coast. + +Although the scheme was thus not fully carried out, there was no doubt +as to the nature of the purposes it had been designed to serve. In his +official and detailed account of the proposed undertaking[69]--a book +of exceptional merit from the point of view of the clearness and of the +exhaustive data with which "the case for the line" is presented--the +director of the syndicate says:-- + + My opinion is that only a great railway--one that unites + the Sudan with the Atlantic, and that extends from Lake Chad to + the west coast of Africa--will be in a position both to develop + fully the economic interests of the Cameroons and to assure to + Germany a means of access to the richest territory that Central + Africa possesses. + +Had the line been completed as far as Lake Chad, it would have been a +powerful competitor of British railways via the Nile or the Red Sea for +the traffic of the Sudan, with its vast commercial possibilities; and, +had it been found the better route, it might have established German +commercial supremacy in this part of Central Africa, with the inevitable +political developments to follow. "The German Tsâdsee-Eisenbahn," the +director of the syndicate further wrote, "will, especially when it has +been completed, be for the whole of Central Africa a _Kulturwerk_ of the +first importance." + +The Germanisation of Lake Chad, combined with an eventual acquiring +by Germany of French interests in the Sahara and North Africa, would +further have permitted the continuation of the Tsâdsee-Eisenbahn from +that lake to Algeria along the route already projected in France for a +Trans-African line linking up the Mediterranean alike with the Congo +and with the Rhodesian and other British railways in South Africa, via +Lake Chad--a line which, it is said, would offer no great technical +difficulty in construction.[70] + + +THE CAMEROONS AND THE CONGO + +Another ambitious scheme was for the building of a Mittellandbahn which, +crossing the Njong, would eventually link up the chief port of the +Cameroons with a navigable tributary of the Congo. Here, again, the line +as actually constructed has not been carried a greater distance than +about 300 km. (186 miles). At one time, in fact, the original project +seemed to have been abandoned; but quite recently it has been brought +forward again under conditions which have a distinct bearing on what has +already been said concerning Germany and Central Africa. + +From the views expressed by Emil Zimmermann in his "Neu-Kamerun,"[71] +one gathers that in 1913 Germany was regarding with some degree of +concern alike the outlook for her Tanganyikabahn, on which over +£7,000,000 had been spent, and the prospective set-back to her +aspirations in regard to the Belgian Congo; and Herr Zimmermann, in +giving an account of the additions made to her Cameroons possessions +at the expense of France, under the agreement of November 4, 1911, +following on the Agadir crisis, makes certain overtures to Belgium, +and follows them up with a distinct threat, should she refrain from +responding to them. + +Belgium and Germany, he says, in effect, are the two dominant Powers +in Central Africa; and he is of opinion that it will be to their mutual +interest to co-operate in the development of that great territory. +Belgium, however, he finds to be faced by the need for a great outlay +of money (1) on account of necessary improvements of her Congo rail and +river communication, to meet expanding traffic requirements, and (2) in +order to develop her Katanga territory. She cannot herself command the +necessary capital, but Germany could assist her to raise it, and would +do so--provided Belgium undertook that traffic from her Tanganyika and +Mweru districts, and, also, from points east of the Middle Congo, should +reach the sea by "its natural outlet," that is to say, by the German +East African Central Railway. + +Should Belgium refuse to agree to these proposals, and should she, by +her high tariffs, continue to impede the flow of traffic to German +territory, then it would be open to Germany to construct lines of +railway from the west coast either to navigable tributaries of the Congo +or to the Congo itself, and so divert the traffic from the Belgian +Congo at certain important points, to the serious prejudice of Belgian +interests. + +Apart from what might be done in the way of extending the Duala-Njong +line to the said navigable tributaries of the Congo, as originally +projected, Herr Zimmermann says that, under the treaty of November 4, +1911, Germany has the right to continue her Cameroons railways across +French territory (France having reciprocal rights as regards German +territory); and he points out how she could exercise this power, to the +detriment of Belgium, should that country not accept her proposals in +regard to the Congo basin and Central Africa. He specially mentions the +fact that when the boundaries of the 100,000 square miles of territory +added, at the expense of France, to the German Cameroons (then already +191,000 square miles in extent), were fixed by virtue of the treaty of +1911, the wedge-like strip on the south of Spanish Muni was so defined +as to leave at the eastern point thereof a gap between the Spanish +territory and the French Cameroons wide enough for either a road or a +railway; and he emphasises the fact that, by taking advantage of the +facilities thus open to her, Germany could, under the treaty of 1911, +construct a railway 1,000 km. (621 miles) long from Muni Bay through +the said gap and cross French territory to the junction of the Sangha +with the Congo. Alternatively, and by arrangement with France, the +line could start from Libreville. "What such a railway, tapping the +Congo-Sangha-Ubangi traffic at its most favourable point, would mean, +can," Herr Zimmermann remarks, "be left to the Belgians themselves to +say." + +He does not suggest that such schemes as these would in themselves be +of great value to Germany; but he thinks they might have a powerful +influence, both politically and economically, on the solution of the +Tanganyika problem in Germany's favour. In fact, he considers that since +the 1911 treaty Germany has practically controlled the situation in +Central Africa; and from all he says it is a reasonable assumption that +the Agadir crisis, the concession of territory exacted from France, and +the undertaking as to the carrying of German Cameroon railways across +French territory, had far more to do with German designs on the Belgian +Congo and Central Africa than is generally supposed. + +In another work, published a year later,[72] the same writer, adopting +now a distinctly different tone, endeavoured to appease an "Anti-Central +Africa agitation" which, he tells us, had developed in Germany and +was protesting alike against the "danger" of acquiring any more +"Congo-swamps" and against the "boundless German plans" in Africa. +He further sought to soothe the suspicions which, he found, had been +excited in Belgium and elsewhere as to the nature of Germany's plans in +Africa. Germany, he declared, had no annexation projects in view. Her +aspirations were purely economic. Kamerun, thanks to the German-French +treaty of 1911 (which, he reiterated, had changed the whole situation), +could now take a considerable share in the development of Central +Africa, and was the more entitled so to do since she had, in Duala, "one +of the best harbours on the west coast of Africa." + + +OFFICIAL ADMISSIONS + +As against, however, affirmations such as these, there is the +undisputable evidence of no less an authority than the German Foreign +Minister himself as to the real nature of Germany's designs on the +Belgian Congo. + +In the second Belgian Grey Book, published in August, 1915, under the +title of "Correspondance Diplomatique relative à la Guerre de 1914-15," +there is given (pp. 2-3) a letter from the Belgian Minister in Berlin, +Baron Beyens, to his Government, recording, under date April 2, 1914, +a conversation which the French Ambassador in Berlin informed him he +had had quite recently (and, therefore, only about four months before +the outbreak of war) with the German Foreign Minister. Herr von Jagow +suggested to him that Germany, France and England should arrive at an +agreement on the construction and linking up of railways in Africa. M. +Gambon replied that in this case Belgium ought to be invited to confer +with them, as she was constructing some new railways on the Congo. He +also expressed the view that any conference held on the subject should +meet at Brussels. To this Herr von Jagow responded, "Oh no; for it is +at the expense of Belgium that our agreement should be made. Do you +not think," he added, "that King Leopold placed too heavy a burden on +the shoulders of Belgium? Belgium is not rich enough to develop that +vast possession. It is an enterprise beyond her financial resources and +her means of expansion." The French Ambassador dissented, but Herr von +Jagow went on to affirm that the great Powers were alone in a position +to colonise, and that the small Powers were destined to disappear or +to gravitate towards the orbit of the large ones. In the words of the +Belgian Minister:-- + + Il développa l'opinion que seules les grandes Puissances + sont en situation de coloniser. Il dévoila même le fond de sa + pensée en soutenant que les petits États ne pourraient plus + mener, dans la transformation qui s'opérait en Europe au profit + des nationalités les plus fortes, par suite du développement des + forces économiques et des moyens de communication, l'existence + indépendante dont ils avaient joui jusqu'à présent. Ils étaient + destinés à disparaître ou à graviter dans l'orbite des grandes + Puissances. + + +"DER TAG" AND ITS PROGRAMME + +The story here presented of Germany's aims in Africa has taken us over +almost the entire African Continent. It now only remains to be seen how +those aims were to be realised, not merely as the outcome of Pan-German +dreams and advocacy, but as the result of many years of scheming, +plotting and actual preparation, all directed to the wiping out of the +influence in Africa of other Powers, great as well as small, and the +final realisation of Germany's long-cherished purpose. + +According to conversations Mr. O'Connor had with military officers in +German South-West Africa just before the outbreak of war in 1914, the +programme under which Germany hoped to become "the supreme power in +Africa" when "der Tag" so long looked forward to should arrive was, in +effect, as follows:-- + +Belgium was to be disposed of "at one gulp." This would make it an easy +matter for Germany to take over the Belgian Congo. + +France would be paralysed; and, being paralysed, she would not be able +to prevent Germany from succeeding to the whole of her possessions in +Africa. + +The Dervishes would stir up a rebellion in Egypt,[73] and other +rebellions were anticipated in Ireland and India. + +While England was fully occupied in these directions the Afrikanders +were to rise _en masse_ and declare British South Africa an Afrikander +Republic. + +The forces in German East Africa would make a sudden raid into British +East Africa. Having annexed that territory and got possession of the +railway, they would next invade Rhodesia from the east, in co-operation +with troops from German South-West Africa advancing to the Zambezi, via +the Caprivi Strip, from the railway terminus at Grootfontein. + +Meanwhile German columns would have moved (1) from the military station +at Gobabis into Bechuanaland, crossing the desert of Kalahari, to effect +the capture of Vryburg; and (2) from Keetmanshoop, and other points +served by the Seeheim branch, into northern Cape Province, via Raman's +Drift, Schuit Drift and the south-east corner of the territory. + +Rhodesia having been seized, more troops would be available to proceed +to the assistance of the Afrikander forces operating in the Cape +Province, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State--a "rising" on the +part of the Afrikanders as soon as they saw a good opportunity for one +being taken for granted. In return for the services thus rendered by her +to the Afrikanders in establishing their Republic, Germany would take a +portion of the Transvaal, as well as part of the Zululand coast. + +With Belgium and France effectively crushed, and the power of Great +Britain in South Africa broken down, those countries would no longer +be in a position to prevent Germany from annexing Portuguese Angola; +and this she was to do next. She would "allow" the Afrikander Republic +to take Delagoa Bay; but the Republic itself was to come under the +"guardianship" of Germany. The word "suzerainty," Mr. O'Connor says, was +not mentioned, "guardianship" being preferred; but, with the exception +of Italian Somaliland--about which nothing was said--practically the +whole of Africa was either to belong to Germany or to be brought +directly or indirectly under her control. + + +THE OBJECTIVE OF THE WORLD-WAR + +Since the outbreak of the World-War in 1914 there has been much +speculation as to the real objective and purpose of Germany in bringing +it about. + +Do the facts stated in the present chapter afford any help towards a +solution of this problem? + +We have seen the nature of the aims cherished by Germany towards Africa, +the practical and persistent efforts she made during a long series of +years for their attainment, and the substantial expenditure she incurred +in the hope of at last securing the prize she considered was awaiting +her. + +We have seen how the purpose of Germany in Africa was less to develop +colonies for their own sake than to regard them as points from which to +absorb or to control neighbouring territories. + +We have seen how the development of rival railways in Central Africa had +recently threatened the supremacy Germany hoped to gain and may, indeed, +have suggested to her the need for early vigorous effort, if she wished +still to secure the realisation of her aims. + +We have seen what, in the view of the German Foreign Minister, should be +the fate of small Powers which stand in the way of the aggrandisement of +great ones. + +We have seen, also, how, in the opinion of officers serving in +German South-West Africa, the real purpose of the war to which they +were looking forward, and for which they were preparing, was the +German annexation of Africa, and how the "smashing up" of France and +Great Britain, the overthrow of Belgium, the seizure of Portuguese +possessions, and the virtual absorption of the proposed new Boer +Republics were to be the preliminaries to a final transformation of +the whole African Continent into a German possession--the "new Empire" +which, in the words of von Weber, was to be "possibly more valuable and +more brilliant than even the Indian Empire." + +May one not conclude, in face of these and of all the other facts which +have here been narrated, that one, at least, of the main objectives +of Germany (apart from minor ones) in provoking the Great War was no +less a prize than the African Continent;[74] and that when she invaded +Belgium and France she did so less with the object of annexing the +former country, and of creating another Alsace-Lorraine in the latter +than of having "something in her hand" with which to "bargain"--in the +interests of her projects in Africa--when the time came for discussing +the terms of peace, assuming that she had not already attained her +purpose at the outset by the sheer force of what she thought would be +her irresistible strength? + +If this conclusion should seem to be warranted, on the basis of what +has already been told, it may certainly be regarded as confirmed by the +fact that, down to the moment when these lines are being written, any +suggestions coming from German sources as to possible terms of peace +have invariably included proposals for the concession to Germany of +territory in Africa as "compensation" for the surrender of territory she +has herself occupied in Belgium and France. + +Thus, in a despatch published in _The Times_ of September 4, 1915, a +statement was reproduced from the Chicago _Tribune_ giving, on the +authority of "a writer in close touch with the German Embassy," the +terms on which Germany would be prepared to agree to peace. These terms +included the following:-- + + The cession of the Belgian Congo to Germany, as compensation + for the evacuation of Belgium. + + The cession of African colonial territory to Germany by + France, as compensation for the evacuation of Northern France. + +Then, also, on October 24, 1915, the _New York American_ published a +long interview with Professor Hans Delbrück on the terms of peace which +Germany hoped to secure if "President Wilson and the Pope" would consent +to act as mediators. The interview (which had been approved by the +German censor) included the following passage:-- + + It is quite possible that peace could be secured by ceding + to Germany such colonies as Uganda by England and the French + and Belgian Congos as a ransom for the evacuation by Germany of + Northern France and Belgium. + +Such concessions, if one can conceive the possibility of their being +made--would still leave Germany far from the attainment of her full +African programme; but the fact of these proposals being put forward at +all as "terms of peace" is quite in keeping with the whole course of +Germany's policy in Africa, and points clearly to what may, in fact, +have been her chief objective in the war itself. + +Any moral reflections either on the said policy or on the "programme" by +means of which it was to have been carried out would be beyond the scope +of the present work. + +What we are here concerned in is the fact that Germany's dreams of +an African Empire, given expression to by von Weber in 1880, and the +subject of such continuous effort ever since, were, in the possibilities +of their realisation, based primarily on the extension and utilisation +of such facilities for rail-transport as she might be able either to +create or to acquire. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[55] See Vol. III. of "The Story of Africa," by Robert Brown. London, +1894. + +[56] "The Germans and Africa," by Evans Lewin, Librarian of the Royal +Colonial Institute. London, 1915. + +[57] Under the terms of the treaty of July 1, 1900, Germany was to have +"free access" from her South-West Africa Protectorate to the Zambezi +River "by a strip which shall at no point be less than twenty English +miles in width." + +[58] The Hereros (Damaras) are not a warlike people, and although, +at the time of the rising, many of them were armed with Mausers and +Lee-Enfields, it has been said of them that they were not of much +account with the rifle, their "natural weapon" being the assegai. A +German White Book on the rebellion stated that the cause of the outbreak +was the spirit of independence which characterised the Hereros, "to +whom the increasing domination of the Germans had become insupportable, +and who believed themselves stronger than the whites." According to Mr. +H. A. Bryden ("The Conquest of German South-West Africa," _Fortnightly +Review_, July, 1915) the real causes were the abuses of the white +trader, the brutal methods of certain officials, and the seizure and +occupation of tribal lands. The war developed into one of practical +extermination for the natives concerned. Of the Hereros between 20,000 +and 30,000 were either killed outright or driven into the Kalahari +desert to die of starvation. The Hottentots also lost heavily. + +[59] The Commerce Defence League, as explained by the writer of the +article, is an organisation of German traders which gives subsidies to +German clerks so that they can take up appointments at nominal salaries +in foreign countries, on the understanding that they are to report to +the League as to the business methods, etc., of those countries and on +openings for German trade or industry therein, the League acting on such +information and dividing among its subscribers the profits derived from +the agencies opened or the competitive businesses started. + +[60] See _South Africa_, November 14, 1914. + +[61] "Memorandum on the Country known as German South-West Africa. +Compiled from such information as is at present available to the +Government of the Union of South Africa." Pretoria, 1915. + +[62] The colony was also in wireless-telegraphic communication, via +Togoland, with Berlin. + +[63] For details of so-called "invasions" of Portuguese territory by +German political agents, posing as engineers and prospectors, see an +article on "The Invasion of Angola," by Mr. George Bailey, in the issue +of "United Empire: The Royal Colonial Institute Journal," for October, +1915. + +[64] "Le Chemin de Fer du Tanganyika et les progrès de l'Afrique +orientale allemande." Par Camille Martin. Renseignements coloniaux, No. +3. Supplément de _l'Afrique française_, Mars, 1914. Paris. + +[65] A region on the Belgian Congo about 115,000 square miles in extent +and one of the best watered districts in Africa, lying nearly in the +centre of the African continent, and equidistant, therefore, from the +Atlantic and Indian Oceans. + +[66] "Adventures in Africa under the British, Belgian and Portuguese +Flags." London, 1915. + +[67] "Welches Interesse hat Deutschland an der Erschliessung des Congo?" +Von Emil Zimmermann. _Koloniale Rundschau_, Mai, 1911. Berlin. + +[68] "Die Eroberung des Tanganyika-Verkehrs." Von Emil Zimmermann. +_Koloniale Rundschau_, Jan., 1911. Berlin. + +[69] "Kamerun und die Deutsche Tsâdsee-Eisenbahn." Von Carl René, +Director des Kamerun-Eisenbahn-Syndikats. 251 pp. Mit 37 Textbildern +und 22 Tafeln nach Original-Aufnahmen der Kamerun-Eisenbahn-Expediton, +1902-3. Berlin, 1905. + +[70] "Bulletin de la Société de Geographie et d'Etudes coloniales de +Marseilles." Tome XXXVI, No. 1. Ie Trimestre, 1912. + +[71] "Neu-Kamerun; Reiseerlebnisse und wirtschaftspolitische +Untersuchungen." Von Emil Zimmermann. 135 pp. Map. Berlin, 1913. + +[72] "Was ist uns Zentralafrika?" Von Emil Zimmermann. 57 pp. Berlin, +1914. + +[73] How Egypt was to be invaded and captured by the Germans and Turks, +in combination, with the help of the railways in Asia Minor, will be +told in the following Chapter. + +[74] Should there still be any doubt on this point, it will be removed +by the frank admission of _Die Neue Zeit_, even whilst the Great War +is still in progress, that Germany undertook the war with "the main +object of extending her colonial possessions." As quoted in the _Daily +Express_ of October 8, 1915, _Die Neue Zeit_ further said:--"Herr Paul +Rohrbach favours the acquisition of the whole of Central Africa, but +opines that this territory, vast as it is, will not be adequate to +furnish Germany with all the elbow room she may require within the next +half-century. Professor Delbrück, while agreeing with Herr Rohrbach, +as to the importance of Central Africa, as well as of Angola and the +whole of British East Africa, further emphasises the necessity for the +acquisition of the Sudan and the southern part of the Sahara, now in +the possession of France. We are quite in agreement with these eminent +leaders that we must found an "India" of our own, and that the greater +part of the African continent must furnish the requisite territory. +Once well established in this new empire, we shall link ourselves with +Asiatic Turkey, and also with China, reconstructing the political and +economic foundations of both on a scientific German basis." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +DESIGNS ON ASIATIC TURKEY + + +Just as avowedly strategical lines in Africa were to lead the way to the +creation of a German African Empire, so, in turn, was that system of +economic-political-strategical lines comprised within the scheme of what +is known as the "Baghdad Railway" designed to ensure the establishment +of a German Middle-Asian Empire, bringing under German control the +entire region from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, and providing +convenient stepping-off places from which an advance might be made on +Egypt in the one direction and India in the other. + +The conception of this further programme was spread over (1) the period +during which Germany's aspirations were limited to the inheritance of +Turkey's possessions in Asia; and (2) the period when such inheritance +began to be regarded as a means to the realisation of still greater aims +in the domain of Weltpolitik. + +For more than half a century Asiatic Turkey has been looked upon as +Germany's Land of Promise. Anatolia was thought a most desirable +territory for her surplus population. The development, under German +influence, of that territory as a whole--especially with a revival +of the Babylonian system of irrigation--was considered to offer vast +possibilities of commercial prosperity. Wheat, cotton and tobacco, +especially, might be raised in prodigious quantities, and there was the +prospect, also, of a petroleum industry rivalling that of Baku itself. +Turkey was a decadent nation, and as soon as "the Sick Man" succumbed +to his apparently inevitable fate--or even before, should circumstances +permit--Germany was ready to step into his shoes. + +That these aspirations had, indeed, long been cherished is a fact +capable of ready proof. + +In 1848 Wilhelm Roscher, the leading expounder of the historical school +of political economy in Germany, selected Asia Minor as Germany's share +in the Turkish spoils, whenever the division thereof should take place; +and Johann Karl Robertus (1805-1875), the founder of the so-called +scientific socialism in Germany, expressed the hope that he would live +long enough to see Turkey fall into the hands of Germany, and, also, to +see German soldiers on the shores of the Bosporus. + +Coming to a more recent period, we find that Dr. Aloys Sprenger, the +German orientalist, published, in 1886, a pamphlet on "Babylonia, the +richest land in the past, and the most promising field for colonisation +in the present,"[75] in which, after dealing with the history, physical +conditions and resources of Babylonia, he predicted that, before the end +of the century, not only Babylonia but Assyria, which was inseparable +from it, would, if not formally annexed, at least come under the control +of some European Power. Assyria and Syria, he declared, were even better +adapted for colonisation than Babylonia. He continued:-- + + The Orient is the only territory on earth which has not yet + been taken possession of by some aspiring nation. It offers the + finest opportunities for colonisation, and if Germany, taking + care not to let the opportunity slip, should act before the + Cossacks come along, she would, in the division of the world, + get the best share.... The German Kaiser, as soon as a few + hundred thousand armed German colonists bring these promising + fields into cultivation, will have in his hand the fate of Asia + Minor, and he can--and will--then become the Protector of Peace + for the whole of Asia. + +Dr. Karl Kaerger, traveller and economist, lamented, in his "Kleinasien; +ein deutsches Kolonisationsfeld" (Berlin, 1892), the enormous loss +sustained by Germany in the migration of so many of her people and of so +much capital to Anglo-Saxon lands; but there were, he affirmed, only two +countries to which German settlers could go with any hope of retaining +alike their nationality and their commercial relations with the +_Mutterland_. Those countries were--Africa and Asia Minor. He had been +especially impressed, during the course of his travels, by the prospects +and possibilities of Anatolia, and he recommended the establishment +there of large German companies which would organise schemes of +colonisation and land cultivation on a large scale. The colonies so +established should be self-governing, free from all taxation for ten +years, have the right of duty-free importation of necessaries, and enjoy +various other privileges, while Turkey, in return for the concessions +she thus made to the settlers, would be assured "the protection of +Germany against attack." Not only hundreds of thousands, but millions, +of colonists could find a second home on those wide expanses. Germany +herself would gain a dual advantage--an economical one, and a political +one. Concerning the latter, Dr. Kaerger observed:-- + + If the German Empire, while maintaining her friendship with + Austria and Italy--which, under all circumstances, the political + situation in Europe undoubtedly requires--can direct the stream + of her emigration to the fertile territories of Turkey, and if + she can conclude with that country a closer customs convention, + then the entire economic, and with it, also, the political + future of Germany will rest on a broader and a firmer basis + than if the present streams of hundreds of thousands of her + people, and millions of capital, continue to pass in increasing + proportions, year by year, to countries which are economically + hostile to us. + +Dr. Kaerger was especially concerned lest Germany might be anticipated +by Russia or England in the realisation of her own designs on Asia +Minor. Should, he declared, either of those countries acquire any +further territory from Turkey, or increase in any way Turkey's +dependence upon them, the result would be the most serious disturbance +of the prevailing situation in Europe that had occurred since 1870. + +The development of all these ideas went so far that in 1895 the +_Alldeutscher Blätter_ recommended that Germany should establish a +Protectorate over the Turkish possessions in Asia Minor; and in the +following year the _Alldeutscher_ _Verband_ published a manifesto on +"German claims to the Inheritance of Turkey" ("Deutschlands Anspruch an +das türkische Erbe"), making a formal statement of Germany's alleged +rights to the Turkish succession. + +Germany had by this time already secured a footing on the soil of +Asiatic Turkey by virtue of the _Anatolian Railway_. The first +section--a length of about seventy miles, extending from Haidar Pacha +(situate on the north-eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara, and opposite +Constantinople) to Ismidt--was built in 1875 by German engineers to +the order of the Turkish Government. It was transferred in 1888 to a +German syndicate, nominees of the Deutsche Bank. Under the powers then +conferred upon them, the syndicate opened an extension, on the east, to +Angora, in 1892, and another, on the south, to Konia, in 1896, the total +length of line being thus increased to 633 miles. + +As the result of the visit of the German Emperor to Constantinople in +1898, followed by negotiations between the Porte and the director of +the Deutsche Bank, authority was given to a new German Company--the +Imperial Ottoman Baghdad Railway Company--under conventions of 1889, +1902 and 1903, to continue the existing Anatolian Railway from Konia to +the Persian Gulf, via Adana, Nisibin, Mosul and Baghdad. This extension +was to constitute the main line of the _Baghdad Railway_ proper; but the +Company also acquired control over most of the branch railways already +in operation. One of these was the French Smyrna--Afium Karahissar line, +which constitutes the direct trade route between Smyrna and places +served by the Anatolian railway, and has, also, a branch to Panderma, on +the southern shores of the Sea of Marmara. Another was the short line +from Adana to Mersina, giving access to the Mediterranean. This meant +the substitution of German for French interests, while the course taken +by the Anatolia-Baghdad Railway from the Bosporus to Adana shut off the +possibility of an extension of the British line from Smyrna via Aidin to +Egerdir (west of Konia) into the interior. + +Then in 1911 the Company acquired the right to build a _new port at +Alexandretta_, with quays, docks, bonded warehouses, etc., and to +construct thence a short line of railway connecting with the Baghdad +main line at Osmanieh, east of Adana. By these means the Germans +acquired the control over, if not an actual monopoly of, the traffic +between one of the most important ports on the eastern sea-board of the +Mediterranean--a port where a trade valued at three and a half million +sterling is already being done--and the vast extent of territory in Asia +Minor designed to be served by the Baghdad Railway. + +From Muslimiyeh, a little town on the north of Aleppo, there is a short +branch connecting the Baghdad Railway with the _Hedjaz line_ from +Damascus to Medina, which is eventually to be carried on to Mecca; +while from Rayak, north of Damascus, a branch built in a south-westerly +direction was to be carried to within a short distance of the Egyptian +frontier. + +From the junction for the Aleppo branch, the main line was to continue +across the Mesopotamian plain to Baghdad (whence a branch to Khanikin, +on the Persian frontier was projected) and so on to Basra, for the +Persian Gulf. + +Thus the scheme for what passes under the title of the Baghdad Railway +embraces three separate and distinct regions of Asiatic Turkey--(1) +Anatolia, (2) Syria and (3) Mesopotamia. In other words, whereas in +their first phase, German aspirations for Turkish territory were based +on the economic advantages of settlement in Anatolia--a region in +itself large enough to accommodate all the Germans who were likely +to want to settle there--in the second phase those aspirations were +based on an extension of the Baghdad Railway towards Egypt in the +one direction and the Persian Gulf in the other. This dual extension +became the more noticeable, also, inasmuch as for the passage of the +Taurus range of mountains a total of nearly 100 miles of blasting and +tunnelling would have to be carried out, the cost of construction on +certain sections of the line rising to between £35,000 and £40,000 a +mile. The extension, therefore, was likely to be a costly business, the +total length of the Baghdad Railway proper, apart from the Anatolian +system, being, as projected, about 1,350 miles, of which, however, +only about 600 miles were, in June, 1915, available for traffic.[76] +Admitting the desirability of opening up Mesopotamia to commercial and +agricultural development, it may, nevertheless, be asked, were there +other motives--and motives to which still greater weight might have been +attached--for this expansion of the earlier designs? + +Abdul Hamid's reason for granting the concession is said to have been +that the extension of the line to the Persian Gulf would greatly +strengthen the military position of Turkey, since it would enable her to +effect a speedy transfer of troops between the Bosporus and the Gulf, or +intermediate places, as against the many months that might be occupied +by marching on foot across plains and mountains. + +Germany's reasons for seeking to construct the Baghdad Railway, its +branches and connections, to the full extent of the programme laid +down, were, not simply the development of new trade routes, as certain +inspired representations have sought to make the world believe, and not +simply the gain of various other economic advantages, but (1) a desire +to increase German influence over Turkey; to strengthen her military +and other resources with a view to employing them eventually in the +advancement of Germany's own interests; and to ensure the realisation +of that eventual Protectorate over Turkey which would convert the +country into practically a German province; and (2) the furthering +of Germany's aims against Great Britain in the belief that she, too, +was a decadent country whose possessions, when we could no longer +defend them effectively, Germany would be the more likely to secure +for herself if, with a concentration of Turkish forces to assist her, +she were established within striking distance of some of the most +vulnerable points of the British Empire, ready to take instant advantage +of any favourable opportunity that might present itself, whether in a +prospective break-up of that Empire or otherwise. + +Of evidence concerning Germany's efforts to obtain increasing influence +over Turkey there is no lack. + +We have, in the first place, the fact that in 1882 a German military +mission, of which General the Baron Colmar von der Goltz was the +principal member, undertook the training of the Turkish Army according +to the principles of German military science, with the result that the +Turkish Army became a more efficient instrument for the attainment, not +only of her own aims or purposes, but those, also, of Germany herself. + +The Kaiser, although the supreme head of the Lutheran Church, and +although having no Mohammedan subjects of his own, sought to pose as the +champion of Mohammedans in general and the Defender of _their_ Faith. +During his visit to Damascus in November, 1898, he declared--"May the +Sultan, may the three hundred million Mohammedans living who, scattered +throughout the earth, honour in his person their Caliph, rest assured +that at all times the German Kaiser will be their friend."[77] + +Whenever political trouble threatened to fall upon Turkey, as the result +of such occurrences as the Armenian and Macedonian atrocities or the +insurrection in Crete, it was Germany who became her champion as against +the other Powers of Europe. + +Everything possible was done to push German trade in Turkey and to +establish closer commercial relations with her. There came a time when +every city of importance in the Turkish Empire was declared to be +"overrun with German bankers, German clerks and German bagmen." + +Not only, too, were German engineers active in seeking to get +concessions for new railways, and not only were German financiers +equally active in endeavouring to control existing ones, but, as Dr. +Charles Sarolea points out, in his book on "The Anglo-German Problem," +there are, in the agreements between the Baghdad Railway Company and the +Porte, financial clauses which must ultimately place Turkey entirely at +the mercy of her professed champion. "In Turkey Germany alone would rule +supreme"; and the aspirations for a German Protectorate over Turkey, +with the Sultan as a vassal of Germany, would then be realised. + +Writing on the position as he found it in 1903, M. André Chéradame said +in "La Question d'Orient":-- + + More and more the Germans seem to regard the land of + the Turks as their personal property. All the recent German + literature relating to Turkey affords proof of the tendency. An + ordinary book of travels is entitled, "In Asia Minor, by German + Railways." In his "Pan-Germanic Atlas" Paul Langhams gives a + map of "German Railways in Asia Minor." So it is, indeed, a + matter of the organised conquest of Turkey. Everywhere and in + everything, Turkey is being encircled by the tentacles of the + German octopus. + +Coming, next, to the nature of _Germany's aims against England_ and the +part which the Baghdad Railway was to play in their attainment, we have +the frank confessions of Dr. Paul Rohrbach, an authority on the subject +of Germany's Weltpolitik, and a traveller who has paid four visits to +Asia Minor. In "Die Baghdadbahn" (2nd. edition, 1911) he tells us that +Ludwig Ross, a professor at Halle who was well acquainted with Anatolia, +was the first to point to Asia Minor as a desirable place for German +settlement. At the outset economic considerations were alone concerned, +and in Bismarck's day Germany's relations to England played only a minor +rôle in her foreign politics; but in proportion as Germany's interests +were developed and her soil no longer provided sufficient food for her +people or sufficient raw products for her manufactures, she had to look +abroad for the supply of her surplus needs. In so doing, however, her +interests abroad might be endangered by the British Fleet. Hence the +necessity for a German Fleet; and, although the German sea-power might +not be strong enough, by itself, to attack and conquer England, it +could bring certain considerations home to English policy. Dr. Rohrbach +continues:-- + + If it came to a matter of war with England, it would be for + Germany simply a question of life and death. The possibility + of a successful issue for Germany depends exclusively on one + consideration, namely, on whether or not we can succeed in + bringing England herself into a dangerous position. That end + can in no way be obtained by means of a direct attack across + the North Sea; any idea of a German invasion of England being + possible is a mere phantasy. One must seek, therefore, another + combination in order to assail England at some vulnerable spot; + and here we come to the point where the relations of Germany to + Turkey, and the conditions prevailing in Turkey, are found to + be of decisive importance for German foreign policy. There is, + in fact, only one means possible by which Germany can resist a + war of aggression by England, and that is the strengthening of + Turkey. + + England can, from Europe, be attacked by land and mortally + wounded only in one place--Egypt. If England were to lose Egypt + she would lose, not only her control over the Suez Canal and her + connexions with India and the Far East, but, presumably, also, + her possessions in Central and East Africa. The conquest of + Egypt by a Mohammedan Power, such as Turkey, might, in addition, + have a dangerous effect on her 60,000,000 Mohammedan subjects in + India, besides being to her prejudice in Afghanistan and Persia. + + Turkey, however, can never dream of recovering Egypt until + she controls a fully-developed railway system in Asia Minor + and Syria; until, by the extension of the Anatolian Railway to + Baghdad, she can resist an attack by England on Mesopotamia; + until her army has been increased and improved; and until + progress has been made in her general economic and financial + conditions.... The stronger Turkey becomes, the greater will be + the danger for England if, in a German-English conflict, Turkey + should be on the side of Germany; and, with Egypt for a prize, + it certainly would be worth the while of Turkey to run the risk + of fighting with Germany against England. On the other hand the + mere fact that Turkey had increased in military strength, had + improved her economic position, and had an adequate railway + system, would make England hesitate to attack Germany; and this + is the point at which Germany must aim. The policy of supporting + Turkey which is now being followed by Germany has no other + purpose than that of effecting a strong measure against the + danger of war with England. + +From other directions, besides, similar testimony was forthcoming. + +The Socialist _Liepziger Volkszeitung_ declared in March, 1911, that +"the new situation shortly to be created in Asia Minor would hasten the +break-up of the British Empire, which was already beginning to totter +(schwanken)." + +In _Die Neue Zeit_ for June 2, 1911, Herr Karl Radek said:-- + + The strengthening of German Imperialism, the first success + of which, attained with so much effort, is the Baghdad Railway; + the victory of the revolutionary party in Turkey; the prospect + of a modern revolutionary movement in India, which, of course, + must be regarded as a very different thing from the earlier + scattered risings of individual tribes; the movement towards + nationalisation in Egypt; the beginning of reform in Egypt--all + this has raised to an extraordinary degree the political + significance of the Baghdad Railway question. + + The Baghdad Railway being a blow at the interests of English + Imperialism, Turkey could only entrust its construction to the + German Company because she knew that Germany's army and navy + stood behind her, which fact makes it appear to England and + Russia inadvisable to exert too sensitive a pressure upon Turkey. + +In the _Akademische Blätter_ of June 1, 1911, Professor R. Mangelsdorf, +another recognised authority on German policy and politics, wrote:-- + + The political and military power an organised railway + system will confer upon Turkey is altogether in the interest + of Germany, which can only obtain a share in actual economic + developments if Turkey is independent; and, besides, any attempt + to increase the power and ambition of England, in any case + oppressively great, is thereby effectively thwarted. To some + extent, indeed, Turkey's construction of a railway system is + a threat to England, for it means that an attack on the most + vulnerable part of the body of England's world-empire, namely + Egypt, comes well within the bounds of possibility. + +These declarations and admissions render perfectly clear the reasons for +Germany's professions of friendship for Turkey and for her desire that +that country should become stronger and more powerful. They also leave +no doubt as to the real purpose the south-western branch of the Baghdad +Railway was designed to effect. The _conquest of Egypt_ by a combined +German and Turkish force was the first object to be accomplished +with the help of the railway extension to the Egyptian frontier in +one direction and to Mecca in another; but Dr. Rohrbach's suggestion +that the loss of Egypt by England would entail the loss, also, of her +possessions in Central and East Africa has a further bearing on what has +been told in the previous chapter concerning Germany's designs on Africa +as a whole. The strategical railways in German South-West Africa; the +projected extensions thereof--when circumstances permitted; the German +East African lines, _and_ the south-western branch of the Baghdad +Railway in the direction of Egypt were all to play their part in the +eventual creation of a Cape-to-Cairo German-African Empire. + +If we now direct our attention to the south-eastern branch of the +Baghdad Railway, we are met by the repeated protests made by Germany +that in desiring the construction of a railway to the _Persian Gulf_ +she was influenced solely by commercial considerations. Against these +protests, however, there are to be put various material facts which +leave no room for doubt that Germany's aims in this direction were +otherwise than exclusively economic, while even the economic purposes +which the Baghdad Railway would, undoubtedly, have served must have +eventually led to a strengthening of Germany's political position, this, +in turn, helping her military and strategical purposes. + +As originally planned, the port of Basra (the commercial centre of +trade in Mesopotamia, situate, sixty miles from the sea, on the +Shat-el-Arab--the great river formed by the junction of the Tigris and +the Euphrates--and open to the shipping of the world) was to have been +the terminus of the Baghdad Railway; and if commercial considerations +had, indeed, been exclusively aimed at, this terminus would have +answered all requirements. + +No objection was, or could be, raised by the British Government to the +construction of the Baghdad Railway, on Turkish territory, as far as +Basra. In the later developments of the scheme, however, Germany and her +Turkish partner sought to ensure the continuation of the line from its +natural commercial terminus, at Basra, to a political and strategical +terminus, at Koweit, on the shores of the Persian Gulf. The _Abendpost_ +(Berlin) voiced the German view when it spoke of Koweit as "the only +possible outlet to the Baghdad Railway." + +But the extension of an avowedly German line of railway to Koweit would +have been a direct challenge to the paramountcy which Great Britain +claimed over the Persian Gulf. It would have come into collision with +British policy, interests and prestige in the East. It would have +given the German and Turkish allies an excuse for creating at Koweit a +harbour, with wharves, docks, warehouses, etc., which might be converted +into a naval and military base capable of serving far different purposes +than those of trade and commerce--those, namely, of a new line of +advance on _India_. It would, in combination with the control already +exercised by the Deutsche Bank over the railways in European Turkey, +have assured to Germany the means of sending her Naval forces or her +troops, together with supplies and ammunition, direct to the Persian +Gulf, either to strengthen her fleet or to carry out any further designs +she might cherish in the domain of Weltpolitik as affecting the Far +East. It would have meant that, as far as the head of the Persian Gulf, +at least, rail-power would have rendered her less dependent on the +exercise of sea-power, on her own account, and would have enabled her to +neutralise, also, as far as the said Gulf, the sea-power of England. + +What so fundamental a change in the strategical position might imply was +well expressed by so eminent and impartial an authority as A. T. Mahan, +when he said, in his "Retrospect and Prospect" (1902):-- + + The control of the Persian Gulf by a foreign State of + considerable naval potentiality, a "fleet in being" there, based + upon a strong military port, would reproduce the relations of + Cadiz, Gibraltar and Malta to the Mediterranean. It would flank + all the routes to the Farther East, to India and to Australia, + the last two actually internal to the Empire, regarded as + a political system; and, although at present Great Britain + unquestionably could check such a fleet, it might well require a + detachment large enough to affect seriously the general strength + of her naval position.... Concession in the Persian Gulf, + whether by positive formal arrangement, or by simple neglect + of the local commercial interests which now underlie political + and military control, will imperil Great Britain's naval + situation in the Farther East, her political position in India, + her commercial interests in both, and the Imperial tie between + herself and Australia. + +One is thus led to the conclusion that Koweit, as the terminus of +the south-eastern branch of the Baghdad Railway, and within four days +of Bombay, would have been as vital a point for British interests as +the terminus of the south-western branch within about twelve hours of +Egypt; while the possession of this further advantage by Germany would +have been in full accord with the proposition laid down by Rohrbach +and others as to the line of policy Germany should adopt for "bringing +England herself into a dangerous position." + +With a view to safeguarding British interests from any possible +drifting into this position, as regards the Persian Gulf, the claim +was raised, some years ago, that England should have entire control +of the railway from Baghdad to Koweit. Germany did not see her way +to assent to this proposal; but in 1911 she announced that she would +forgo her right to construct the section from Baghdad to Basra on the +understanding that this final section would be completed by Turkey. +By way of compensation for the concession thus made by her to British +views, she secured certain financial advantages and the right both to +build the Alexandretta extension and to convert Alexandretta itself into +practically a German port on the shores of the Mediterranean. + +The precise value of the "concession" thus made by Germany was, however, +open to considerable doubt. If she could succeed in her long-cherished +aim of establishing a virtual protectorate over Turkey, then the fact +that the final section of the Baghdad Railway had been built by Turkey, +and not by Germany, would have become a matter of detail not likely to +affect the reality of Germany's control. The line to Basra might have +been nominally Turkish but the directing policy would have been German; +and like conditions would have arisen had Great Britain agreed to allow +Turkey--though not Germany--to continue the railway from Basra to Koweit. + +In the wide scope of their aggressive purpose, the Baghdad Railway +and its associated lines can best be compared with those roads which +the Romans, in the days of their pride--the pride that came before +their fall--built for the better achievement of their own aims as +world-conquerors. Apart from the fact that the roads now in question are +iron roads, and that the locomotive has superseded the chariot, the main +difference between Roman and German is to be found in the fact that the +world which the former sought to conquer was far smaller than the one +coveted by the latter. + +The programme of Weltpolitik comprised in the German schemes embraced +not only countries but continents. In addition to the aspirations +cherished as regards Europe, that programme aimed at the eventual +annexation to the German Empire of three other Empires--the Turkish, +the Indian, and a new one to be known as the German-African. It was +further to secure the means of sending troops direct from Germany via +Constantinople and the Baghdad Railway to the frontiers of Persia +for possible operations against that country in combination with the +Turkish military forces, these having first been brought under German +control. The Baghdad Railway itself was, in the same way, and with like +support, to afford to Germany the means of threatening Russian interests +both in Persia and in Trans-Caucasia. It was to nullify England's sea +power in the Mediterranean, if not, to a certain extent--through the +establishment of a new Power at the gate of India--in the Far East, as +well. It would, as Mahan showed, have flanked our communications with +Australia, giving Germany an advantage in this direction, also, had Asia +and Africa failed to satisfy her aspirations. + +Regarded from the point of view of its designed effect on the destinies +of nations, on the balance of political power, and on the reconstruction +of the world's forces--all for the aggrandisement of a single +people--the full programme must be looked upon as the most ambitious and +the most unscrupulous project of world-conquest that has yet been placed +on record in the history of mankind. + +For its attainment, however, it clearly depended no less upon +rail-transport than upon force of arms; and in this respect it +represented Germany's greatest attempt to apply, in practice, that +principle of rail-power to which she had devoted eight decades of +inquiry, trial and organisation. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[75] "Babylonien, das reichste Land in der Vorzeit und das lohnendste +Kolonisationsfeld für die Gegenwart." 128 pp. Heidelberg, 1886. + +[76] Important extensions have been carried out since. + +[77] Dr. Dillon, in _The Contemporary Review_, April, 1906. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS + + +As will have been gathered from the preceding chapters, a prolonged +period of consideration, preparation and application in many different +countries throughout the world, prior to the outbreak of the Great +War in 1914, had established certain definite facts and fundamental +principles in regard to the relations of railways to warfare in +general. These may now be brought together and summarised in four +groups or divisions, namely, (A) Advantages; (B) Conditions Essential +to Efficiency; (C) Limitations in Usefulness; and (D) Drawbacks and +Disadvantages. + + +A.--ADVANTAGES + +Assuming (1) the provision, in advance, of a system or systems of +railways capable of meeting all the requirements of the military +situation on the outbreak of war, or (2) the possibility of constructing +military railways during the progress of hostilities, such railways +should permit of-- + +A mobilisation of troops and their concentration at the frontier, or +at the seat of war, with a speed that was impossible under earlier +conditions. + +Simultaneous use of different routes across the national territory +for concentration either on the frontier or at a point some distance +therefrom where the concentration can be completed without fear of +interruption by the enemy. + +Sudden invasion of neighbouring territory by troops sent in a succession +of rapidly-following trains direct from various points in the interior +of the country where they might have been concentrated without the +knowledge of the enemy, this procedure being adopted in preference to +collecting at the frontier in advance a force on such a scale as would +disclose prematurely the intentions entertained. + +The possibility of using promptly, for these purposes, the full strength +of the country's available resources--the railway lines in the interior +having already been adapted thereto, as well as those on or directly +connecting with the frontier--with a proportionate increase of the +offensive and defensive power of the State. + +The supplementing of increased mobility and celerity by decreased +strain on the physical powers of the troops and the avoidance of such +inevitable reduction in their numbers as would result from the trials +and fatigues of prolonged marches by road (in combination with the +carrying of kits, etc.), should railway lines not be available. + +A further consequent increase in the fighting strength of the army. + +The possible attainment of the power of initiative through an early +concentration of large forces at points of strategic importance either +on national or on enemy's territory.[78] + +The carrying out of strategical combinations on a scale or of a +character which would formerly have been impracticable. + +Employment of railways for tactical purposes during the progress of +a war, including therein (_a_) movement of troops from one part of +the theatre of war to another, whether with a view to effecting big +changes of front or otherwise; (_b_) employment of the same Army Corps +on different fronts in succession, their transfer being effected in +the briefest possible interval of time; (_c_) the rapid bringing up +of reinforcements at a critical moment to some position exposed to +overpowering attack which might otherwise be lost; (_d_) surprise +attacks on the enemy; (_e_) the throwing of great masses of troops on +distant points; (_f_) strengthening weak places in the fighting line; +(_g_) strengthening threatened forts by means of troops, guns, munitions +or supplies; (_h_) relief of invested fortresses, and (_i_) retirement +by rail--when circumstances permit--of troops after defeat. + +Control of a line of rail communication between the base and the +strategic centre of operations, facilitating the enormous amount of +transport in both directions which must be kept up in the rear of the +army, and for which the elements of speed, safety and regularity may be +of vital importance. + +The possibility, thanks to railways, of regarding the whole interior of +the national territory as a base for the supply of requirements at the +front, dependence having no longer to be placed on a base established in +one particular district with its restricted range of possible supplies +and its collection of magazines, stores, workshops, transport parks, +etc., protected by fortresses, entrenched camps, or other means of +defence. + +The establishment of supplementary, sectional or advanced bases along +the line of communication, with railway services so arranged that +supplies can be dispatched daily in such regulated quantities, and to +such points, as will serve the immediate needs of the army in the field, +without risk either of shortage or of excess. + +Avoidance, under these conditions, of congestion of the railway lines +in the immediate rear of the army by trains or loaded wagons containing +a redundancy of supplies which (_a_) cannot be unloaded, (_b_) restrict +the use of the lines for other purposes, and (_c_) might have to be +abandoned to the enemy in the event of a sudden retreat. + +Material benefits from the substitution of rail for road transport of +food, etc., by reason of (_a_) greater speed and regularity; (_b_) +less risk of deterioration from exposure to weather, and other causes; +(_c_) decreased cost of transport as compared with earlier conditions +involving the employment of a greater number of drivers, escort, +guards, horses and road vehicles; and (_d_) the arrival at destination +of the full quantities dispatched, the need for the consumption of an +appreciable proportion _en route_ by men and animals in a convoying +wagon train, carrying supplies for long distances by road, being +non-existent. + +Reduction in the need for field ovens and other paraphernalia of the +army cook, since much of the food required--bread, for example--can +be prepared in cities or elsewhere at a distant base and forwarded +regularly by rail. + +Freedom, more or less complete, from the once prevalent obligation on +the part of an advancing army that it should "live upon the country"--a +condition which the enormous increase in the size of armies to-day would +render impossible of fulfilment, even assuming that the people of the +country invaded had not withdrawn live stock, vehicles and food supplies +on their retirement before the invader. + +In addition to this provision for the wants of an army in its advance +into hostile country, the safeguarding of the troops against the risk +of their becoming a band of demoralized marauders, wandering over a +wide area to seek and appropriate food whenever they can find it--as +was the case, for instance, in the Napoleonic wars--the maintenance of +discipline and the continued usefulness of the troops as a concentrated +body for the military purposes in view being further assured when both +men and leaders are relieved of anxiety as to the continuance of their +supplies. + +The conduct of war at a great distance from the base by reason of the +facilities offered for the forwarding alike of troops, reinforcements, +supplies and military materials, the value of even a single line of +railway in the achievement of this purpose having been incontestably +established. + +Defence of frontiers by strategical railways which may, also, become +available for general use. + +Investment of cities or fortresses in occupied territory when, owing to +the lack or the deficiency of food supplies in the surrounding country, +the troops engaged are mainly if not entirely dependent on those brought +to them by rail from their own base.[79] + +Victualling of cities before, and their revictualling after, +investment.[80] + +Extension of lines of communication by means of quickly-constructed +narrow-gauge siege railways to be operated by motor traction, animal +power, or otherwise, including therein trench tramways for (_a_) removal +of wounded men from the trenches; (_b_) transport of siege guns to +trenches; and (_c_) supplying ammunition to battery. + +Transport of heavy siege guns, mortars, ammunition and other materials +of a size or weight that would render impracticable their conveyance, +whether singly or in the aggregate, along ordinary roads, the railway +offering, in this respect, facilities for ponderous transport comparable +to those of the steamship, with the further advantage of being able, in +most instances, to take the guns, etc., to the spot or to the locality +where they are wanted. + +Material aid given to expeditions to countries otherwise devoid of means +of communication, by the construction of military railways. + +Employment of armoured trains which, apart from their usefulness in +defending railways against attack, may, as movable fortresses, render +important service in the operations against the enemy. + +Removal of sick and wounded from the theatre of war, and the ensuring +of their distribution among hospitals in the rear or throughout the +interior, thus (_a_) avoiding alike the embarrassment to the army and +the many dangers and evils that would result from their remaining in +overcrowded hospitals on or near the battle-field; (_b_) giving the men +a better chance of effecting a speedy recovery and returning soon to +the ranks; and (_c_) adding to the fighting strength of the army by the +combination of these two advantages. + +Facilities for giving a short leave to officers and men who, though +neither sick nor wounded, have been so far affected by their strenuous +exertions that they stand in need of a rest, or change, for which they +will fight all the better subsequently. + +Dispatch of prisoners of war into the interior by trains which have +brought reinforcements or supplies, the army thus being speedily +relieved of what might otherwise be a hindrance to its operations. + +Return of material no longer wanted at the front and constituting +impedimenta of which it is desirable to get rid as soon as possible. + +Conveyance into the interior of "trophies of war"--including +plunder--taken from captured towns or cities. + +Retirement of troops from occupied territory on the declaration of peace. + + +B.--CONDITIONS ESSENTIAL TO EFFICIENCY + +In the matter of railway construction there should be-- + +i. Uniformity of gauge, together with physical connections between the +different systems or sections, in order (_a_) that the locomotives and +rolling stock on any one line can be used for military transport on +any other; (_b_) that mobilisation, concentration and the forwarding +of supplies and military material can be facilitated by the running of +through trains from any probable or possible point of dispatch; and +(_c_) that troops can readily be transferred from one front, or from one +part of the coast, to another for the purpose either of attack or of +defence. + +ii. Lines linking up the interior of the country with the frontier, with +the coast, or with principal ports by different routes, transverse lines +connecting them, in turn, one with another. + +iii. Double track for all lines leading direct to the frontier. + +iv. In the case of single-track lines crossing continents or otherwise, +a liberal provision of passing places each capable of accommodating the +longest troop train likely to be run. + +v. On all lines, and at all important stations, a sufficiency of +sidings, with provision of, or the possibility of providing speedily, +all such facilities as may be needed for the prompt and efficient +handling of military transports whenever the occasion should arise. + +Preparations in advance should include-- + +i. The carrying out of a scheme of organisation based on recognition +of the following principles:--(_a_) That, while the railway is an +instrument capable of rendering great and even incalculable services in +the conduct of war, the working of it is a highly-skilled business only +to be entrusted to those possessed of the necessary experience; (_b_) +that interference with such working on the part of military officers +not possessing the requisite technical knowledge of the details and +limitations of railway operation may result in chaos and disaster; (_c_) +that railwaymen, in turn, are not likely to be fully acquainted with the +technicalities of military conditions and requirements, and should not, +in any case, be left with the responsibility of having to decide between +the possibly conflicting demands of various military authorities; +(_d_) that, for these reasons, there should be co-ordination of the +military and the technical railway elements, operating throughout +the whole scheme of organisation in its manifold details, avoiding +conflict of authority, ensuring harmony of working, and offering the +fullest guarantee that all military requirements will be met so far as +the capacity of the railway, together with a due regard for safe and +efficient operation, will allow; and (_e_) that effect can best be given +to these various conditions by the appointment of intermediary bodies +which, representing the dual elements, shall alone have power to give +directions, or to make demands, in respect to military rail-transport +during the continuance of war. + +ii. Collection of data concerning the physical character, resources and +transport capabilities of the railways both in the national territory +and in any other country to which the war operations may extend. + +iii. Study of all movements of troops, etc., likely to be necessary +on the outbreak of war; the preparation of special time-tables for the +running of troop trains, etc., and the working out of all essential +details respecting military transport in general. + +iv. Creation and training of bodies of Railway Troops qualified to +undertake the construction, destruction, repair and operation of +railways in time of war. + + +C.--LIMITATIONS IN USEFULNESS + +The usefulness of railways in war is limited by the following +considerations, among others:-- + +Railways are "inferior to ships in power of simultaneously transporting +heavy loads" (Von der Goltz). For this reason an overland route to +India could never compete, in respect to military transport, with +the sea route via the Suez Canal. Such overland route, also, passing +through foreign countries, would be especially liable to attack and +interruption. Where, however, the overland route goes entirely through +national territory (as in the case of the Trans-Siberian Railway), and +when the questions of time and safety, in regard to an alternative sea +route, suggest possible disadvantages, railways will be preferred to +ships in spite of the said inferiority. + +Railways are inferior to roads in so far as, like rivers and canals, +they are on fixed spots. Troops depending on them are thus able to +move only in the direction in which lines have been or can quickly be +laid, whereas if they went by road they might have a greater choice of +alternative routes. + +For these reasons the choice of the zone of concentration or of the +"decisive points" may depend less to-day on political, military or +geographical reasons (as in the Napoleonic wars) than on the direction, +extent and capacity of the available railways. + +Great masses of troops can be entrained only at stations where +facilities for their so doing have been prepared in advance. The +provision of these facilities is even more necessary in the case of +Cavalry or Artillery than in that of Infantry. Hence the movement of +considerable bodies of troops may be restricted to certain lines, and +their entrainment or detrainment even to certain large stations. In the +case of road marching these restrictions would not apply. + +Vehicles specially constructed for the purpose can alone be used on +railways. Any deficiency in their supply must needs cause delay. + +During the time the troops are travelling by railway their power of +resisting attack is much more restricted than it would be if they were +marching by road, they can do little or nothing to protect the railway +lines, while if the enemy can only get to the railway he may be in a +position to prevent the train from continuing its journey, and take the +troops in it at a disadvantage. + +For these reasons, among others, troop movements by rail at the theatre +of war, and especially in the enemy's country, are attended by a degree +of risk which may render it desirable to abandon the use of the railway +for the time being. + +Railways are especially liable to destruction by the enemy, and, +although the arrangements made in advance may permit of speedy repairs +or reconstruction, the interruption of traffic for even a day or half a +day may be a matter of grave importance during the concentration of the +army or at some critical moment. + +Destructions of line carried out by a retreating force, in order to +delay pursuit by the enemy, will be to the disadvantage of that force +when, after having driven back the enemy, it would itself make use of +the line it had rendered unserviceable. + +Dependence on the railway for the transport of considerable bodies +of troops on short journeys--say for twenty, twenty-five or thirty +miles--is rendered inexpedient by the fact that, when allowance is made +for the time likely to be taken, not only on the journey, but in the +assembling at the station, in the entraining and detraining (perhaps at +some place devoid of adequate platform or siding accommodation), and in +the march from the arrival station to destination, it may well be found +that the troops could cover the distance in less time by road, apart +from the consideration, suggested above, as to their being in a better +position, when marching, to resist attack. Experts in all countries +have studied this question with a view to deciding, on the basis of +their national conditions, within what limit it would be better for +troops to march by road in preference to going by rail. + +For reasons akin to those here stated, supplemented by the recent great +expansion of motor transport, less has been heard of late concerning the +proposed construction in this country of strategical railways along a +coast-line remarkable for its sinuosities, and presenting, therefore, an +exceptional position from the point of view of coast railways for purely +defensive purposes. + +As regards long-distance journeys, whilst armies marching by road have +often been materially reduced in proportions by the number of men +falling out owing to lameness, exhaustion, or other causes, those who +reached the theatre of war, representing "the survival of the fittest," +were better able to endure the trials and fatigues of the subsequent +campaign than if they could have made the journey by rail under +conditions involving no strain, but affording them no such exercise and +strengthening of their physical powers.[81] + +Experience has further shown that exceptionally long railway journeys +may have a prejudicial effect upon troops from the point of view, also, +of maintenance of discipline.[82] + +The services rendered by railways in war relate much more to strategy +than to tactics. Great masses of troops and munitions, brought from +all parts of the interior, may be conveyed readily and safely by rail +to particular points in the theatre of war; but the possibility of +effecting their transport by rail from one point to another on the +battle-field when the opposing forces are in actual contact is subject +to many restrictions and constitutes a much more difficult undertaking. + +The imperative need for guarding a long line of railway communications, +more especially in occupied territory, may lead to the withdrawal of a +considerable number of men from the main army, weakening the strength of +the available fighting force proportionately. + + +D.--DRAWBACKS AND DISADVANTAGES + +While, notwithstanding the conditions to be observed and the limitations +to be experienced, the balance of advantage conferred by railways on the +conduct of war may appear so pronounced, from a military and a political +point of view, there is a darker side to the story, as regards the world +at large, which must also be taken into account. + +If railways have increased the power of defending a country against +invasion they have, also, increased enormously the power of aggression +at the command of an invader. + +They offer vastly greater facilities to military Powers for the making +of sudden attacks on neighbouring countries--themselves, it may be, in a +state of more or less unpreparedness. + +They afford the opportunity for overwhelming weaker Powers by means +of armies mobilised and concentrated in the interior and poured on to +or across the frontier in an endless succession of trains following +one another with such rapidity that the initial movement may, in some +instances, be carried out within the short space of twenty-four hours. + +They permit of the prosecution of war at distances which, but for +the means offered for military transport by rail, would render war +impracticable. + +They allow of war being carried on between a number of nations at one +and the same time, thus spreading the area over which the conflicts of +to-day may extend. + +They encourage the cherishing of designs of world-power and dreams of +universal conquest. + +They have added to the horrors of war by facilitating the transport and +the employment of the most terrible engines of war. + +They have rendered possible the carrying off of plunder from an occupied +territory to an extent which would be impossible if the invaders had to +depend on ordinary road vehicles for their means of transport. + +They have brought fresh risks and dangers upon civil populations, +the maintenance of lines of rail communication being a matter of +such paramount importance to an invader that the severest measures +may be adopted by him towards the community in general as a means of +terrorising them and ensuring the security of the railway lines. + +What, in effect, count as "advantages" in one direction may be the +gravest of disadvantages in another. + + * * * * * + +Such, for attack or for defence, for good or for evil, is the nature, +and such are the possibilities, of that rail-power in warfare which, +after eighty years of continuous evolution, was, in the War of the +Nations imposed on mankind in 1914, to undergo a development and an +application on a wider, more impressive, and more terrible scale than +the world had ever seen before. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[78] Von Moltke is reported to have said on one occasion in the +Reichstag: "Our Great General Staff is so much persuaded of the +advantages to be derived from obtaining the initiative at the outset +of a war that it prefers to construct railways rather than forts. An +additional railway, crossing the whole country, makes a difference of +two days in the assembling of the army, and advances the operations +proportionately." "In the concentration of armies," says von der Goltz +in "The Conduct of War," "we reckon almost by hours." + +[79] "Without railroads, it is said, the siege of Paris would have been +impossible" (Bigelow's "Principles of Strategy"). "During the siege +of Paris one railway for some time fed the [German] army of, in round +numbers, 200,000 men, brought up the siege materials and reinforcements +averaging 2,000 to 3,000 men a day, and even, at one time, fed Prince +Frederick Charles' army, as well, with very slight assistance from the +exhausted theatre of war" (Hamley's "Operations of War"). + +[80] During the thirty-five days preceding the investment, Paris +received by the Western Railway, alone, 72,442 tons of provisions and +67,716 head of cattle. But for these supplies she could not have endured +so long a siege. In the revictualling of Paris, after the siege, the +railways, though much restricted by the Germans, brought into the city, +in the course of twenty days, 155,955 tons of provisions and 42,580 head +of cattle. + +[81] "The railways spare the troops fatigue," remarks Lieut.-Col. +Tovey, R.E., in "The Elements of Strategy"; "but it may be that when +they have to use their legs afterwards there will be more falling out +and lagging behind, in consequence." Balck, in his "Taktik," says: "It +is only in respect to the important consideration as to speed that the +rail-transport of troops is to be preferred to road-marching. The real +advantages of marching on foot--which was formerly the rule, and had +the effect of 'separating the chaff from the wheat' and of preparing +the men for the toils of fighting--are not counterbalanced by the fact +that the troops arrive at the theatre of war in their full numbers. +When time permits, marching on foot is preferable because it accustoms +the men both to their new equipment and to marching in large bodies. +After a long railway journey--on which the feet will have swollen and +the new boots will have been especially troublesome--marching becomes +particularly irksome, and the falling out of footsore men is very +considerable. It is, nevertheless, the almost invariable rule that the +troops shall begin their marching immediately they get to the end of +the rail journey, since it may be a matter of great importance that +the station at which they detrain should be cleared again as soon as +possible." + +[82] In alluding to the conditions under which Russian reinforcements +were sent to Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War, General Kuropatkin +writes ("The Russian Army and the Japanese War"): "In former days troops +had to make long marches in full service order before they reached the +battle-field. If properly conducted these marches hardened the men, and +enabled units to settle down; all superfluous luggage was discarded; +the weaker men were left behind; the officers and men got to know one +another. But, nowadays, with railway transport, the results are very +different. Going to the Far East, our men were crowded in railway +carriages for as long as forty days at a time, out of the control of +their officers, who were in different compartments. In the old and +well-disciplined units in particular no harm was done; but in the case +of newly-formed units ... it was most harmful." + + + + +Appendix + + +INDIAN FRONTIER RAILWAYS + +On the north-west frontier of India the plains of the Punjab are +separated from the great central valley of Afghanistan, from the deserts +of Baluchistan, and from the Russian Empire on the north thereof, by +ranges of mountains, otherwise "a gridiron of stupendous ridges and +furrows," intersected by passes which have always been regarded as the +most vulnerable points of the Indian Empire. Through these passes from +the earliest days of recorded history there has come a long succession +of invasions instigated by that incalculable wealth of India which may +well have inspired the envy of dwellers in less favoured lands.[83] + +These considerations would alone suffice to establish the need for an +effective control of the more important of the said passes by the Power +which exercises supremacy in India; but the obligation thus devolving +upon the British people as the present holders of that supremacy has +been increased in recent times by two further factors--(1) troubles +with frontier tribes; and (2) the development of that Central Asian +Question which, though now no longer acute, was, not so many years +ago, a source of great anxiety in England and India. Frontier troubles +gave rise to a number of expeditions to Afghanistan from time to time, +while the gravity of the general situation was increased by the once +steady advance of Russia towards India--whether for the purposes of +actual conquest thereof or, alternatively, for the attainment of the aim +cherished by Russia during three centuries for an outlet to a southern +sea, such outlet being sought via the Persian Gulf on her disappointment +in regard to the Dardanelles; though British interests were concerned in +either case. + +This combination of circumstances, with the possibility, at one +time, that Afghanistan might become the theatre of war in a conflict +between two great European Powers, invested with special interest and +importance the provision on the north-west frontier of India of railway +lines which, whether constructed to the more important passes or going +actually through them, would form a ready means of concentrating +Anglo-Indian troops at such places on the frontier, or beyond, as +occasion might require. + +From this point of view the Bolan and Khyber passes--the former leading +to Quetta and Kandahar and the latter to Kabul--have more especially had +importance attached to them as "the two gates of India." + +Proposals for constructing railways through them were advanced as early +as 1857, when Mr. (afterwards Sir) W. P. Andrew, chairman of the Sind, +Punjab and Delhi Railway, acted as spokesman of a deputation which +waited on Lord Palmerston in order to urge the construction of (1) a +railway down the valley of the Euphrates, improving our communications +with India by connecting the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf; +and (2) railways through the Bolan and Khyber passes, not only, as +he urged, facilitating the movement of troops to the frontier, but +offering alternative routes by means of which the flank or the rear +of an enemy operating beyond or between the limits of the two lines +might be threatened. Mr. Andrew followed up with great earnestness and +perseverance for many years his advocacy of these views, publishing a +succession of books and pamphlets, and writing many letters to the Press +on the subject. + +Such advocacy had, however, no practical issue, and, though the +arguments originally advanced in favour of the Euphrates railway lost +most of their force on the opening of the Suez Canal, the consequences +of the neglect to provide better means of communication with the +north-west frontier were well manifested in the troubles of 1878-79-80. + +The refusal of the Ameer of Afghanistan--who had already accorded an +ostentatious welcome to a Russian Embassy at Kabul--to receive a British +mission led, in 1878, to an order being given for the advance of three +columns of British forces upon Afghan territory, the routes selected for +this purpose being (1) the Khyber Pass, (2) the Kuram Pass, and (3) the +Bolan Pass. At this time, however, the system of frontier railways which +had been advocated so long scarcely existed except on paper. The nearest +point of railway communication with Afghanistan was then at Sukkur, on +the Indus. An extension across the Sind desert to the entrance to the +Bolan Pass had been surveyed, and a very short section had been laid; +but in their advance on Kandahar Sir Donald Stewart and his force had to +march all the way from the Indus, experiencing great trials in crossing +the intervening desert, where many of the men lost their lives. The +work of constructing this desert railway--which presented no engineering +difficulty--was now taken actively in hand, and the line was available +for the troops on their return. + +Success attended the expedition of 1878 so far as it led to the flight +of Shere Ali, the occupation of Kandahar by Sir Donald Stewart, the +control by the British of the three main highways between India and +Afghanistan, and the signing of the treaty of Gandamak; but the murder +of Sir Louis Cavagnari and his staff at Kabul, in September, 1879, +rendered necessary the sending of a further expedition, General Sir +Frederick (afterwards Lord) Roberts being directed to proceed with a +British force by the Kuram route to Kabul. + +Thereupon the whole question of transport facilities was revived afresh, +and, although the expedition itself was a conspicuous success, delays +and commissariat difficulties arose which might have been avoided had +better railway facilities been available.[84] The terminus, at that +time, of the Punjab State Railway was at Jhelum, seventy miles from +Rawal Pindi, 180 from Peshawar, and 260 from Thal, the frontier post of +the Kuram pass; and in spite of the vigorous efforts made, between 1878 +and 1880, to extend the line, Jhelum remained the actual railway base +throughout, no material assistance being gained from the twenty miles of +extension which, owing to the great engineering difficulties presented +by innumerable ravines, could alone be carried out during that period. +Commenting on the "painfully slow" progress being made by the Khyber +column, _The Times_ of October 13, 1879, remarked:-- + + It is now upwards of a quarter of a century since the + chairman of the Sind railway commenced to broach the idea + of connecting the Khyber and Bolan passes with the railway + system of India. For more than a quarter of a century he + has unsparingly advocated these views.... Had the views so + persistently advocated by Mr. Andrew, and so repeatedly brought + forward by us, been adopted at the commencement of the struggle + last October, as we then ventured to insist upon, vast sums + would have been spared in the hire of transport, and we should + have been spared the ignominy of feeling that a British army, + nominally on active service, has occupied five weeks in covering + less than seventy miles. + +Rawal Pindi--one of the most important strategical points in India--was +not reached by the railway until October, 1880, by which time the Afghan +War of 1878-80 had been brought to a close; and the further extension of +the Indian railway system to Peshawar,--another position of the utmost +strategic importance, situate ten miles from the entrance to the Khyber +Pass, and 190 from Kabul--was effected by May, 1883. + +From a military point of view, however, still greater importance was +attached, at that time, to the securing of rail communication through +the Bolan Pass to Quetta and Pishin in the direction of Kandahar, this +being the route by which, it was thought, the Russians would be certain +to attempt their invasion of India,--if they should undertake one at all. + +Surveys for an extension of the Sukkur-Sibi desert line to Pishin were +made whilst that line was under construction, and early in 1880 the +Government gave directions that the extension was to be proceeded with; +though they decided that the route to be taken from Sibi should be +through the Hurnai Pass in preference to the Bolan route, the former +being regarded as preferable for the broad-gauge line (5 ft. 6 in.) with +which the "Kandahar State Railway," as it was to be called, would be +provided. + +Arrangements were at once made for collecting the necessary materials +and for carrying through the work with the least possible delay; but +further progress was checked, in July, 1880, by the disaster at Maiwand. +In the following October the Gladstone Government, who had succeeded +the Beaconsfield Administration and had, apparently, resolved upon a +complete reversal of the Indian policy of their predecessors, followed +up an earlier announcement of their intention to withdraw from Kandahar +by giving orders for the cessation of the work on the Sind-Pishin +railway. Maiwand having been avenged, and some refractory tribes +subdued, Afghanistan was completely evacuated by the British at the end +of April, 1881, and the construction of frontier railways in India was +dropped, for the time being. + +In the middle of 1883 came a reconsideration of the position. Russia +was then showing increased activity in the direction of Merv, and +the British Government concluded, apparently, that they had been too +hasty in ordering the abandonment of the Kandahar State Railway scheme +nearly three years before. So they gave orders that the work should be +resumed; though, in order to render this _volte face_ on their part less +conspicuous, they directed that the undertaking should now be known only +as the "Hurnai Road Improvement Scheme"; that it should be proceeded +with quietly, in order that it might not attract too much attention, +and that the suggestion of a "road improvement scheme," instead of +a railway, should be kept up by the engineers not being allowed to +have even a temporary line of rails for conveying stores, materials +for bridges, etc., from the base to the passes. This last-mentioned +stipulation meant that the stores and materials had to be either +transported on the backs of camels or dragged on wheels up stream; and +it was estimated that, in addition to the great loss of time, a sum +of not less than £1,000,000 was wasted in this way before the order +prohibiting the use of temporary rails was rescinded. + +A start was made with the work in October, 1883, and the fact that +the Russians were then actually approaching Merv, and that a sudden +advance by them in force was regarded as probable, led to the laying of +great emphasis on the need for construction being pushed on with the +utmost vigour. When, in February, 1884, the Russians did occupy Merv, +the pressure brought to bear on the Engineer-in-chief became still +more acute. Then, in May, the British Government formally announced +that, owing to the encroachments of Russia, the line _would_ be built. +The fiction of a "Hurnai Road Improvement Scheme" was now abandoned. +Henceforth the line under construction was to be known as "The +Sind-Pishin State Railway." + +From the very outset, however, the difficulties which crowded upon +Colonel (afterwards Sir James) Browne, R.E., an officer well experienced +in railway and engineering work who was entrusted with the carrying +out of the scheme, were unfavourable to the prospects of speed in +construction. The surveys which had already been made were found not +only worthless but misleading. The first members of his staff were +unacquainted with railway work and had to be succeeded by men brought +from England. The plant and materials previously collected, but disposed +of at scrap-iron prices when the line was abandoned in 1880, had now to +be replaced at an almost fabulous cost, owing to the urgency of the need +for them. + +All these were, nevertheless, minor troubles as compared with the +physical conditions to be overcome. + +Starting from an elevation, at Sibi, of 300 ft., the line was to rise +6,200 ft. in the 120 miles between Sibi and the summit level at Kach. + +Then, for the greater part of the 224 miles to which the line was to +extend, the country was a wilderness of rocks and stones--a land of +barrenness and desolation, where there was no timber, no fuel, scarcely +a blade of grass, and, in places, for stretches of several miles, no +water. It was a land, too, almost devoid of inhabitants, while those +who did dwell there were described as "a savage and blood-thirsty race +of robbers," continually engaged in plunder and inter-tribal warfare, +and not growing sufficient food even for their own consumption. Almost +everything that was wanted--including supplies for from 15,000 to 30,000 +workers and materials for the line--had to be imported from a distance. + +Still less inviting was this inhospitable region by reason of its range +of climatic conditions. The lowlands have the reputation of being one of +the hottest corners of the earth's surface. A temperature of 124 deg. +Fahr. has been registered in the Nari valley. The highlands, in turn, +offer the alternative of Arctic cold, the temperature there falling in +winter to 18 deg. below zero. Between the lowlands and the highlands +there is a temperate zone; but here the constant pestilence was dreaded +no less than the extremes of heat and cold elsewhere. + +As the result of these conditions, the work of construction could be +carried on in certain districts for part of the year only, and the +workers had to be transferred from one section of the line to another +according to the season. Such a movement of front involved the transport +of everything,--stores, tools, offices and some thousands of men. "The +management of this vast exodus," says Captain Scott-Moncrieff, R.E., +in his paper on "The Frontier Railways of India,"[85] "was a work of +considerable anxiety and difficulty. A sudden influx of people, such +as this, into a desolate and barren land naturally caused a famine. +Everything was eaten up, and for some days the question of supplies was +the burning question of the hour.... Nine hundred camel loads of food +were consumed daily on the works." The customary load for a camel was +400 lbs., but some of the camels carried loads of 800 lbs. up the pass. + +The engineering difficulties fell into four principal groups,--(1) the +Nari Gorge; (2) the Gundakin Defile; (3) the Chuppur Rift, and (4) the +Mud Gorge.[86] + +The Nari Gorge, about fourteen miles in length, beginning just beyond +Sibi, has been described as "one of the most weird tracks through which +a railway has ever been carried. The hills, absolutely bare, rise above +the valley for many thousands of feet in fantastic pinnacles and cliffs. +It is a scene of the wildest desolation." The Nari river, running +through the gorge, is formed by a combination of three streams having +but little water on ordinary occasions, but becoming, in time of flood, +a raging torrent which fills up the whole gorge for miles, attains a +depth of ten feet, and has a velocity of five feet per second. Over +this river the railway had to be carried in five different places. Not +alone bridges, but heavy embankments, cuttings and tunnels were needed. +At one point there was an especially dangerous tunnel in which so many +accidents occurred, owing to roof or sides falling in, that at last no +workmen would enter it except at a wage five-fold that of the high rate +already being paid. The whole work was liable to be stopped for months +together, owing to the washing away of half-completed embankments or +bridges; though until this portion of the line had been completed no +materials could be sent to the sections beyond. + +In the Gundakin Defile, eight miles long, two tunnels had to be made +through some most treacherous material, and four bridges had to be +provided. + +The Chuppur Rift is a chasm three miles long in the spurs of a rocky +mountain forming an apparently insuperable barrier. In time of floods +the river attains a height of from 30 to 40 ft. The running of the +railway on a ledge along the side of the mountain being impracticable, +owing to the nature of the rock, the engineers cut a line of continuous +tunnels partly on one side of the rift and partly on the other, +connecting the two series by an iron girder bridge; but, instead of +constructing the tunnels in the usual way, from each end--a procedure +which would have taken much time--they adopted the expedient of driving +openings (adits) into the side of the cliff at various points, and then +cutting the tunnel right and left of each of these openings until the +various sections met. The only way in which the openings could be made +was by lowering men down by ropes several hundred feet from the top of +the cliff until they reached the point where the work for an opening was +to be started. They then drove crowbars into the perpendicular sides of +the cliff in order to gain the necessary support for a platform from +which the blasting operations could be carried on. Six of these openings +were made on one side of the cliff and six on the other. As a separate +gang of men could operate at each it was possible to complete the whole +work in the course of a few months. Altogether there is a collective +length of 6,400 ft. of tunnels in the rift, in addition to a viaduct +75 ft. high, with seven spans of 40 ft. each, and a bridge having an +elevation over the river of 250 ft., and consisting of a central span of +150 ft. and eight spans of 40 ft. + +On the summit level, twenty-five miles in length, came the five-mile +long Mud Gorge,--a narrow valley, between precipitous mountains, filled +with a soil little better than dried mud, and of such a character that +several bad slips of road-bed, carrying away the whole of the line, +occurred. + +One would think that with all these difficulties--physical, climatic and +engineering--to face, the constructors of the railway might have been +excused any more; but there were others besides. + +In August and September, 1884, the troops and native labourers employed +on the work on the lower part of the line were visited by an outbreak +of fever and scurvy of a virulence almost unprecedented in Indian +experience. Large numbers of the men died. In one gang of 200 the +average number of deaths was ten a day. Of those who survived the +majority were so prostrated as to be scarcely capable of doing anything. +Sixty per cent. of the Sappers were in hospital. + +Fresh troops, to the extent of three Battalions of Pioneers, were +brought on to the work; but they had scarcely arrived before--in +November--there was a severe outbreak of cholera. The Afghans thereupon +"bolted to a man"; and they were followed by many skilled artisans who +had been collected from various parts of India. Additional labour had to +be obtained from the Eastern Punjab, but much time was lost. + +Whilst the engineers were struggling to overcome these manifold +difficulties, the political situation was steadily becoming still more +acute. The climax seemed to be reached by the Penj-deh incident of +March 30, 1885, when a Russian force under General Komaroff seized this +important strategical position, situate near the junction of the Khushk +and Murghab rivers. On April 27, 1885, Mr. Gladstone proposed in the +House of Commons a vote of £11,000,000 for the purposes of what then +seemed to be an inevitable war with Russia. The money was voted the same +night. + +So the urgency for completing the line which would now, probably, have +been available for use had it not been stopped in 1880, was greater +than ever. Orders were sent to India that the work must be continued +along all parts of the line regardless of seasons. Within a week or two, +however, of the war vote at Westminster, cholera broke out afresh among +the construction party in India. By the end of May it was spreading +among them "like a raging fire"; while to the cholera itself there was +added a heat so intense that even the most willing of workers found it +almost unendurable. + +Under this combination of cholera and excessive heat, work on the lower +sections of the line was stopped altogether for a time--Government +orders and Russians notwithstanding. All possible measures were taken to +mitigate the severity of the epidemic; but the death-rate increased with +frightful rapidity. Some of the best workers, European and Asiatic--men +who could least be spared, on account of the responsible positions they +held--were carried off. During the month of June no fewer than 2,000 +died out of 10,000. Of the remainder large numbers sought safety in +flight. Many of the minor Government officials, such as telegraph and +Post Office clerks, went off in a body. + +Whilst sickness and disease had thus been afflicting the camps, fresh +troubles had arisen in another direction. Early in 1885 the district +was visited by a succession of floods exceeding in severity anything +known there for sixty years. In the course of three months the rainfall +amounted to 19.27 inches,--a total six times in excess of the average. +Several bridges and many miles of temporary roads were washed away; +numerous accidents were caused; camping grounds were destroyed; +communications were interrupted; food supplies became scarcely +obtainable, and great delay resulted in the prosecution of a work for +which urgency was being so persistently demanded. The floods did not +finally subside until the end of May. + +Nature having done so much to impede the progress of the undertaking, +it only remained for politicians and officials to do what they could to +follow her example. + +Mention has already been made of the initial prohibition of temporary +lines of rails for the conveyance of stores and materials, and the +loss of time and waste of money involved in the use of camels instead; +but to this one fact may be added another, namely, that after the +Engineer-in-Chief had made his arrangements to obtain sleepers from the +juniper forests on the north of the line--this being the only timber +available in the whole district--the Government vetoed the arrangement +on the ground that it might, possibly, lead to quarrels among the Afghan +tribes. The timber had to be procured from India, instead. Hence more +delay. + +Then the original arrangement with the Engineer-in-Chief, that the +work was to be carried out under the Military Department of the Indian +Government, and that, in the interests of urgency, he should have a +free hand, was changed into one which required that the work should +be controlled by a new member of the Public Works Department, who, it +is alleged, interfered with many of the working details which should +have been left to an Engineer-in-Chief, and, by his "unskilled and +unqualified control," caused still further delay, together with much +expense and confusion. A good deal of time was lost, for instance, +before Col. Browne could get even some indispensable instruments and +survey appliances. Especially persistent, also, was Col. Browne's +immediate superior in demanding from him "detailed estimates" which, +on account of the uncertainties of the engineering work and of the +other factors in the situation, it was impossible to prepare whilst the +construction of the line was in progress. + +Such, however, was the energy which had been shown, in spite of all +these difficulties and drawbacks, that the work was completed within the +two years and a half fixed by the Engineer-in-Chief at the start as the +period in which--"with money freely granted"--it could be done. On March +27, 1887, an engine ran over the line all the way from Sibi to Quetta, +and the Hurnai Railway was formally declared open for traffic. + +In the meantime the apparent certainty of war with Russia, following, +especially, on her seizure of Penj-deh, had led, in April, 1885, to +an order being given for the construction of a light railway from +Sibi through the Bolan Pass to Quetta, as an alternative, more direct +and more quickly constructed route, of which use could be made for +a movement of troops to the frontier on the anticipated partial +mobilisation of the Indian Army. + +The laying of this light railway constituted another notable engineering +achievement. + +Running through the heart of what has been described as "some of the +boldest mountain scenery in India," the Bolan Pass has a length of about +sixty miles and a breadth ranging from one mile to a space, in places, +of only about twenty yards between the rugged mountain walls which here +convert the pass into a mere defile. The pass is, in fact, practically +the bed of the Bolan River, and is dry for the greater part of the +year, but liable to floods. The temporary narrow-gauge line was to be +laid along the river bed without interfering with the military road +constructed in 1882-84 as far as Quetta. + +For the first forty miles there was a fairly good gradient; but beyond +that came a very heavy rise to the top of the pass; and here, at least, +anything more than a metre-gauge line would have been impracticable. +The possibility of constructing a line of railway through the pass at +all had long been the despair of engineers, and this was the reason why +the Hurnai route had been decided on in preference to the Bolan for the +broad-gauge line to Quetta. Unfortunately, too, the climatic were even +greater than the engineering difficulties. The heat in the lower parts +of the pass was "beyond all description," and cholera or other diseases +carried off thousands of the workers. + +With these two lines at their disposal, the Government were, in the +spring of 1887, quite prepared for a concentration of British and +Indian forces in Afghanistan, had the political condition rendered such +a course necessary; but the situation had by then greatly improved, +thanks to the negotiations which had been proceeding with Russia for +the demarcation of frontiers. In April, 1877, the British and Russian +commissioners met at St. Petersburg, and, as the result of still further +negotiations, the questions at issue were settled without the appeal to +arms which had at one time appeared inevitable. + +In 1892 some fifty miles of the Bolan light railway were abandoned in +favour of another route which, avoiding the first part of the pass, +allowed of a broad-gauge line being laid from Sibi through Quetta +to Bostan Junction, where it connects with what is now known as the +Hurnai-Pishin Loop. A branch ninety miles in length, from Quetta to +Mushki, on the Seistan trade route, was opened in 1905. + +To-day the Sind-Pishin railway, with its two sections, via the Bolan +and the Hurnai respectively, has its terminus at New Chaman, on the +actual frontier of Afghanistan, and within seventy miles of Kandahar. +A broad-gauge line throughout, it forms part of the railway system of +India, linking up at Ruk junction with the line running thence along the +north bank of the Indus to Karachi, and, by means of a bridge across the +Indus, with a line on the south of the river which, in one direction +provides an alternative route to Karachi, and in the other connects with +Calcutta and other leading cities. The Sind-Pishin line affords, in +fact, a most valuable means for concentrating on the Afghan frontier, +within a short distance of Kandahar, and in the shortest possible time a +considerable body of troops collected from all parts of India, together +with reinforcements from Europe, landed at Karachi. As a strategical +line, therefore, the railway is of exceptional importance to India and +to British interests in general; though there can be no suggestion that +it would be used otherwise than for purely defensive purposes. + +Then, in what, since 1901, has constituted the North-West Frontier +Province of India, there has been a considerable extension of frontier +railways in recent years,--all serving important strategical purposes. +From Peshawar--1,520 miles from Calcutta--there is a broad-gauge +extension, twelve miles in length, to Fort Jamrud, at the mouth of the +Khyber Pass; from Naushahra, a cantonment twenty-seven miles due east +of Peshawar, there is a narrow-gauge line to Dargai, at the foot of +the Malakand Pass; while among other lines is one to Thal, a military +outpost on the extreme limit of British territory which serves also as a +depôt for the trade with Northern Afghanistan passing through the Kurram +valley; and one to Banu, a garrison town, seventy-nine miles south of +Kohat, built on a site chosen for political reasons by Sir Herbert +Edwards in 1848. + +A number of other railways on the north-west frontiers of India have +been proposed. Whatever may or may not be ultimately done in regard to +these further schemes, it is obvious that those already constructed have +made an enormous difference in our strategical position in regard to +Afghanistan and the lands beyond as compared with the military transport +conditions of 1878. + + +THE DEFENCE OF AUSTRALIA + +With a total area of 2,948,000 square miles, a population of less than +four and a half million, and a coast line of 11,300 miles, the continent +of Australia is peculiarly open to attack, and the possibilities of +invasion, or of attempts at invasion, have not only been much discussed +there of late years, but they have given rise to schemes of land defence +in which the building of strategical railways and the adapting of +existing lines to strategical purposes form important factors. + +Under present conditions Western Australia and the Northern Territory +are isolated from the remaining States of the Commonwealth so far as +regards rail communication, and are at the mercy of any invader who +might be able to land a force there unchallenged by the British Fleet. + +Since the autumn of 1912, however, there has been under construction a +railway which, starting from Kalgoorlie, the eastern terminus of the +Western Australian system, will proceed in a direct line for 1,063 miles +to Port Augusta, on the South Australian system, thus establishing +through rail connection between Perth (Western Australia) and the +farthest limit of the Queensland railway system, a total distance, that +is, of about 4,000 miles. When this, the first of Australia's proposed +trans-continental lines, is completed, it will be possible to send +troops from the Central or the Eastern States to Western Australia, not +only by rail, but by a railway laid so far inland that they will be safe +from attack from the sea. There would thus be a reasonable certainty +of the troops arriving at their destination; whereas if they had to +go by water there might be the risk of the vessels in which they were +making the journey being captured by the enemy. While, therefore, the +Kalgoorlie-Port Augusta line is expected to serve other than purely +strategical purposes, it is, in effect, the latter which claim first +consideration. + +Referring to the Northern Territory, in an article contributed by him to +_The Empire Review_ for May, 1910, Mr. F. A. W. Gisborne, an authority +on Australian questions, wrote:-- + + This vast region embraces 523,620 square miles of land, + and lies close to Asia, the most populous of the continents. + At present it contains, exclusive of the aborigines, barely + one thousand white people and about twice as many Chinese. It + lacks railway communication with the settled parts of Australia, + and is completely isolated from them. Its magnificent harbour, + accessible to the largest vessels afloat, and constituting + the natural gateway to tropical Australia, lies, save for + the British Fleet, absolutely defenceless. Behind it extend + millions of acres of fertile plains never yet tilled, and + never likely to be cultivated by white hands. Practically no + industry flourishes in a region which could support myriads of + agriculturists and operatives. + +That some of the peoples of crowded Asia may, sooner or later, seek +a settlement for their surplus millions on what, for them, would be +so desirable a land as the Northern Territory, with its magnificent +opportunities for those capable of working in a tropical climate, is a +contingency that has been fully realised in Australia, and the questions +have arisen (1) as to whether the presence of a thousand whites in a +region half a million square miles in extent constitutes such "effective +occupation" thereof as gives them a right to its exclusive possession; +and (2) whether it would be possible either to prevent Asiatics from +invading the Northern Territory, if they sought so to do, or to eject +them therefrom if they did. + +The latter question raises in an especially interesting form the +problem as to the respective merits and possibilities of sea-power and +rail-power. + +Sea-power would, assuredly, have to be relied upon for safeguarding +the Northern Territory against invasion, since it would be impossible +for the Commonwealth Government to station troops at every prospective +landing point along 1,200 miles of a tropical coast-line in sufficient +force to keep off any invader who might appear there at some unexpected +moment. For the checking, therefore, of such invasion, dependence would +have to be placed on the power of the British Fleet (1) to stop the +invader, (2) to cut off his connections if he should effect a landing, +or (3) to carry war into the invader's own country. + +Nor, if any large Asiatic settlement--as distinct from an "invasion" in +the ordinary acceptation of that term--did take place in the Northern +Territory under conditions that might not call for the intervention of +the British Fleet, is it certain that the ejection of the settlers could +be ensured with the help even of a trans-continental line of railway. +Here the question is not that of the carrying power of a single line +of railway. The examples offered by the War of Secession, the South +African War and the Russo-Japanese War have well established the great +advantages that even single lines, extending for great distances, can +confer in the effecting of military transport. The considerations that +would arise in Australia are, rather, (1) the fact that troops arriving +at Pine Creek or Port Darwin from the south might have to make some +very long and very trying marches across the 523,000 square miles +comprising the Northern Territory before they reached the settlement +of the Asiatics whom they were to eject, while they would be dependent +for their supplies on a far-distant railway base; and (2) the doubt as +to whether Australia could spare a sufficiently large body of troops to +undertake such an expedition, having regard to the defence requirements +of her south-eastern States, the integrity of which would count as of +more vital importance than an Asiatic settlement in her Far North. So +there are those who think that if such a settlement were eventually +effected in the Northern Territory, under conditions not constituting a +_casus belli_, Australia would simply have to accept the situation, and +reconcile herself to it as best she could. + +All these things may seem to reflect on the precise value, from the +rail-power point of view, of that direct communication which, more +especially for strategical reasons, Australia has hoped eventually to +obtain between north and south as well as between west and east. It +is, nevertheless, desirable to see what has already been done in this +direction. + +The construction of a north-to-south trans-continental line, passing +through the very centre of the Australian mainland, and linking up +the Northern Territory with the southern and eastern States, has +been under discussion for a period of about forty years. Progress +seemed to be assured by the Acceptance Act of 1910, under which the +Government of the Commonwealth, in taking over the Northern Territory +from South Australia, agreed to build a trans-continental line +connecting Oodnadatta, the northern terminus of the South Australian +railway system, and 688 miles from Adelaide, with Pine Creek, the +southern terminus of the Northern Territory system, and 145 miles +distant from Port Darwin. This connecting link would have a length +of 1,063 miles,--the same, by a singular coincidence, as that of the +Kalgoorlie-Port Augusta line. + +Since this "bargain" between the South Australia and the Commonwealth +Governments was made, there have been many advocates of an alternative, +or, otherwise, a supplementary route which, instead of going direct from +South Australia to the Northern Territory, (passing through the central +Australian desert,) would link up--on their west--with the railway +systems of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, connections with +the new line being made by these States where necessary. This "eastern +deviation route" would, it is argued, offer a greater strategical +advantage, as compared with the other route, because if troops had to +be despatched to the north, they could more readily be supplied from +Melbourne and Sydney--which, between them, contain over one-fourth of +the entire population of Australia--than from Adelaide; while to send +troops from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria to South Australia +in order that they might start on their journey to the Northern +Territory from Oodnadatta, would involve a material delay under, +possibly, urgent conditions. Thus it is estimated that if the eastern +route were adopted, troops and travellers from Brisbane to Port Darwin +would only travel about 2,234 miles as against 3,691 miles via Sydney, +Melbourne, Adelaide and the central Australian route from Oodnadatta. + +How these rival claims and contentions will be eventually settled +remains to be seen; but there has now been added to them a project for +the building of other avowedly strategical lines, establishing a more +direct connection between the Kalgoorlie-Port Augusta trans-continental +line, when it is finished, and the capitals of Victoria, New South Wales +and Queensland respectively, facilitating the mutual defence of the +eastern, southern and western States in a time of crisis. This further +scheme is, however, designed only to supplement the trans-continental +lines already mentioned. + +As regards the eastern States and the "central" State of South +Australia, the question of an Asiatic invasion may be assumed not to +arise. It has, however, long been regarded as possible that if Great +Britain were at war with some non-Asiatic Power able to challenge her +supremacy on the seas, the enemy might make an attack, not on the +admittedly vulnerable Northern Territory--which he would not want +either as a colony for Europeans or as a "jumping-off" place from which +to conquer the remainder of Australia--but on some point along the +coast-line of nearly 2,000 miles which, stretching from Rockhampton, +in Queensland, to Adelaide, in South Australia, comprises (with a +Hinterland of some 200 miles) the most populous, the most wealthy and +(for non-Asiatics) the most desirable section of the whole Australian +continent. + +It is true that Germany--the Power which claims first attention from +this point of view--has shown far greater desire to convert Africa into +a German Empire than she has to effect the annexation of Australia. Yet +that she has recognized the weakness of the Australian situation is +suggested by the fact that, in dealing with the defensive power of the +Commonwealth, Dr. Rohrbach, one of the exponents of German World-Policy, +and author of "Deutschland unter den Weltvölkern," among other works, +has declared that Australia could not resist if her four chief towns, +all of them near the coast, were occupied by an invader.[87] + +Which of these four towns, or which particular point along the said +2,000 miles of coast-line, an invader would select for his main +attack--apart from feints elsewhere--must needs be uncertain; but this +very fact only adds to the imperative importance of those responsible +for the defence of Australia being able to move troops freely, and +within the shortest possible period, either from one State to another or +from any place to another within one and the same State, as the defence +conditions might require. + +When we thus pass on to consider the question as to the use of existing +lines of railway in Australia for strategical purposes, we find that +the most noteworthy expression of opinion on this branch of the subject +is contained in the following extract from the "Memorandum" which Lord +Kitchener wrote in 1910, as the result of an investigation made by him, +at the request of the Commonwealth Government, into the "Defence of +Australia":-- + + Railway construction has, while developing the country, + resulted in lines that would appear to be more favourable to an + enemy invading Australia than to the defence of the country. + Different gauges in most of the States isolate each system, and + the want of systematic interior connection makes the present + lines running inland of little use for defence, although + possibly of considerable value to an enemy who would have + temporary command of the sea. + +The "different gauges" undoubtedly constitute one of the most serious +shortcomings of the existing railways in Australia in regard to those +military movements with which we are here alone concerned. + +Strategical considerations as applied to rail transport require, not +only that troops shall be readily conveyed, when necessary, from one +part of a country or one part of a continent to another, but that a +mobilisation of the forces shall be followed by a mobilisation of +railway rolling stock. Locomotives, carriages and trucks on lines which +are not themselves likely to be wanted for military transport should be +available for use on the lines that will be so wanted, in order that all +the rolling stock of all the railways in all parts of the country or of +the States concerned can, at a time of possibly the gravest emergency, +be concentrated or employed on whatever lines, or in whatever direction, +additional transport facilities may be needed. + +The importance of this principle was first recognised by von Moltke; +but when the railways of Australia were originally planned, each State +took a more or less parochial view of its own requirements, its own +geographical conditions, or its own resources, and adopted the gauge +which accorded best therewith, regardless of any future need for a +co-ordinated system of rail-transport serving the requirements of the +Australian continent as a whole. + +So we find that the 3 ft. 6 in. gauge has been adopted in Queensland, +South Australia (with a further 600 miles of 5 ft. 3 in. gauge), Western +Australia, and the Northern Territory; the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge (the +standard gauge in Great Britain and, also, of over 65 per cent. of +the world's railway mileage,) in New South Wales; and the 5 ft. 3 in. +gauge in Victoria. This means, in most cases, that when the frontier of +a State is reached, passengers, mails, baggage and merchandise must +change or be transferred from the trains on the one system to those of +the other. + +Assuming that the west-to-east trans-continental railway (which is +being built with the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge) were now available for use, a +traveller by it from Perth, Western Australia, through South Australia, +Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland would require, on account +of the differences in gauge, to change trains at least five times. +This may be regarded as an extreme case; but the evils of the existing +conditions are presented to us in a concrete form by an estimate which +the Defence Department of the Commonwealth recently made as to the time +it would take to move a force of 30,000 mounted troops from Melbourne +to Brisbane. It was shown that, with the present break of gauge, this +operation would occupy no less a time than sixty-three days; whereas +if there were no break of gauge twenty-three days would suffice. Thus +the differences of gauge would mean a loss of forty days in effecting +transfers at the frontier. In this time much might happen if the enemy +had obtained temporary control of the sea. Under these conditions, in +fact, he would be able to move his own forces by sea for the still +longer distance from Adelaide to Brisbane in five days. Brisbane might +thus be captured by the enemy while the reinforcements it wanted were +still changing trains at the State boundaries. + +It may be of interest here to recall the fact that at one time there +were still greater differences of gauge on the railways in the +United States; that in 1885 the American railway companies resolved +upon establishing uniformity as a means of overcoming the great +inconveniences due to these conditions; and that in 1886, after adequate +preparation, the conversion of practically the entire system of railways +in the United States to the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge was effected in two +days. Strategically, therefore, the United States Federal Government +could now, not only send troops by rail from any one part of their vast +territory to another, but utilise almost the whole of the available +rolling stock for military purposes.[88] + +Unification of gauge forms, however, a serious proposition for Australia +on account of the prodigious outlay which, owing to the short-sighted +policy of the past, it would now involve.[89] + +The estimated cost of converting all the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge in New South +Wales and all the 3 ft. 6 in. gauge in Queensland, South Australia, +Western Australia and the Northern Territory to the 5 ft. 3 in. gauge of +Victoria is no less than £51,659,000. To convert all the 3 ft. 6 in. and +5 ft. 3 in. railways to the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge of the New South Wales +lines would cost £37,164,000. To convert to the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge all +the trunk lines connecting the capitals--and this without shortening the +present circuitous routes or modifying the heavy grades--would alone +cost about £12,000,000. + +In addition to this still undecided "battle of the gauges" there +are in Australia other disadvantages, from a strategical standpoint, +in the existing railway system, included therein being (1) an undue +preponderance of single over double track, so that any exceptional +amount of traffic causes a congestion which is likely only to be +aggravated by new lines constructed, or extensions made, before the +carrying capacity of the trunk lines has been increased; and (2) the +building of lines which either lead nowhere or have been expressly +stopped short of the boundaries of a State in order to retain, for the +railways of that State, traffic from outlying districts which would +pass, by a much shorter journey, to the port of a neighbouring State if, +by means of through railway connexion, the residents in the districts +concerned were free to avail themselves of their geographical advantage +in respect to their nearness to such port. + +In addition to the efforts she has already made, or is proposing to +make, to effect such improvement both in her railway system and in +her military transport facilities as may be practicable, Australia +has sought to provide for that effective organisation without which, +as experience elsewhere has fully shown, great and even disastrous +confusion may arise at a critical moment owing to conflicts of authority +and other troubles or difficulties in the working of such railways as +may be utilised for military movements. + +The action taken in this direction is based on a further recommendation +made by Lord Kitchener, who, in the course of his Memorandum to the +Commonwealth Government in 1910 said (paragraph 85):-- + + Preparation for mobilisation is primarily the work of + the General Staff, who recommend the lines to be followed + and advise where, and in what quantities, the munitions of + war of the various units should be stored. Concentration can + only be satisfactorily effected when the railway and military + authorities are in the closest touch, and work in absolute + harmony. To secure this co-operation, I advise that a War + Railway Council be formed, as is the case in the United Kingdom, + composed of the Chief Railway Commissioner from each State, + under the presidency of the Quartermaster-General of the Citizen + Forces, and with an officer of the Headquarters Staff as + secretary. + +A War Railway Council for the Commonwealth was duly constituted in +1911. The Council, which forms an adjunct of the Commonwealth Defence +Department, consists of the Quartermaster-General, (president,) the +senior officer of the Engineer and Railway Staff Corps also created +for the railway system alike of the Commonwealth and of each State +(such senior officer being the Chief or the Deputy Commissioner of +Railways); the Consulting Military Engineer of the Commonwealth, +and two representatives of the naval and military forces, with a +military officer as secretary. The duties of the Council in time of +peace are, generally, to furnish advice to the Minister of Defence on +railway matters, and, particularly (_a_) to determine the method of +supplying information to, and obtaining it from, the different railway +departments; (_b_) to suggest regulations and instructions for carrying +out movement of troops; (_c_) to suggest the method of organising +railway staff officers in time of war to act as intermediaries between +the various railway authorities and the troops; (_d_) to consider the +question of extra sidings, loading platforms, etc.; and proposals for +unification of gauges; and (_e_) to suggest the organisation and system +of training of railway troops. In time of war the Council further +advises the Minister of defence on questions of mobilisation. The +organisation for military rail-transport in the several States follows +on the lines of the system already adopted in the United Kingdom, as +laid down in the Field Service Regulations. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[83] Altogether there have been twenty-six invasions of India, dating +back to about 2,000 years B.C., and of this number no fewer than +twenty-one have ended in conquest. + +[84] It has been stated that the number of camels employed during the +expeditions of 1878-80 for transport purposes, in default of better +rail communication, was so great as almost to exhaust the supply of +the frontier provinces of Sind and Punjab, while from 30,000 to 40,000 +of them died owing to the excessive toils and trials of the work they +were required to perform, the financial loss resulting therefrom to the +Treasury being estimated at £200,000. + +[85] "Professional Papers of the Corps of Royal Engineers," Vol xi, 1885. + +[86] "Life and Times of General Sir James Browne, R.E., K.C.B., +K.C.S.I." by General J. J. McLeod Innes, London, 1905. + +[87] See "The Origins of the War"; by J. Holland Rose, Litt.D. +Cambridge, 1914. + +[88] In the _New York Sun_ of June 18, 1911, there was published an +article which had for its heading, "If Troops had to be Rushed, the +Railroads in this Country could move 250,000 Men a Day." + +[89] The mileage of lines open, under construction, or authorised, in +the three gauges, is as follows:--5 ft. 3 in. gauge, 4,979 miles; 4 ft. +8½ in. gauge, 6,160 miles; 3 ft. 6 in. gauge, 11,727 miles. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +The following list of books, pamphlets and articles bearing on the +evolution and the development of rail-power down to the outbreak of +the Great War in 1914--this alone being the purpose and the scope of +the present work--was originally based on selections from a "List of +References on the Use of Railroads in War" prepared by the Bureau of +Railway Economics, Washington, D.C., U.S.A., and including items from +all the leading libraries of the United States (Library of Congress; +the libraries of the principal Universities, Colleges and learned +or technical societies; State libraries, public libraries, private +railway-libraries, and the library of the Bureau itself), together with +various foreign libraries, such as those of the Minister of Public Works +in Berlin, the International Railway Congress at Berne, and others +besides. + +Much valuable help has been derived from the American list; but a large +number of its references, and especially those relating to the World-War +itself, have not here been reproduced, while so many additions have +been gathered in from other sources among which might be mentioned the +published catalogue of the War Office Library; the libraries of the +British Museum, the Royal Colonial Institute, and the Patent Office; the +_Journal_ of the Royal United Service Institution, the publications of +the Royal Engineers' Institute, and official or other publications in +Great Britain, France, etc., that the Bibliography here presented may, +perhaps, be regarded as practically a new compilation, supplementing +the excellent purpose which the list of the American Bureau of Railway +Economics will undoubtedly serve. + + +EARLIEST REFERENCES (1833-50). + + HARKORT, FRIEDRICH WILHELM. Die Eisenbahn von Minden nach + Köln. Hagen, 1833. + + [The earliest published work in which the importance and + the possibilities of railways from a military standpoint were + advocated.] + + Ueber die militärische Benutzung der Eisenbahnen. Berlin, + 1836. + + Darlegung der technischen und Verkehrs-Verhältnisse der + Eisenbahnen, nebst darauf gegründeter Erörterung über die + militärische Benutzung derselben. Berlin, 1841. + + "Pz." (CARL EDUARD POENITZ). Die Eisenbahn als militärische + Operationslinien betrachtet und durch Beispiele erläutet. Nebst + Entwurf zu einem militärischen Eisenbahnsystem für Deutschland. + Adorf [Saxony], 1842. + + ---- II. Aufl. Adorf, 1853. + + Essai sur les Chemins de Fer, considérés comme lignes + d'opérations militaires. Traduit de l'allemand par L. A. Unger. + Paris, 1844. + + [A French translation of the above-mentioned work by + Poenitz, with an introduction by the translator and a map of + Germany and Austria showing railways existing in 1842 and the + "system" projected by the German writer.] + + Uebersicht des Verkehrs und der Betriebsmittel auf den + inländischen und den benachbarten ausländischen Eisenbahnen + für militärische Zwecke; nach den beim grossen Generalstabe + vorhandenen Materialen zusammengestellt. Berlin, 1848-50. + + HOFFMANN, C. Amtlich erlassene Vorschriften über Anlage und + Betrieb der Eisenbahnen in Preussen. Berlin, 1849. + + +WARS AND EXPEDITIONS + + +CRIMEAN WAR (1854-55) + + HAMLEY, GEN. SIR EDWARD. The War in the Crimea. London, 1891. + + LUARD, R.E., CAPT. C. E. Field Railways and their general + application in war. _Journal of the Royal United Service + Institution_, Vol. XVII, 1873. + + [Refers to military railway built for use in the Crimea.] + + +ITALIAN WAR (1859) + + BARTHOLONY, F. Notice sur les Transports par les Chemins + de Fer français vers le théâtre de la guerre d'Italie. 71 pp. + Paris, 1859. + + MILLAR, R.A., MAJOR, Topographical Staff. The Italian + Campaign of 1859. _Journal of the Royal United Service + Institution_, Vol. V, pp. 269-308. London, 1861. + + [Introductory reference to use of railways.] + + +AMERICAN CIVIL WAR (1861-65) + + Abhandlung über die Thätigkeit der amerikanischen + Feldeisenbahn-Abtheilungen der Nordstaaten; bei den Directionen + der Staatseisenbahnen. Durch das Königl. Ministerium in + Circulation gesetzt. Berlin. + + BACON, E. L. How railroads helped save the Union. + _Railroadman's Magazine_, July, 1909. + + HAUPT, HERMAN. Reminiscences of General Herman Haupt, Chief + of the Bureau of United States Military Railroads in the Civil + War. 321 pp. Illustrations. Milwaukee, Wis., 1901. + + HENDERSON, LIEUT.-COL. G. F. R. Stonewall Jackson and the + American Civil War. Second edition. Two vols. London, 1899. + + PORTER, W. E. Keeping the Baltimore and Ohio in Repair in + War Time was a Task for Hercules. _Book of the Royal Blue_, + June, 1907. + + United States Military Railroads. Report of Brev.-Brig.-Gen. + D. C. McCallum, Director and General Manager, from 1861 to 1866. + Executive Documents, 39th Congress, 1st Session. House. Serial + number, 1251. Washington, 1866. + + VIGO-ROUISSILLON, F. P. Puissance Militaire des États-Unis + d'Amérique, d'après la Guerre de la Sécession, 1861-65. IIIe + Partie; chap. viii, Transports généraux. Paris, 1866. + + +AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN CAMPAIGN (1866) + + COOKE, R.E., LIEUT.-COL. A. C. C. Short Sketch of the + Campaign in Austria of 1866. 70 pp. Map. London, 1867. + + WEBBER, R.E., CAPT. Notes on the Campaign in Bohemia in + 1886. Papers of the Corps of the Royal Engineers, N.S., Vol. + XVI. Woolwich, 1868. + + +ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION (1867-68) + + WILLANS, R.E., LIEUT. The Abyssinian Railway. Papers on + Subjects Connected with the Duties of the Corps of Royal + Engineers. N.S. Vol. XVIII. Woolwich, 1870. + + +FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR (1870-71) + + BUDDE, LIEUT. H. Die Französischen Eisenbahnen im Kriege + 1870-71 und ihre seitherige Entwicklung in militärischer + Hinsicht. Mit zwei Karten und zehn Skizzen im Texte. 99 pp. + Berlin, 1877. + + [Gives maps of the French railway system in 1870 and 1877 + respectively.] + + ---- Die französischen Eisenbahnen im deutschen + Kriegsbetriebe, 1870-71. 487 pp. Berlin, 1904. + + ERNOUF, LE BARON. Histoire des Chemins de Fer français + pendant la Guerre Franco-Prussienne. Paris, 1874. + + JACQMIN, F., Ingénieur en Chef des Ponts et Chaussées. Les + Chemins de Fer pendant la Guerre de 1870-71. 351 pp. Paris, 1872. + + ---- 2e edition. 363 pp. 1874. + + MÜLLER-BRESLAU, F. Die Tätigkeit unserer + Feldeisenbahn-Abteilung im Kriege 1870-71. Berlin, 1896. + + Railway Organisation in the late War. _Edinburgh Review_, + January, 1872. + + +RUSSO-TURKISH WAR (1877-78) + + LESSAR, P. De la construction des Chemins de Fer en temps de + guerre. Lignes construites par l'armée russe pendant la campagne + 1877-78. Traduit du russe par L. Avril. 142 pp. 10 Planches. + Paris, 1879. + + SALE, R.E., CAPT. M. T. The Construction of Military + Railways during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. _Journal of + the Royal United Service Institution_, Vol. XXIV. 1880. + + +EGYPT AND THE SUDAN (1882-99) + + History of the Corps of the Royal Engineers. Vol. II. By + Maj.-Gen. Whitworth Porter, R.E. The War in Egypt, 1882-85, pp. + 64-87. London, 1889. + + ---- Vol. III. By Col. Sir Chas. M. Watson. The Sudan + Campaigns, 1885-99, pp. 53-76. Royal Engineers' Institute, + Chatham, 1915. + + Military History of the Campaign of 1882 in Egypt. Prepared + in the Intelligence Branch of the War Office. Revised edition. + London, 1908. + + NATHAN, R.E., LIEUT. M. The Sudan Military Railway. + Professional Papers of the Corps of Royal Engineers. Occasional + Papers, Vol. XI. 1885. + + WALLACE, R.E., MAJ. W. A. J. Railway Operations in Egypt + during August and September, 1882. Professional Papers of the + Corps of Royal Engineers, Chatham. Occasional Papers, Vol. IX. + + +PHILIPPINE WAR (1898) + + COLSON, L. W. Railroading in the Philippine War. _Baltimore + and Ohio Employés' Magazine_, Feb., 1913. + + Soldiers Running a Railroad. _Railroad Telegrapher_, Sept., + 1899. + + [Tells how the 20th Kansas Regiment ran four miles of the + Manila and Dagupan Railroad during the Philippine insurrection.] + + +SOUTH AFRICAN WAR (1899-1902) + + Detailed History of the Railways in the South African War, + 1899-1902. Two vols. Royal Engineers' Institute, Chatham, 1905. + + Vol. I.--Organisation, Military Control, Working and Repair + of Cape and Natal Government Railways; Management, Engineering + and other Departments of Imperial Military Railways; Railway + Pioneer Regiment; Organisation, Equipment and Use of Armoured + Trains; Army Labour Depôts. + + Vol. II.--61 Photographs and 93 Drawings. + + GIROUARD, R.E., LIEUT.-COL. E. P. C., Director of Railways, + South African Field Force. History of the Railways during the + War in South Africa, 1899-1902. 149 pp. Maps. London, 1903. + + HARRISON, C. W. FRANCIS. Natal: an Illustrated Official + Railway Guide and Handbook. Published by Authority. London, 1903. + + [Gives a statement, on pp. 287-290, as to services rendered + by Natal Government Railways during South African War.] + + History of the War in South Africa, 1899-1902. Compiled by + the Direction of His Majesty's Government. Vol. IV, Appendix 10, + Notes on the Military Railway System in South Africa. London, + 1910. + + Netherlands South African Railway Company and the + Transvaal War. Account by the Secretary, Th. Steinnetz, dated + Pretoria, April, 1900. _De Ingenieur_, July 14 and 21, 1900. + English translation in _Journal of the Royal United Service + Institution_, Jan., 1902. + + _The Times_. History of the War in South Africa, 1899-1902. + Vol. VI, Part II, chap. iii, The Railway Work in the War, pp. + 297-331. London, 1909. + + WATSON, COL. SIR CHAS. M. History of the Corps of the Royal + Engineers. Vol. III, chap. iv, The South African War, 1899-1902. + Royal Engineers' Institute, Chatham, 1915. + + Working of Railways: Duties of Staff Officers. Pamphlet. + Published by authority. Pretoria, 1900. + + +RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR (1904-5) + + KUROPATKIN, GENERAL A. N. The Russian Army and the Japanese + War. Translated by Captain A. B. Lindsay. Two vols. Maps, + Illustrations. London, 1909. + + MÉTIN, ALBERT. Le Transsibérien et la Guerre. _Revue + Économique Internationale_, Oct., 1904. + + Official History of the Russo-Japanese War. Prepared by the + Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. London, + 1910. + + "P., A." Construction et Exploitation de Chemins de Fer + à Traction animale sur le Théâtre de la Guerre de 1904-5 en + Mandchourie. _Revue du Génie Militaire_, Avril, Mai, Juin, 1909. + Paris. + + Russo-Japanese War. Reports from British Officers attached + to the Japanese and Russian Forces in the Field. Vol. III. + General Report (dated March, 1905) by Col. W. H. H. Waters: + Section XXXVIII, "Railways," pp. 184-9. London, 1908. + + Russo-Japanese War. The Ya-Lu. Prepared in the Historical + Section of the German General Staff. Authorised Translation by + Karl von Donat. Chaps. ii and iii. London, 1908. + + VICKERS, R.E., CAPT. C. E. The Siberian Railway in War. + _Royal Engineers' Journal_, Aug., 1905. Chatham. + + +MEXICAN WAR (1910-13) + + HINE, MAJ. CHARLES. War Time Railroading in Mexico. Paper + read before the St. Louis Railway Club, Oct. 10, 1913. The + Railway Library, 1913. Chicago. + + WEEKS, G. E. How Mexican Rebels Destroy Railways and + Bridges. _Scientific American_, Sept. 13, 1913. + + +COUNTRIES + + +AUSTRALIA + + ELLISON, H. K. Australia's Trans-Continental Railway. + _Journal of the Royal United Service Institution_, June, 1912. + + KITCHENER OF KHARTOUM, FIELD MARSHAL VISCOUNT. Memorandum + on the Defence of Australia. Government of the Commonwealth of + Australia, 1910. + + Proceedings of the War Railway Council. (1) First and + Second Meetings, Feb. 14-16, 1911, and May 19, 1911. (2) Fifth + Meeting, Nov. 18 and 19, 1914. Government of the Commonwealth of + Australia. + + +AUSTRIA-HUNGARY + + Geschichte der Eisenbahnen der österreichisch-ungarischen + Monarchie. Unsere Eisenbahnen im Kriege. Eisenbahnbureau des K. + u. K. General-Stabes. Wien, 1898-1908. + + HARE, R.E., CAPT. W. A. Organisation of the Austrian Railway + and Telegraph Corps. _Journal of the Royal United Service + Institution._ Vol. XXIX, pp. 257-79. London, 1885-6. + + JESSEP, R.E., LIEUT. H. L. Railway Works in Connection + with an Army in the Field; forming the Second Division of + the Austrian Guide to Railways. Vienna, 1872 (Translation). + Professional Papers of the Royal Engineers. Chatham. Vol. O.II. + + JOESTEN, JOSEF. Studien über die heutigen Eisenbahnen im + Kriegsfalle. Wien, 1892. + + Leitfaden des Eisenbahnwesens, mit besonderer Rücksicht auf + den Dienst der Feldeisenbahn-Abteilungen. 2 Bände. Wien, 1872. + + NOSINICH, MAJ. Das österreichisch-ungarische Eisenbahn- und + übrige Communications-System. Politisch-militärisch beleuchtet. + 77 pp. Wien, 1871. + + OBAUER, H., UND E. R. VON GUTTENBERG. Das + Train-Communications und Verpflegungswesen, vom operativen + Standpunkte. Wien, 1871. + + PANZ, OBERST V. V. Das Eisenbahnwesen, vom militärischen + Standpunkte. Two vols. Plates. Wien, 1863. + + ---- Les Chemins de Fer au point de vue militaire. Traduit + de l'Allemand par Costa de Serda. Paris, 1868. + + Technischer Unterricht für die K. u. K. Eisenbahn-Truppe. + Theil 3: Strassen, Eisenbahn- und Wasserbau. Theil 7: + Feldmässige Zerstörung von Brücken und Viaducten. Wien, 1898. + + TLASKAL, MAJ. L. Uebersichtliche Zusammenstellung der + Grundsätze und der wesentlichen Details aus dem Strassen- u. + Eisenbahn-Baue, mit Berücksichtigung der Zerstörung und der + feldmässigen Wiederherstellung von Eisenbahnen. 90 pp. Plates. + Wien, 1877. + + ZANANTONI, OBERSTLT. E. Die Eisenbahnen im Dienste des + Krieges, und moderne Gesichtspunkte für deren Ausnützung. 33 pp. + Wien, 1904. + + [See Railways in War and Modern Views as to their + Employment. _Royal Engineers' Journal_, March, 1907.] + + +BELGIUM + + BODY, M. Aide-mémoire portatif de campagne pour l'emploi des + Chemins de Fer en temps de guerre. 253 pp. Plates. Liége, 1877. + + ---- Les Chemins de Fer dans leurs Applications militaires. + Liége, 1867. + + ---- Notice sur l'attaque et la défense des Chemins de Fer + en temps de guerre. Liége, 1868. + + FORMANOIR, A. DE, Capitaine d'État-Major. Des Chemins de Fer + en temps de guerre. Conférences Militaires Belges. Bruxelles, + 1870. + + GRANDVALLET, ANTONIN. La neutralité de la Belgique et les + Chemins de Fer français, belges et allemands. 11 pp. Paris, 1889. + + +FRANCE + + ALLIX, G. La Mobilisation des Chemins de Fer français. _Le + Journal des Transports_, Jan. 30, 1915. Paris. + + BERGÈRE, CAPITAINE C. Les Chemins de Fer et le Service des + Étapes, d'après les nouveaux règlements. _Journal des Sciences + Militaires._ Neuvième série. Tome vingt-quatrième. Paris, 1886. + + BRESSON, L. Réorganisation militaire.... Chemins de Fer. 50 + pp. Paris, 1881. + + DANY, JEAN. Le Rôle des Chemins de Fer à la Guerre. _Revue + de Paris_, Sept. 15, 1911. + + De l'Utilisation des Chemins de Fer dans la prochaine + Guerre. Paris, 1899. + + EUGÈNE, J. B., Capitaine du Génie. Études sur les Chemins de + Fer et les Télégraphes Électriques, considérés au point de vue + de la défense du territoire. 2e. édition. Two vols. Paris, 1879. + + "G., A." A propos des Réseaux ferrés de la France et de + l'Allemagne. 30 pp. Paris, 1884. + + GRANDVALLET, ANTONIN. Les Chemins de Fer français au point + de vue de la Guerre. 85 pp. Map. Paris, 1889. + + JACQMIN, F. Étude sur l'exploitation des Chemins de Fer par + l'État. 104 pp. Paris, 1878. + + LANOIR, PAUL. Les Chemins de Fer et la Mobilisation. 170 pp. + Paris, 1894. + + LANTY ----. Exploitation militaire des Chemins de Fer, + Opérations exécutées par le 5e Régiment du Génie à l'occasion + des grandes manoeuvres de Béance. _Revue de Génie Militaire._ + Vol. XX, pp. 345-83. Paris, 1900. + + LAPLAICE, A. Notions sur les Chemins de Fer, à l'usage des + officiers et sous-officiers de toutes armes. Paris, 1887. + + LEROY, A. Cours Pratique de Chemins de Fer, à l'usage de MM. + les officiers et sous-officiers de toutes armes, des sections + techniques, des ouvriers du génie et des écoles spéciales. 478 + pp. Plates and Illustrations. Dijon, 1881. + + MARCILLE, CAPT. E. Étude sur l'emploi des Chemins de Fer + avant et pendant la guerre. 96 pp. Paris, 1874. + + PARTIOT, L. Transport d'un Torpilleur effectué de Toulon à + Cherbourg par les Chemins de Fer. Paris, 1891. + + PERMEZEL, H. Du Régime des Chemins de Fer en temps de + guerre. Paris, 1904. + + PERNOT, CAPT. A. Aperçu historique sur le service des + transports militaires. Pp. 492. Paris, 1894. + + PICARD, ALFRED. Traité des Chemins de Fer. Vol. IV, Part IV, + chap. iv, Transports militaires par chemins de fer. Paris, 1887. + + PIERRON, GÉN. Les Méthodes de Guerre, etc. Tome I, Part III + (Chemins de Fer). Maps and plans. Paris, 1893. + + ROVEL, CHEF D'ESCAD. J. J. Manuel des Chemins de Fer, à + l'usage des officiers. 122 pp. Plates. Paris, 1882. + + WIBROTTE, LIEUT. Construction et destruction des Chemins de + Fer en campagne. 2e. edition. 40 pp. Plates, Paris, 1874. + + VIGO-ROUISSILLON, F. P. Des Principes de l'Administration + des Armées. Paris, 1871. + + +_Official Publications_ + + Instruction Speciale pour le Transport des Troupes + d'Infanterie et du Génie par des voies ferrées. 6e édition. + Paris, 1899. + + Organisation Générale aux Armées. I. Services de l'arrière + aux armées. Volume arrêté à la date du 8 Décembre, 1913. 171 pp. + + ---- II. Transports stratégiques. Tirage Novembre, 1914. 291 + pp. + + Organisation Générale du Service Militaire des Chemins de + Fer. Volume arrêté au 15 Juillet, 1904. 20 pp. + + ---- Supplément, 31 Décembre, 1912. 8 pp. + + Règlements et instructions sur le transport des troupes. + Édition annotée ... jusqu'en Août, 1913. 362 pp. + + Réglement Général de 1re Juillet, 1874, pour les + transports militaires par chemins de fer. Paris, 1874. + + Sections de Chemin de Fer de campagne. Volume arrêté à la + date du Sept., 1914. 92 pp. + + Transports militaires par Chemin de Fer (Guerre et Marine). + Édition mise à jour des textes en vigueur jusqu'en Octobre, + 1902. 712 pp. Paris. + + Transports ordinaires du matériel de la guerre. 15 Juin, + 1912. 270 pp. + + Troupes des Chemins de Fer. Volume arrêté à la date du 1er. + Décembre, 1912. 106 pp. + + +GERMANY + + A., H. VON. Ueber die militärischen und technischen + Grundlagen der Truppentransports auf Eisenbahnen. Darmstadt und + Leipzig, 1861. + + ALBERT ----. Die Anstellungen im Eisenbahn-Dienst. Handbuch + für Unteroffiziere, welche sich dem Eisenbahnfach zu widmen + beabsichtigen. 59 pp. Berlin, 1884. + + ALLIX, G. L'Organisation Militaire des Chemins de Fer + allemands. _Journal des Transports_, 13 Mars., 1915. Paris. + + BAUER, HAUPT. Fuhrkolonne ... und Feldbahn. 31 pp. Plates. + Berlin, 1900. + + BECK, C. H. Studien über das Etappenwesen. Nordlingen, 1872. + + [A detailed account of the rail and road services organised + under the Prussian Regulation of May 2, 1867.] + + Le Service des Étapes in guerre. _Revue Militaire de + l'Étranger._ 1er. Mai, 1872. + + [A digest of the facts recorded by C. H. Beck.] + + BECKER, LIEUT. Der nächste Krieg und die deutschen + Bahnverwaltungen. 62 pp. Hannover, 1893. + + Bedeutung der Eisenbahnen für den Krieg. _Jahrbuch für die + deutsche Armee und Marine._ Berlin, 1898. + + Die Thätigkeit der deutschen Eisenbahntruppen in China, + 1900-1. _Annalen für Gewerbe und Bauwesen_, April 15, 1902. + + Eisenbahnen im Kriege, Die. _Zeitung des Vereins_, Oct. 18, + 1899. + + Erste Benutzung der Eisenbahn für Kriegszwecke. _Zeitung des + Vereins_, Sept. 2, 1914. + + "Ferrarius, Miles" (Dr. jur. Joesten). Die Eisenbahn und die + Kriegführung: Eine politisch-militärische Studie. Deutsche Zeit- + und Streit Fragen. Heft 66. 30 pp. Hamburg, 1890. + + GIESE, OBERST O. V. Provisorische Befestigungen und + Festungs-Eisenbahnen. 96 pp. Plans. Berlin, 1882. + + JOESTEN, JOSEF. Geschichte und System der Eisenbahnbenutzung + im Kriege. Leipzig, 1896. + + ---- Histoire et Organisation militaires des Chemins de + Fer. Traduit de l'allemand par le Lieut.-Colonel B. ... 226 pp. + Paris, 1905. + + LANOIR, PAUL. The German Spy System in France. Translated + from the French by an English Officer. Pp. viii, 264. London, + 1910. + + [Chapters on "Designs on French Railways" and "German + Strategic Railways."] + + SCHAEFFER, EDUARD. Der Kriegs-Train des deutschen Heeres. + Berlin, 1883. + + SCHMIEDECKE, OBERST. Die Verkehrsmittel im Kriege. (Die + Eisenbahnen: die Feld- und Förderbahnen.) Maps and plates. 242 + pp. Berlin, 1906. + + ---- 2te. Auflage. 1911. + + STAVENHAGEN, HAUPT. W. Verkehrs- und Nachrichten-Mittel in + militärischer Beleuchtung. (Eisenbahnen.) Berlin, 1896. + + ---- 2te. Auflage, 1905. + + W. [WESTPHALEN], HAUPT. H. L. Die Kriegführung, unter + Benutzung der Eisenbahnen, und der Kampf um Eisenbahnen. Nach + den Erfahrungen des letzen Jahrzents. 290 pp. Leipzig, 1868. + + ---- II Auflage. Neu bearbeitet von einem deutschen + Stabsoffizier. Leipzig, 1882. + + De l'emploi des chemins de fer en temps de guerre. Traduit + de l'allemand. 241 pp. Paris, 1869. + + [A French translation of the 1st edition of Westphalen's + work.] + + WEBER, BARON M. M. VON. Die Schulung der Eisenbahnen für den + Krieg im Frieden. (1870.) Translated into English, under the + title of Our Railway System viewed in Reference to Invasion, + with Introduction and Notes, by Robert Mallet, M.I.C.E., F.R.S. + London, 1871. + + WEHBERG, H. Die rechtliche Stellung der Eisenbahnen + im Kriege, nach den Beschlüssen der zweiten Haager + Friedens-Konferenz. _Archiv für Eisenbahnwesen_, Mai-Juni, 1910. + Berlin. + + WERNEKKE, REGIERUNGSRAT. Die Mitwirkung der Eisenbahnen an + den Kriegen in Mitteleuropa. _Archiv für Eisenbahnwesen_, Juli + und August, 1912. + + +_Designs on Africa_ + + BOULGER, DEMETRIUS C. German Designs on the Congo. + _Fortnightly Review_, Sept., 1914. + + [Republished in England's Arch-Enemy: A Collection of Essays + forming an Indictment of German Policy during the last Sixteen + Years, by D. C. Boulger. London, 1914.] + + BRYDEN, H. A. The Conquest of German South-West Africa. + _Fortnightly Review_, July, 1915. London. + + CRABTREE, THE REV. W. A. German Colonies in Africa. _Journal + of the African Society_, Oct., 1914. London. + + LEWIN, EVANS. The Germans and Africa. 317 pp. Map. London, + 1915. + + MARTIN, CAMILLE. Le Chemin de Fer du Tanganyika et les + progrès de l'Afrique orientale allemande. Renseignments + coloniaux, No. 3. Supplément à _L'Afrique Française_ de Mars, + 1914. Paris. + + Memorandum on the Country known as German South-West Africa. + Section on Railways, pp. 83-88. Pretoria, Government Printing + Office, 1915. + + O'CONNOR, J. K. The Hun in our Hinterland; or the Menace of + German South-West Africa. 43 pp. Map. Cape Town, 1914. + + [Gives details concerning strategical railways in German + South-West Africa.] + + RENÉ, CARL, Director des Kamerun-Eisenbahn Syndikats. + Kamerun und die Deutsche Tsâdsee-Eisenbahn. 251 pp. Mit 37 + Textbildern und 22 Tafeln. Berlin, 1905. + + South-West African Notes. Republished from the Transvaal + Chronicle. _South Africa_, Nov. 14 and Dec. 5, 1914. London. + + ZIMMERMANN, EMIL. Neu-Kamerun. Zweiter Teil: Neu Kamerun und + das Kongosystem. Deutschland und Zentralafrika. 135 pp. Map. + Berlin, 1913. + + ---- Was ist uns Zentralafrika? Wirtschafts- und + verkehrspolitische Untersuchungen. 57 pp. Maps. Berlin, 1914. + + +_Destruction and Restoration of Railways_ + + Anleitung zur Unterbrechung von Eisenbahnverbindungen, + resp. Zerstörung, etc., sowie zur Wiederherstellung. Berlin, + 1861. + + BASSON, WILHELM. Die Eisenbahnen im Kriege, nach den + Erfahrungen des letzten Feldzuges. 72 pp. Ratibor, 1867. + + [A work dealing with the technicalities of railway + destruction, restoration and operation on (_a_) national and + (_b_) occupied territory.] + + TAUBERT ----. Zerstörung, Wiederherstellung und Neubau von + Vollbahnen und deren Kunstbauten in Feindesland. Leipzig, 1896. + + Verhandlungen des Kriegs- und Handelsministeriums + über Zerstörungen von Eisenbahnen und die Entstehung der + Allerhöchsten Instructionen vom Jahre 1859 und vom 31 Juli, + 1861. Ungedrucktes Actenstück. Berlin. + + +_Germany and the Baghdad Railway_ + + CHÉRADAME, ANDRÉ. La Question d'Orient. Le Chemin de Fer de + Bagdad. Cartes. 397 pp. Paris, 1903. + + HAMILTON, ANGUS. Problems of the Middle East, Great Britain, + Germany and the Baghdad Railway. Pp. 156-86. London, 1909. + + LYNCH, H. F. B. Railways in the Middle East. _Asiatic + Quarterly Review_, April, 1911. + + ---- The Baghdad Railway. _Fortnightly Review_, March, 1911. + + ---- The Baghdad Railway: Four New Conventions. _Fortnightly + Review_, May, 1911. + + MAHAN, CAPT. A. T. Retrospect and Prospect. VI: The Persian + Gulf and International Relations. Pp. 209-51. London, 1902. + + ROHRBACH, DR. PAUL. Die Bagdadbahn. 2. Auflage. 86 pp. Map. + Berlin, 1911. + + SAROLEA, CHARLES. The Anglo-German Problem. The Baghdad + Railway and German Expansion in the Near East. Pp. 247-80. + London, 1912. + + SCHNEIDER, SIEGMUND. Die Deutsche Bagdadbahn und die + projectirte Ueberbrückung des Bosporus, in ihrer Bedeutung für + Weltwirthschaft und Weltverkehr. Wien und Leipzig, 1900. + + SPRENGER, DR. A. Babylonien, das reichste Land in der + Vorzeit und das lohnendste Kolonisationfeld für die Gegenwart. + Ein Vorschlag zur Kolonisation des Orients. 128 pp. Map. + Heidelberg, 1886. + + _The Times._ Maps of the Baghdad Railway, showing lines + open, under construction and projected. Dec. 1, 1914, and Nov. + 1, 1915. + + "X." The Focus of Asiatic Policy. _National Review_, June, + 1901. + + +_Official Publications_ + + Die Verwaltung der öffentlichen Arbeiten in Preussen, + 1900 bis 1910. Kartenbeilage I: Die Preussisch-Hessischen + Staatseisenbahnen am 1 April, 1900, und Ende März, 1910. Berlin, + 1911. + + Organisation des Transports grosser Truppenmassen auf + Eisenbahnen. Berlin, 1861. + + Field Service Regulations (Felddienst Ordnung, 1908) of + the German Army. Translated by the General Staff, War Office. + London, 1908. + + +_Railway Troops_ + + Armée allemande. Les troupes de Chemin de Fer. _Revue + Militaire de l'Étranger._ Mai, 1898. Paris. + + HILLE, MAJ., UND MEURIN, MAJ. Geschichte der preussischen + Eisenbahntruppen. Teil I. Von 1859 bis zur Beendigung des + deutsch-französischen Krieges. Maps, plans, plates and + illustrations. Two vols. Berlin, 1910. + + HILLE, MAJ. Geschichte der preussischen Eisenbahntruppen. + Teil II, 1871-1911. Portraits, maps, plans, plates and + illustrations. Berlin, 1913. + + Les troupes allemandes de communications. _Revue Militaire_, + Avril, 1900. + + RAWSON, R.E., LIEUT. H. E. The German Railway Regiment. + _Royal United Service Institution Journal_, Vol. XX, 1877. + + WEBBER, R.E., CAPT. The Field Army Department of the + Prussian Army. See Notes on the Campaign in Bohemia in 1866, + Papers of the Corps of the Royal Engineers, N.S., Vol. XVI, + Woolwich, 1868. + + +_Strategical Railways_ + + LITTLEFIELD, WALTER. Hitherto Unpublished Pages in War's + Prelude. Railway Cartography reveals Germany's elaborate + Preparations. _New York Times_, Nov. 15, 1914. + + NORTON, ROY. The Man of Peace. Oxford Pamphlets, 1914-15. 22 + pp. Oxford University Press. + + STUART-STEPHENS, MAJOR. How I Discovered the Date of the + World War. THE ENGLISH REVIEW, June, 1915. + + [Deals with the German strategical railways on the Belgian + frontier.] + + "Y." Object Lesson in German Plans. _Fortnightly Review_, + Feb., 1910. London. + + ---- A Further Object Lesson in German Plans. _Fortnightly + Review_, Feb., 1914. + + [These two articles were republished in England's + Arch-Enemy: A Collection of Essays forming an Indictment of + German Policy during the last Sixteen Years By Demetrius C. + Boulger. London, 1914.] + + YOXALL, M.P., SIR JAMES. The Kaiser's Iron Web. _The Daily + Graphic_, March 9, 1915. + + +_Tactics and Strategy_ + + BALCK, OBERST. Taktik, Band 4. Eisenbahnen, etc. Berlin, + 1901. + + ---- 4te. Auflage, 1909. + + Êtude sur le Réseau ferré allemand au point de vue de + la concentration. 32 pp. Avec une carte des chemins de fer + allemands. Paris, 1890. + + "FERRARIUS, MILES" (DR. JUR. JOESTEN). Die Anforderungen der + Strategie und Taktik an die Eisenbahnen. 48 pp. Berlin, 1895. + + GOLTZ, BARON COLMAR VON DER. Das Volk im Waffen. Ein Buch + über Heereswesen und Kriegführung unserer Zeit. Berlin, 1883. + + ---- The Nation in Arms. Translated by Phillip A. Ashworth. + New edition. Revised in accordance with the fifth German edition. + London, 1906. + + ---- Kriegführung. Kurze Lehre ihrer wichtigsten Grundsätze + und Formen. Berlin, 1895. + + ---- The Conduct of War. A Short Treatise on its most important + Branches and Guiding Rules. Translated by Major G. F. Leverson. + Vol. IV of the Wolseley Series. London, 1899. + + LASSMANN, LIEUT. J. C. Der Eisenbahnkrieg. Taktische Studie. + 112 pp. Berlin, 1867. + + VERDY DU VERNOIS, GEN. J. V. Studien über den Krieg. Theil + III. Strategie. Heft 5. (Einfluss der Eisenbahnen operativer + Linien auf die Kriegführung). Maps and plans. Berlin, 1906. + + +GREAT BRITAIN + + BURGOYNE, F.R.S., SIR J. Railways in War. A paper read + before the British Association at Birmingham. _The Engineer_, + Sept. 22, 1865. p. 182. London. + + BURNABY, CAPT. F. G. The Practical Instruction of Staff + Officers in Foreign Armies. _Royal United Service Institution + Journal_, Vol. XVI, pp. 633-44. 1873. + + COLLINSON, GEN. T. B. Use of Railways in War. Extracted + from three Royal Engineer Prize Essays for 1878 by Captains + D. O'Brien and T. J. Willans and Lieut. W. H. Turton. 82 pp. + Chatham. + + FINDLAY, SIR GEORGE, Assoc. Inst. C.E., Lieut.-Colonel + Engineer and Railway Volunteer Staff Corps. Paper on The + Transport of Troops by Rail within the United Kingdom, read + before the Royal United Service Institution, June 20, 1890, and + forming chapter xxiii of Working and Management of an English + Railway. London, 5th edition, 1894. + + ---- The Use of Railways in the United Kingdom for the + Conveyance of Troops. _United Service Magazine_, April, 1892. + + GIROUARD, 2ND LIEUT. E. P. C. The Use of Railways for Coast + and Harbour Defence. _Royal United Service Institution Journal_, + Vol. XXXV, 1891. + + GIROUARD, R.E., BREV-LIEUT.-COLONEL SIR E. PERCY C. Railways + in War. A lecture delivered at the Royal Engineers' Institute, + March 23, 1905. _Royal Engineers' Journal_, July, 1905. Chatham. + + HOME, C. B., R.E., LIEUT.-COL. R. On the Organisation of the + Communications of an Army, including Railways. _Royal United + Service Institution Journal_, Vol. XIX, 1875. + + HOPKINS, R.E., CAPT. L. E. Army Railway Organisation. _The + Royal Engineers' Journal_, August, 1905. Chatham. + + LUARD, R.E., CAPTAIN C. E. Field Railways and their General + Application in War. _Royal United Service Institution Journal_, + Vol. XVII, 1873. + + MALLET, ROBERT, M.I.C.E., F.R.S. See under GERMANY: Weber, + Baron M. M. + + MAQUAY, R.E., COL. J. P. Railways for Military Communication + in the Field. Professional Papers of the Royal Engineers, + Chatham, Vol. VIII. 1882. + + PHELP, S. M. The Use of our Railways in the Event of + Invasion or of a European War. _The Railway Magazine_, May, 1901. + + PORTER, R.E., MAJ.-GEN. WHITWORTH. History of the Corps of + Royal Engineers. Two vols. London, 1889. + + [Vol. III, by Col. Sir Chas. M. Watson, was issued by the + Royal Engineers' Institute, Chatham, in 1915.] + + PRYTHERCH, H. J. The Great Eastern Railway and the Army + Manoeuvres in East Anglia, 1912. _Great Eastern Railway + Magazine_, Nov., 1912. + + ROTHWELL, R.A., COL. J. S., The Conveyance of Troops by + Railway. _United Service Magazine_, Dec., 1891, and Jan., 1892. + + ---- The Reconnaissance of a Railway. Its Utilisation and + Destruction in Time of War. _Journal of the Royal United Service + Institution._ Vol. XXXVI, pp. 369-89. London, 1892. + + Strategical Importance of Railways, The. _The Engineer_, + Feb. 16, 1900. + + The Part Played by Railways in Modern Warfare. By + "A.M.I.C.E." _Land and Water_, Jan. 30 and Feb. 6, 1915. London. + + The Transport of an Army. _Great Western Railway Magazine_, + Nov., 1909. + + [An account of the work done by the Great Western Railway on + the occasion of the Army Manoeuvres of 1909.] + + TOVEY, R.E., LIEUT.-COL. The Elements of Strategy. [1887.] + Section on Railways, pp. 42-49. 2nd edition, edited by T. Miller + Maguire. London, 1906. + + TYLER, R.E., CAPT. H. W., Railway Inspector, Board of Trade. + Railways Strategically Considered. _Journal of the Royal United + Service Institution._ Vol. VIII, pp. 321-41. Maps. London, 1865. + + WILLIAMS, J. A. Our Railway in Time of War. _North-Eastern + Railway Magazine_, March, 1912. + + +_Engineer and Railway Staff Corps_ + + Army Book for the British Empire, The. London, 1893. + + [References to "Railway Volunteer Staff Corps" on pp. 382 + and 531.] + + Engineer and Railway Staff Corps. _The Railway News_, Aug. + 8, 1914. + + JEUNE, C. H. The Engineer and Railway Staff Corps. _Great + Eastern Railway Magazine_, July, 1911. London. + + MCMURDO, C.B., MAJ.-GEN., Hon. Colonel, Engineer and Railway + Staff Corps. Rifle Volunteers for Field Service; a Letter to + Commanding Officers of Rifle Corps. 27 pp. London, 1869. + + MCMURDO, GEN. SIR W. M. Article on "Volunteers," + Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition. + + [For references to the "Engineer and Railway Transport + Corps," see p. 295.] + + WALTER, MAJ. JAMES, 4th Lancashire Artillery Volunteers. + England's Naval and Military Weakness. The Volunteer Force. + London, 1882. + + [References to services rendered by the Engineer and Railway + Volunteer Staff Corps in the Volunteer Reviews of 1881. See p. + 305.] + + +_Official Publications_ + + Army Service Corps Training. Part III, Transport. Section + VI, Conveyance of War Department Stores. 1--Rail. Appendix III, + Acts of Parliament relating to Transport Services. 1911. + + Field Service Pocket Book. Section 30, Transport by Rail. + General Staff, War Office. 1914. + + Field Service Regulations. Part I, Operations. 1909. + (Reprinted, with amendments, 1914.) Chap. iii, Movements by + Rail, pp. 62-6. Part II, Organisation and Administration. + 1909. (Reprinted, with amendments, 1913.) Chap. viii, Railway + Transport, pp. 91-96. General Staff, War Office. + + Instruction in Military Engineering. Part VI, Military + Railways. War Office, 1898. + + [Embodies a portion of the course of instruction in railways + at the School of Military Engineering, Chatham. Was first issued + with Army Orders, dated March 1, 1889, as a Manual of Military + Railways, 95 pp.] + + Manual of Military Engineering. Chap. xvii: Hasty Demolition + of Railways ... without Explosives. Chap. xxiii: Railways. + (Technical details concerning construction, repairs and + reconstruction.) 144 pp. General Staff, War Office, 1905. + + Manual of Military Law. War Office, 1914. + + [Includes a brief account of the relations of the State to + the railways in regard to the conveyance of troops (see pp. + 184-5), and gives text of various Parliamentary enactments + relating thereto.] + + Notes on Reconnaissance and Survey of Military Railways + for Officers of R.E. Railway Companies. Compiled in the + Quartermaster-General's Department of the War Office. 1910. + + Railway Manual (War). 64 pp. 1911. Reprinted, with + Amendments, 1914. + + Regulations for the Transport of Troops by Railway + Quartermaster-General's Office, Horse Guards, Feb. 28, 1867. + + +HOLLAND + + WIJNPERSSE, KAPT. W. J. M. V. D. De voorbereiding van het + militair gebruik der spoorwegen in oorlogstijd. 76 pp. Plans and + plates. s'Gravenhage, 1905. + + +INDIA + + ANDREW, W. P. Our Scientific Frontier. London, 1880. + + INNES, R.E., GEN. J. J. MCLEOD. Life and Times of Gen. Sir + James Browne, R.E., K.C.B., K.C.S.I. 371 pp. London, 1905. + + [Gives an account of the construction of the Sind-Pishin + Railway, of which Sir J. Browne was Chief Engineer.] + + LYONS, CAPT. GERVAIS. Afghanistan, the Buffer State. Great + Britain and Russia in Central Asia. 232 pp. Maps. Madras and + London, 1910. + + [Gives, in summarised form, much information concerning + British Indian frontier and Russian Central Asian Railways.] + + Military Railways in India. Précis of Report of the Railway + Transport Committee, India, 1876. Professional Papers of the + Corps of Royal Engineers. Occasional Papers, Vol. II. Chatham, + 1878. + + ROSS, C.I.E., DAVID. Military Transport by Indian Railways. + 109 pp. Maps and plates. Lahore, 1883. + + ---- Transport by Rail of Troops, Horses, Guns, and War + Material in India. A lecture. 24 pp. London, 1879. + + SCOTT-MONCRIEFF, R.E., CAPT. G. K. The Frontier Railways + of India. Professional Papers of the Corps of Royal Engineers. + Occasional Papers, Vol. XI, 1885. Chatham. + + +ITALY + + ALLIX, G. La Mobilisation des Chemins de Fer Italiens. + _Journal des Transports_, 3 Juillet, 1915. Paris. + + AYMONINO, C. Considérations Militaires et Stratégiques + sur les chemins de fer italiens. Traduit de l'Italien par G. + Malifaud. 3e. éd. 68 pp. Paris, 1889. + + Le Ferrovie dello Stato e le grandi manovre del + 1911._Rivista Tecnica della Ferrovie Italiane_, Nov., 1912. + + ZANOTTI, MAG. B. Impiego dei ferrovieri in guerra. 67 pp. + 1902. + + +RUSSIA + + FENDRIKH, COL. A. VON. The Organisation of a Staff for + Military Railway Work and of a Central Management for the + Control of Rolling Stock in War Time. Translated from _The + Russian Military Magazine_, by Capt. J. Wolfe Murray, R.A., + D.A.A.G. _Journal of the Royal United Service Institution_, Vol. + XXXII, 1889. + + IGEL, GEN. VON. Russlands Eisenbahnbau an der Westgrenze. + _Deutsche Revue_, Dec., 1902. Stuttgart. + + K., H. Das russische Eisenbahn-Netz zur deutschen Grenze in + seiner Bedeutung für einen Krieg Russlands mit Deutschland. 29 + pp. Map. Hannover, 1885. + + NIENSTÄDT, OBERSTLT. Das russische Eisenbahnnetz zur + deutschen-österreichischen Grenze in seiner Bedeutung für einen + Krieg. 43 pp. Map. Leipzig, 1895. + + Strategical Railways. Translated from the Voïénnyi Sbórnik. + _Journal of the Royal United Service Institution_, Oct., 1899. + + + +SPAIN + + TAYLOR, TEN. T. L. Los ferrocarriles en la guerra. 288 pp. + Plates. Barcelona, 1885. + + +SWITZERLAND + + BLASER, HAUPT. E. Die Zerstörungs- und + Wiederherstellungs-Arbeiten von Eisenbahnen. 22 pp. Plates. + Basel, 1871. + + HOFFMANN-MERIAN, T. Die Eisenbahnen zum Truppen-Transport + und für den Krieg im Hinblick auf die Schweiz. 2e. Ausg. Basel, + 1871. + + NOWACKI, KARL. Die Eisenbahnen im Kriege. 160 pp. Zurich, + 1906. + + +UNITED STATES + + Are Railroads Neutralising Sea Power? _American Review of + Reviews_, June, 1913. + + BIGELOW, JOHN, Captain 10th Cavalry, U.S. Army. The + Principles of Strategy, illustrated mainly from American + Campaigns. 2nd edition. Philadelphia, 1894. + + Commerce of the Ohio and Western Rivers. Importance of + Railroads in a Military point of view. _DeBow's Commercial + Review_, June, 1857. + + CONNOR, MAJ. W. D. Military Railways. 192 pp. Illustrations. + Professional Papers, No. 32, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army. + Washington, 1910. + + ---- Operation and Maintenance of the Railroad in a Theatre + of War. _Journal of the Military Service Institute._ New York, + 1905. + + DERR, W. L. The working of railways in Military Operations. + _Engineering Magazine_, Oct., 1898. + + Great Railroad Feats during War and Flood. _Washington, + D.C., Post_, April 25, 1913. + + GRIMSHAW, ROBERT. War Capacity of United States Railways. + _Scientific American_, May 1, 1915. + + HAINES, CHARLES O. Our Railroads and National Defence. _The + North American Review_, Sept., 1915. + + HAUPT, HERMAN. Military Bridges ... including designs for + trestle and truss bridges for military railroads, adapted + specially to the wants of the service in the United States. 310 + pp. 69 plates. New York, 1864. + + Use of Railroads in War. _Journal of the Military Service + Institution._ Vol. XXI. New York, 1897. + + PALMER, CAPT. JOHN MCAULEY. Railroad Building as a Mode of + Warfare. _North American Review_, Dec., 1902. + + Railroads, and not Bullets, will feature the next War. + _Washington, D.C., Star_, Feb. 11, 1912. + + WILSON, W. B. History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. + Two vols. The Railroad in War Times, Vol. I, pp. 411-18. + Philadelphia, 1899. + + +AMBULANCE AND HOSPITAL TRAINS + + FURSE, LIEUT.-COL. G. A. Military Transport. Chap. + vii, Railway Ambulance Trains, pp. 185-99. Diagrams and + illustrations. London, 1882. + + GURLT, DR. E. Ueber den Transport Schwerverwundeter und + Kranker im Kriege, nebst Vorschlägen über die Benutzung der + Eisenbahnen dabei. 33 pp. Berlin, 1860. + + [Contains, so far as can be traced, the earliest + recommendations as to the special fitting up of railway rolling + stock for the transport of the sick and wounded in war.] + + LOEFFLER, DR. F. Das Preussische Militär-Sanitätswesen und + seine Reform nach der Kriegserfahrung von 1866. Two parts. + Berlin, 1869. + + [In the appendix of Part II of this work will be found + an "Anleitung zur Ausführung der Beförderung verwundeter und + kranker Militairs auf Eisenbahnen," issued July 1, 1861.] + + LONGMORE, SURG.-GEN. SIR T. A Manual of Ambulance Transport. + 2nd edition. Edited by Surg.-Capt. W. A. Morris. Chap. vi, Class + V, Railway Ambulance Transport, pp. 347-89. Illustrations. + London, 1893. + + [The 1st edition was published in 1869 under the title of A + Treatise on the Transport of Sick and Wounded Troops.] + + Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. + Part III, Vol. II, Surgical History. Railway Transportation, pp. + 957-71. Diagrams and illustrations of hospital cars, fittings, + etc. U.S.A. Dept. of War. Surgeon-General's Office. Washington, + 1883. + + [Gives a detailed account of the evolution, in the Civil + War, of the hospital train in vogue to-day. A copy of the work + will be found in the British Museum Library. Pressmark: 7686 i. + 4.] + + MELVILLE, A.M.S., SURG.-CAPT. Continental Regulations for + the Transport of Sick and Wounded by Rail. _Journal of the Royal + United Service Institution._ Vol. XLII, pp. 560-92. London, 1898. + + Military Hospital Trains: Their Origin and Progress. _The + Railway Gazette_, Dec. 4, 1914. London. + + NIEDEN, J. Der Eisenbahn-Transport verwundeter und + erkrankter Krieger. 2 Aufl. 271 pp. Berlin, 1883. + + OTIS, GEORGE A. A Report on a Plan for Transporting Wounded + Soldiers by Railway in Time of War. Surgeon-General's Office, + War Department, Washington, 1875. + + [The material parts of this work are reproduced in the + "Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion."] + + Report by the Central British Red Cross Committee on + Voluntary Organisations in aid of the Sick and Wounded during + the South African War. Part VII, Hospital Trains, pp. 32-5. + London, 1902. + + Report on the Medical Arrangements in the South African War. + By Surg.-Gen. Sir W. D. Wilson, K.C.M.G., late Principal Medical + Officer, South African Field Force. Part IX, Hospital Trains, + pp. 213-9. London, 1904. + + RIDDELL, J. SCOTT. A Manual of Ambulance. Section on Railway + Ambulance Wagons and Ambulance Trains, pp. 168-76. 6th edition. + London, 1913. + + +ARMOURED TRAINS + + ADAMS, W. BRIDGES. English Railway Artillery: A Cheap + Defence against Invasion. _Once a Week_, Aug. 13, 1859. London. + + Armoured Truck ("Union Railroad Battery," Petersburg) used + in the American Civil War, 1861-65. See illustration, _Century + Magazine_, Sept., 1887, p. 774. + + BOXALL, CHARLES GERVAISE, Col. Commanding 1st Sussex + Artillery Volunteers. Armoured Train for Coast Defence in Great + Britain, The. Paper read at a meeting of Officers and N.C.O.'s + of the Brigade at Newhaven Fort, Sussex, May 14, 1894. 11 pp. + + ---- Railway Batteries and Armoured Trains. _Fortnightly + Review_, Aug., 1895. + + CONNOR, MAJ. W. D. Military Railways. Section on Armoured + Trains, pp. 141-50. Professional Papers, No. 32, Corps of + Engineers, U.S. Army. Washington, 1910. + + Detailed History of the Railways in the South African War, + 1899-1902. Vol. I, Section on Organisation, Equipment and Use of + Armoured Trains. Chatham, 1905. + + Field Service Regulations. Part I, Operations. 1909. + (Reprinted, with amendments, 1914.) Section 40, Defence of + Railways. General Staff, War Office, London. + + FITZGERALD, W. C. The Armoured Train. _The Four-track News_, + March, 1906. New York. + + FORBIN, V. Les trains blindés. _Nature_, Dec. 12, 1914. + Paris. + + FRASER, R.E., LIEUT. T. Armour-plated Railway Wagons used + during the late Sieges of Paris in 1870-71. Papers of the Corps + of Royal Engineers, N.S., Vol. XX. Woolwich, 1872. + + GIROUARD, R.E., LIEUT.-COL. E. P. C. History of the Railways + during the War in South Africa, 1899-1902. Section V, The + Organisation and Use of Armoured Trains. London, 1903. + + HOBART, FREDERICK. The first Armoured Train. _Railway Age + Gazette_, Jan. 22, 1915. Chicago, U.S.A. + + LODIAN, L. The Origin of Armoured Railroad Cars + unquestionably the Product of the American Civil War. _Railroad + and Locomotive Engineering_, May, 1915. New York. + + [Reproduces from _Leslie's Weekly_ for May 18, 1864, an + illustration of a "Railroad Battery on the Philadelphia and + Baltimore Railway," showing a "box" car completely covered with + armour plating, with loop-holes at end and side for guns, and + placed on the line in front of the locomotive, itself otherwise + unprotected.] + + Military History of the Campaign of 1882 in Egypt. Prepared + in the Intelligence Branch of the War Office. Revised edition. + London, 1908. + + [References to use of armoured train.] + + NANCE, CAPT. H. O. Armoured Trains. Lecture delivered at the + Royal Engineers' Institute. 52 pp. Photographs and drawings. + Professional Papers, fourth series, Vol. I, Paper 4. Chatham, + 1906. + + [The subject is dealt with in three sections: (1) Uses of + Armoured Trains; (2) Construction, equipment and garrison; (3) + Organisation and administration.] + + Railway Manual (War). Chapter VI, Section 15, Armoured + Trains. London, 1911. + + WALKER, LIEUT. ARTHUR. Coast Railways and Railway Artillery. + _Journal of the Royal United Service Institution_, Vol. IX, pp. + 221-23. Plates. London, 1866. + + + + +INDEX + + + ABYSSINIAN CAMPAIGN: + Construction and working of military railway, 210-14. + + ADAMS, WILLIAM BRIDGES: 67-9. + + ADVANTAGES FROM USE OF RAILWAYS: 345-50. + + AFRICA, GERMAN DESIGNS ON: + Proposals of von Weber, 297; + German South-West Africa, 298-300; + the Herero rising, 300-1; + railways, 304-10; + military preparations, 307, 310-12; + rail connection with Angola, 312-14; + German East Africa Central Railway, 314-7; + Katanga district, 316; + Central Africa, 318; + rival railway schemes, 319-20; + railway schemes in the Cameroons, 320-5; + official admissions, 325-6; + "der Tag" and its programme, 326-30. + + AGADIR CRISIS, THE: 324. + + AGGRESSION, USE OF RAILWAYS FOR: 355-6. + + ALEXANDER THE GREAT: 63. + + ALEXANDRETTA, GERMANY AND: 334, 343. + + ALEXEIEV, ADMIRAL: 275. + + AMBULANCE TRAINS: _see_ RAILWAY AMBULANCE TRANSPORT. + + AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: + What it established, 13; + railway lines, 15; + Federal Government and railways, 16; + mileage taken over, 18; + gauge of lines, 18; + condition of lines, 19; + Transportation Department, 20-1; + locomotives, 21-2; + rolling mills, 23; + movement of troops, 23-5; + destruction of railways, 27-8; + Construction Corps, 29-37; + control of railways, 43-50; + protection of, 54-5; + armoured cars, 72-4; + removal of sick and wounded, 86-91; + American precedents followed in Europe, 104, 122, 153, 177; + "surface railroads," 210; + the Civil War and the South African campaign, 258 (_n._). + + ANATOLIA: 331, 335. + + ANATOLIAN RAILWAY, THE: 334. + + ANGOLA: 299, 312-4, 320. + + ARMOURED TRAINS: + Protection of railway lines, 59; + first suggested, 67-9; + proposals of Lieut. A. Walker, 69-70; + of Col. Wethered, 70-71; + of Lieut. E. P. C. Girouard, 71-2; + Civil War, 72-4; + Franco-Prussian War, 75; + Egyptian Campaign, 75-6, 224; + Delhi, 76; + experiments in France, 77; + at Newhaven, Sussex, 77-9; + South African War, 79, 248-52. + + ASIA MINOR: + Germany's "share" in the Turkish spoils, 332; + Germany's colonisation field, 332-3; + proposed German protectorate, 333. + + ASPINALL, MR. J. A. F.: 197. + + ATLANTIC AND NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD: 36, 73. + + AUSTRALIA AND THE BAGHDAD RAILWAY: 342, 344. + + AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: + Early troop movements by rail, 8-9; + scheme for strategical railways, 9; + Italian campaign of 1859, 11-12; + Railway Troops, 123; + German rail communications, 287. + + AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN CAMPAIGN: + Protection of railways, 55, 59; + removal of sick and wounded, 91-2; + Prussian mobilisation, 104; + defective transport arrangements, 104-5; + destruction and restoration of railway lines, 124-6. + + + BABYLONIA, GERMANY AND: 332. + + BAGHDAD RAILWAY, THE: + Concession, 334; + branches, 334-5; + Germany's aims, 336; + the conquest of Egypt, 338-40; + the Persian Gulf, 341; + India, 342; + Capt. Mahan's views, 342; + the desired extension to Koweit, 343; + what the railway was to accomplish, 344. + + BALCK: 110. + + BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD: 29. + + BASSON, WILHELM: 127. + + BECKER, LIEUT.: 169-70. + + BELGIUM: + Early Railways in, 4-5; + German strategical lines on Belgian frontier, 288-294; + German designs, 323-4, 325-6, 327, 329. + + BÉRIGNY, M. DE: 7. + + BEYENS, BARON: 325. + + BIGELOW, CAPT. J.: 56, 348 (_n._). + + BILLINGTON, MR. R. J.: 78. + + BISMARCK, PRINCE: 136, 338. + + BLOCKHOUSES FOR PROTECTION OF RAILWAYS: 54, 58, 245. + + BOULGER, MR. D. C.: 288, 294. + + BOXALL, COL. C. G.: 78. + + BRITISH CENTRAL RED CROSS COMMITTEE: 95, 254. + + BRITISH EAST AFRICA: 317, 327. + + BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA: + German designs on, 301, 302, 303, 308, 312, 327. + + BRYDEN, MR. H. A.: 300 (_n._). + + BUDDE, H.: 51. + + BULLER, SIR REDVERS: 254. + + BURGOYNE, SIR JOHN: 178, 209. + + BUTTERWORTH, SIR A. K.: 197. + + + CALEDONIAN RLY.: 197. + + CALTHROP, MR. GUY: 197. + + CAMEROONS, THE: 320-5. + + CAMPENAU, GEN.: 137. + + CANALS AND TROOPS: 1. + + CAPE GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS: 237, 240, 246, 253. + + CAPE-TO-CAIRO RAILWAY: 320. + + CENTRAL AFRICA: 318-20. + + CHÉRADAME, M. ANDRÉ: 338. + + CHRISTIAN, PRINCESS: 254. + + CLARKE, SIR ANDREW: 224. + + COAST DEFENCE: 67, 179. + + COMMERCE DEFENCE LEAGUE, THE GERMAN: 303 (_n._). + + CONGO, THE BELGIAN: 315-320, 322-6. + + CONDITIONS ESSENTIAL TO EFFICIENCY: 350-2. + + CONNOR, MAJ. W. D.: 58, 80, 258 (_n._). + + CONSTRUCTION CORPS: + U.S.A., 20, 21, 23, 29-37; + Prussia, 122-3, 124-8, 132-6, 215-6, 219; + Austria, 123-4; + Bavaria, 127-133; + France, 128, 152-4; + England, 198-202; + South African War, 242-5; + Russo-Japanese War, 273-4. + + CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS: + Military requirements, 350-1. + + CONTROL OF RAILWAYS IN WAR: + Conditions of operation, 40-3; + American Civil War, 43-50; + views of Baron M. M. von Weber, 50-2; + need for intermediaries, 52; + organisation in peace, 99; + Austro-Prussian War, 104-5; + German system in 1870-71, 106-115; + new regulations, 115-7; + present system, 118-121; + inefficient military control in France in 1870-71, 139-147; + creation of new organisation, 149-170; + State control in England, 176-7; + draft scheme for State operation, 185-7; + Railway Transport Officers, 189-191; + South African War, 233-7, 238-9, 249-52; + Russo-Japanese War, 274-5; + general, 351. + + COWANS, LIEUT.-GEN. SIR J. S.: 204. + + CRIMEAN WAR: + Deaths from sickness and disease, 81; + removal of sick and wounded by railway, 83; + transport conditions, 207-8; + construction of military railway, 208; + operation, 208-10; + recalled by Russo-Japanese War, 260. + + CROMER, LORD: 229. + + + DANISH WAR (1864): 91, 104. + + DELAGOA BAY: 304-5, 327. + + DELBRÜCK, PROF. HANS: 330. + + DENT, MR. C. H.: 197. + + DENT, MR. F. H.: 197. + + DESTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS: + Vulnerability, 26-7; + early instances, 27; + American Civil War, 27-37; + Mexican War, 37-9; + Austro-Prussian War, 124, 125-6; + Franco-German War, 128-30; + South African War, 241-5, 256-8; + Russo-Japanese War, 274. + + DISADVANTAGES OF RAILWAYS: 355-6. + + DUFAURE, M.: 7. + + DUMANT, JEAN HENRI: 84. + + + EAST PRUSSIA, STRATEGICAL RAILWAYS IN: 283. + + EGYPT: + German anticipations of rebellion, 326; + aims against Egypt, 338-9; + conquest to be facilitated by railways, 340. + + EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGNS: + Armoured cars, 75-6; + Railway Companies, Royal Engineers, 199. + + EIFEL DISTRICT: + German strategical railways, 289-292. + + ELSENBORN, GERMAN CAMP AT: 288-9. + + ENGINEER AND RAILWAY STAFF CORPS: + Formation, 179-182; + constitution, 181-2; + functions and work done, 182-7, 192; + supplemented by War Railway Council, 187. + + ENGLAND, ORGANISATION IN: + Early regulation for troop movements, 2; + legislative enactments, 175-7; + invasion prospects and formation of Volunteer Corps, 178; + Engineer and Railway Staff Corps, 179-187; + attitude of War Office, 180; + War Office and defence scheme, 185-7; + War Railway Council, 187-9; + Railway Transport Officers, 189-191; + Railways Executive Committee, 195-7; + Railway Companies, Royal Engineers, 200-2. + + ERNOUF, BARON: 141. + + EVANS, DR. T. W.: 91. + + + FAY, SIR SAM: 197. + + FIELDHOUSE, MR. W. J.: 95. + + FINDLAY, SIR GEORGE: 184-7, 195, 196, 202. + + FORBES, SIR WILLIAM: 182, 197. + + FORMANOIR, CAPTAIN A. DE: 124 (_n._). + + FORTRESSES FOR PROTECTION OF RAILWAYS: 59. + + FRANCE: + Early references in French Chamber, 6-7; + complaints in 1842 of German aggressive lines, 7; + early railways, 7; + railways and the Italian campaign of 1859, 9-11; + early regulations, 138; + Marshal Niel's Commission, 138-9; + experiences in Franco-German War, 139-148; + German railway lines on French frontiers, 287-8; + Germany's alternative routes, via Luxemburg, 288; + via Belgium, 288-93; + French possessions in Africa to be seized by Germany, 326; + to be demanded as "ransom," 329. + + FRANCE, ORGANISATION IN: + Early regulations, 138; + action taken after the Franco-German War, 149-50; + Superior Military Commission, 150, 151-2; + Field Railway Sections, 153-4; + Railway Troops, 154-6; + existing organisation, 157-168; + tests, 169; + views of German authority, 169; + defensive railways, 170-4. + + FRANCO-GERMAN WAR: FRANCE: + Armoured wagons, 75; + rail-transport regulations, 138; + the Niel Commission, 138-9; + despatches by rail, 139-40; + absence of military organisation, 140; + confusion and chaos, 140-2; + conflicting orders, 142; + local authorities, 143; + unloading, 143-4; + congestion at stations, 145-7; + seizure of rolling stock by enemy, 147. + + FRANCO-GERMAN WAR: GERMANY: + Safeguarding of railway lines, 56-8; + removal of sick and wounded, 94-5; + rail transport conditions, 106-115; + Railway Troops, 127-8; + destruction of lines, etc., 128-30; + operation of French lines by Germans, 130-1; + construction of military lines, 215-6. + + FRANC-TIREURS AND RAILWAYS: 57, 129-30. + + FRASER, R. E., LIEUT.: 129. + + FREDERICKSBURG RAILROAD: 29. + + FRENCH TRANS-AFRICAN RAILWAY SCHEME: 322. + + FRERE, SIR BARTLE: 297. + + FRIRON, GEN.: 64. + + FURLEY, SIR JOHN: 95, 96, 254. + + + GAMBON, M.: 325. + + GAUGE, RAILWAY: + Various countries, 60; + Russian policy in respect to, 61; + experiences in Russo-Turkish War, 61, 217; + Germany and Russian lines, 284-6. + + GERMAN EAST AFRICA: 314-5, 316-7. + + GERMAN EMPEROR, THE: + African railways, 321; + visit to Constantinople, 334; + to Damascus, 337. + + GERMAN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA: 298-312. + + GERMANY AND EGYPT: 338-40. + + GERMANY: + Early proposals for strategical railways, 2-3; + early railways constructed, 5; + possible attacks on two fronts, 5; + "aggressive" lines, 7; + early troop transports, 8; + control of railways in war, 50-52; + railway ambulance transport, 84-6, 91-3, 94; + _see_ also GERMANY, ORGANISATION IN. + + GERMANY, ORGANISATION IN: + Influence of American Civil War, 104, 122; + Railway Section of General Staff formed, 104; + Danish War (1864), 104; + Austro-Prussian War, 104-6; + Route Service Regulation, 106-9; + Franco-Prussian War, 110-15; + further Regulations, 115-6; + Field Service Regulations, 117; + present basis of organisation, 118-121; + Railway Troops, 122-37. + + GIROUARD, SIR E. PERCY C.: 71, 225, 228, 233-7, 238-9, 240-1, + 248-9, 252, 257, 258 (_n._). + + GOLTZ, VON DER: 135, 139, 282, 346 (_n._), 352. + + GORDON, GEN.: 221, 222. + + GRAHAM, GEN. SIR G.: 223, 224 (_n._). + + GRANET, SIR GUY: 197. + + GRANT, CAPT. M. H.: 251. + + GRANT, GEN.: 22. + + GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY, 197. + + GREAT EASTERN RLY.: 194, 204. + + GREAT NORTHERN RLY.: 194, 197, 204. + + GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY: 192, 195 (_n._), 197. + + GREY, EARL DE: 180. + + GRUND SYSTEM OF RAILWAY FITTINGS: 94. + + GURLT, DR. E.: 81, 84, 85. + + GYULIA, COUNT: 12. + + + HALLECK, GEN.: 23-4. + + HAMLEY, GEN. SIR E.: 207, 349 (_n._). + + HARKORT, F. W.: 2-3. + + HARRISON, MR. C. W. F.: 247. + + HAUPT, HERMAN: + Pioneer of Construction Corps, U.S.A., 29-30; + rebuilding of bridges, 31-2; + control questions, 43-9; + armoured car, 72. + + HEDJAZ RAILWAY: 335. + + HERBERT, MR. SIDNEY: 180. + + HERFF, HERR VON: 305. + + HEYER, MR. A. E.: 305. + + HINE, MAJ. CHARLES: 37. + + HOBART, MR. F.: 73. + + HOLLAND: + German strategical lines on Dutch frontier, 293-4. + + HOME, R.E., LIEUT.-COL. R.: 63. + + HOOD, GEN.: 35. + + HOSPITAL TRAINS; _see_ RAILWAY AMBULANCE TRANSPORT. + + + INDIA: + German anticipations of rebellion, 326; + the Baghdad railway and India, 342, 344. + + INVASION OF ENGLAND: + Fears of, 67, 177-8, 182. + + ITALIAN CAMPAIGN (1859): + Conveyance of troops by rail, 9-13; + destruction of railway lines, 27; + removal of sick and wounded by rail, 84. + + + JACQMIN, M.: 143, 148, 235. + + JAGOW, HERR VON: 325-6. + + JOESTEN, DR. JOSEF: 281, 283. + + + KAERGER, DR. KARL: 332-3. + + KATANGA DISTRICT (Central Africa): 316-20. + + KELTON, J. C.: 50. + + KITCHENER, LORD: 58, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 239. + + KUROPATKIN, GEN.: 263, 269-70, 271, 275, 355 (_n._). + + + LAMARQUE, GEN.: 6. + + LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RLY.: 197. + + LAND TRANSPORT CORPS (Crimea): 181 (_n._), 208, 209. + + LANGHAMS, PAUL: 338. + + LANOIR, M. PAUL: 136-7. + + LATTMANN, HERR: 306. + + LEDEBOUR, HERR: 302. + + LEOPOLD, KING: 318, 325. + + LIMITATIONS IN USEFULNESS OF RAILWAYS: 352-5. + + LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RLY.: 1, 8. + + LOBITO BAY RLY.: 314, 319-20. + + LODIAN, MR. L.: 73. + + LONDON AND NORTH WESTERN RLY.: 194, 197. + + LONDON AND SOUTH WESTERN RLY.: 192, 193, 197, 199, 201. + + LONDON, BRIGHTON AND SOUTH COAST RLY.: 77-8, 197. + + LONDON, CHATHAM AND DOVER RLY.: 199. + + LONDON, DEFENCE OF: 71. + + LORME, M. DUPUY DE: 75. + + LUARD, R. E., CAPT. C. E.: 209. + + LÜDERITZ, ADOLF: 298. + + LUXEMBURG RAILWAYS: 288, 289, 292. + + + MCCALLUM, D. G.: + Appointed Military Director, etc., U. S. railroads, 17-18; + views on situation, 19; + creation of Transportation Department and Construction Corps, + 20, 32-37; + movement of troops, 23-4; + question of control, 50; + German translation of report, 127. + + MCDOWELL, GEN.: 30, 54. + + MCMURDO, GEN. SIR W. M.: 180, 181, 182-3. + + MAHAN, CAPT. A. T.: 342, 344. + + MANASSAS GAP RAILWAY: 55. + + MANBY, F.R.S., MR. C.: 180. + + MANGELSDORF, PROF. R.: 340. + + MAQUAY, R. E., COL. J. P.: 214. + + MARSCHALL, M., 7. + + MASSÉNA, MARSHAL: 64. + + MATHESON, MR. D. A.: 197. + + MEADE, MAJ.-GEN. G. G.: 54. + + MEIGS, GEN.: 48. + + MEXICO, RAILWAY DESTRUCTION IN: 37-9. + + MIDLAND RAILWAY: 197. + + MILITARY OPERATION OF RAILWAYS: + Civil War, 20-1; + Franco-German War, 130-1; + British organisation, 175; + South African War, 239-41; + Russo-Japanese War, 374. + + MILITARY RAILWAYS: + Description of, 205-6; + pioneer military line in Crimean War, 206-10; + American Civil War, 210; + Abyssinian Campaign, 210-14; + Franco-German War, 215-6; + Russo-Turkish War, 216-20; + the Sudan, 220-231; + Russo-Japanese War, 272-3; + general, 349. + + MILLAR, R. A., MAJ.: 9. + + MOLTKE, VON: 8, 106, 109, 278, 346 (_n._). + + MORACHE, DR.: 81. + + MUNI (Spanish): 324. + + + NANCE, CAPT. H. O.: 80. + + NANTON, R. E., CAPT. H. C.: 250. + + NAPIER OF MAGDALA, LORD: 210. + + NAPIER, SIR CHARLES: 178. + + NAPOLEON: 62, 63, 64. + + NASHVILLE AND CHATTANOOGA RLY.: 33, 34. + + NATAL GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS: 237, 246-8, 253. + + NATAL RAILWAY PIONEER STAFF: 247. + + NATHAN, R. E., LIEUT. M.: 223. + + NATIONAL DEFENCE ACT, 1888: 177, 195. + + NETHERLANDS SOUTH AFRICAN RLY.: 240, 254-8. + + NIEL, MARSHAL: 138, 139. + + NORTON, Mr. ROY: 286. + + NORTH EASTERN RLY.: 197. + + NORTH MISSOURI RAILROAD: 29. + + + O'CONNOR, MR. J. K.: 310-12, 326-7. + + ORANGE AND ALEXANDRIA RAILROAD: 46, 55, 88. + + OSMAN PASHA: 218. + + + PANZ, OBERST. VON: 123. + + PEEL, GEN.: 176. + + PERNOT, CAPT. A.: 172, 174. + + PHILADELPHIA-BALTIMORE RAILROAD: 73. + + PHILADELPHIA RAILROAD: 87. + + POMERANIA, STRATEGICAL RAILWAYS IN: 283. + + PÖNITZ, C. E.: 4-6, 280. + + POPE, GEN.: 43. + + PORTER, MAJ.-GEN. WHITWORTH: 209, 224. + + POTTER, MR. F.: 197. + + POWELL, MAJ.: 209. + + PREPARATIONS IN PEACE: Need for, 98-102; 106, 123, 138, 149, + 178-180, 184, 351-2. + + PROTECTION OF RAILWAYS IN WAR: + American Civil War, 54-5; + blockhouses, 54, 58; + placing of civilians on engines or trains, 55, 57-8; + Austro-Prussian War, 55-6; + Franco-Prussian War, 56-8; + South African War, 58; + permanent fortresses, 59; + use of armoured trains, 59; + removal of rolling stock, 59; + destruction of, 60; + different gauge, 60-1; + terrorising of civil population, 356. + + PRUSSIAN RAILWAY TROOPS: + Formation of Field Railway Section, 122; + operations in Austro-Prussian campaign, 123, 124-6; + permanent cadre, 127; + Franco-Prussian War, 127-8, 130-1; + Railway Battalion, 132-4; + Railway Regiment, 134; + Communication Troops, 134; + need for Railway Troops, 135-6; + railwaymen as spies, 136-7; + construction of military lines, 215-6. + + + RADEK, HERR KARL: 339-40. + + RAILWAY AMBULANCE TRANSPORT: + Deaths from disease and sickness, 81; + importance of prompt removal of sick and wounded, 82-3; + Crimean War, 83; + Italian War, 84; + recommendations by Dr. Gurlt, 84-5; + first Prussian Commission, 85; + American Civil War, 86-91; + Danish War, 91; + Austro-Prussian War, 91-2; + second Prussian Commission, 92-3; + Paris International Exhibition (1867), 93; + third Prussian Commission, 94; + Franco-Prussian War, 94-5; + South African War, 95-6, 253-4; + methods now in vogue, 96-7. + + RAILWAY COMPANIES, ROYAL ENGINEERS: + Formation, 199; + services in Egypt, 199; + duties, 200; + training, 200-2; + services in the Sudan, 221-9; + South African War, 233, 240, 242, 243, 251. + + RAILWAY PIONEER REGIMENT: 242, 243. + + RAILWAYS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: 195-6. + + RAILWAY TRANSPORT OFFICERS: 189-191, 193-4. + + RAILWAY WAGONS, UNLOADING OF: + American Civil War, 46, 47-8; + Austro-Prussian War, 105; + Franco-German War, 111-2, 144, 145; + South African War, 234, 238, 239. + + REGULATION OF THE FORCES ACT, 1871: 176, 177, 195, 196, 197. + + RENÉ, CARL: 321-2. + + REPRISALS, PRUSSIA AND: 55-6. + + RHODESIA: 320, 322, 327. + + ROBERTS, LORD: 58, 245. + + ROBERTUS, J. K.: 332. + + ROHRBACH, DR. PAUL: 338-9, 340. + + ROON, VON: 85. + + ROSCHER, WILHELM: 332. + + ROSS, PROF. LUDWIG: 338. + + ROTHWELL, R. A., COL. J. S.: 184. + + RUMIGNY, GEN.: 3 + + RUSSIA: + Early troop movements by rail, 8; + policy in respect to railway gauge, 61, 135-6, 217; + military lines built in campaign against Turkey, 216-220; + German strategical lines on Russian frontier, 284-7. + _See_ also RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR. + + RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR: + Distances from theatre of war, 260; + the Trans-Siberian Railway, 261, 262-3; + Chinese Eastern Railway, 261, 262; + unreadiness of Russia, 263; + Lake Baikal, 263, 264-7; + ice railway across the lake, 266-7; + circum-Baikal line, 267; + traffic hindrances, 268; + number of trains, 268; + speed, 268; + Russian reinforcements in driblets, 269; + rail improvements, 270-1; + dependence on railway, 271; + results accomplished, 271-2; + field railways, 272-3; + Railway Troops, 273-4; + operation, 274; + control, 274-6, 355 (_n._). + + RUSSO-TURKISH WAR: + Railway gauge, 61; + construction of military railways, 216-20. + + + SAÏD PASHA: 221. + + SAMASSA, DR. PAUL: 301-2. + + SAROLEA, DR. CHARLES: 337. + + SCHÄFFER, E.: 113 (_n._). + + SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN: + German strategical lines, 294. + + SCHOFIELD, GEN.: 24. + + SCOTT, MAJ.-GEN. D. A.: 181. + + SHERMAN, GEN. W. T.: 19, 34-6, 54, 65. + + SICK AND WOUNDED IN WAR: + Evacuation hospitals, 167; + infirmary stations, 167; + distribution stations, 167; + general, 349-50. + _See_ also, RAILWAY AMBULANCE TRANSPORT. + + SOUTH AFRICAN WAR: + Removal of locomotives and rolling stock, 59-60; + hospital trains, 95-6, 253-4; + transport of troops for embarkation, 193; + South African railways, 232-3; + creation of Department of Military Railways, 233; + control questions, 233-5; + basis of organisation, 235-7; + transport conditions, 237-8; + how the system worked, 238-9; + Imperial Military Railways, 239-40; + need for operating staff organised in time of peace, 240-1; + destruction and repair of lines, etc., 241-5; + Railway Pioneer Regiment, 242; + blockhouses, 245; + military traffic, 245-6; + miscellaneous services, 246-8; + armoured trains, 248-52; + operation of Netherlands South African Railway by Boers, 254-9; + the war and rail-power, 258-9. + + SOUTH CAROLINA RAILROAD: 36. + + SOUTH EASTERN AND CHATHAM RLY.: 197. + + SOUTH EASTERN RLY.: 199. + + SPRENGER, DR. A.: 332. + + STANTON, MR.: 23, 29. + + STAVELOT-MALMÉDY LINE: 288-292. + + STEINNETZ, MR. T.: 255-8. + + STRATEGICAL MOVEMENTS BY RAIL: 12, 25, 245-6, 346. + + STRATEGICAL RAILWAYS: + Early proposals in Germany, 2, 5-6, 7; + France, 7; + Austria, 9; + defensive lines in France, 170-4; + position in Great Britain, 202; + connecting links, 203; + attitude of Parliament, 203; + Northern Junction line, 203-4; + nature of strategical railways, 277-80; + ideal conditions, 279-81; + position in Germany, 281-4; + Pomerania and East Prussia, 283-4; + Russian frontier, 284-7; + southern Silesia, 287; + French frontier, 287-8; + Belgian frontier, 288-93; + Dutch frontier, 293-4; + Schleswig-Holstein, 294; + German South-West Africa, 304-9; + Angola, 312-4; + German East Africa, 314-5; + Cameroons, 320-4; + Baghdad Railway, 334-344. + + STUART-STEPHENS, MAJ.: 290 (_n._). + + STURGIS, GEN.: 44. + + SUAKIN-BERBER LINE: 199, 223-5. + + SUPPLIES FOR TROOPS: + War of Secession, 15-16, 46; + "living on the country," 63, 64, 65; + conditions in pre-railway days, 63-4; + discipline, 64; + road transport, 65; + advantages of rail transport, 65-6; + defective organisation, Austro-Prussian War, 105; + new system for Germany, 107; + Franco-German War, 110-113, 143-6; + present French system, 164-6; + general, 347-8. + + SURFACE RAILROADS IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: 210. + + SUDAN, THE: + Early railway schemes, 221; + Wady Halfa-Sarras line, 221; + extension for expedition of 1884, 221-2; + abandonment, 222; + results attained, 223; + Suakin-Berber line, 223-5; + Nile Valley line, reconstructed and extended, 225-6; + Nubian Desert line, 226-7; + extension to Atbara, 228; + Khartoum, 229; + El Obeid, 229; + military results, 228; + services to civilisation, 230-1; + Germany and the Sudan, 321-2. + + SUVÓROFF: 62. + + SZLUMPER, MR. G. S.: 197. + + + TACTICAL MOVEMENTS BY RAIL: 346. + + THIERS, M.: 64. + + THORNHILL, MR. J. B.: 316. + + THOMAS, GEN. G. H.: 89. + + TOVEY, R. E., LIEUT.-COL.: 354 (_n._). + + TOWN, DR. F. L.: 90. + + TRANS-SIBERIAN RLY. _See_ RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR. + + TRANSVAAL, GERMANY AND THE: 304, 305, 311, 327. + + TROOP MOVEMENTS BY RAIL: + Early, 8; + Italian campaign of 1859, 9-12; + Civil War, 23-5; + quicker transport, 62; + more complete numbers, 62-3; + Danish War of 1864, 104; + Austro-Prussian War, 104; + Franco-Prussian War, 110, 139-140; + Volunteer reviews and army manoeuvres, 192, 194; + South African War, 193, 245-6; + Russo-Japanese War, 269, 271; + general, 345-6, 352-4. + + TURKEY, ASIATIC: Germany's Land of Promise, 331. + + TURKEY: Germany's designs against, 331, 336-40. + + + UNGER, L. A.: 6. + + + VICKERS, R.E., CAPT. C. E.: 274. + + VIGO-ROUISSILLON, M.: 36. + + VOLUNTEER CORPS IN GREAT BRITAIN: 67, 178-9, 182, 191-2. + + + WALKER, LIEUT. ARTHUR: 69. + + WALKER, SIR HERBERT A.: 197. + + WALTER, MAJ. J.: 191-2. + + WAR RAILWAY COUNCIL, THE: 187-9, 193, 196. + + WATERS, COL. W. H. H.: 274, 275. + + WATSON, COL. SIR CHARLES: 228. + + WATSON, MR. P. H.: 72. + + WEBBER, R.E., CAPT. C. E.: 55, 125, 126. + + WEBER, BARON, M. M. VON: 50-2. + + WEBER, ERNST VON: 297, 330. + + WEEKS, G. E.: 37-8. + + WELLINGTON, DUKE OF: 65, 177. + + WELTPOLITIK: 331, 342, 344, 356. + + WERNEKKE, REGIERUNGSRAT: 8. + + WESTERN AND ATLANTIC RLY.: 34. + + WESTPHALEN, H. L.: 124. + + WETHERED, COL. E. R.: 70. + + WHEELER, GEN.: 34. + + WILLANS, R.E., LIEUT.: 211, 213. + + WILSON, PRESIDENT: 330. + + WOLSELEY, LORD: 199, 222, 223. + + WRIGHT, C.E., Mr. T.: 70. + + + ZAVODOVSKI SYSTEM OF RAILWAY FITTINGS: 94. + + ZIMMERMANN, EMIL: 322-5. + + +P. S. KING & SON, LTD., Orchard House, Westminster, London, S.W. + + + + +_WORKS BY EDWIN A. PRATT._ + +A HISTORY OF INLAND TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION IN ENGLAND. + +CONTENTS. + + CHAP. + + I INTRODUCTORY + II BRITAIN'S EARLIEST ROADS + III ROADS AND THE CHURCH + IV EARLY TRADING CONDITIONS + V EARLY ROAD LEGISLATION + VI EARLY CARRIAGES + VII LOADS, WHEELS AND ROADS + VIII THE COACHING ERA + IX THE AGE OF BAD ROADS + X THE TURNPIKE SYSTEM + XI TRADE AND TRANSPORT IN THE TURNPIKE ERA + XII SCIENTIFIC ROAD-MAKING + XIII RIVERS AND RIVER TRANSPORT + XIV RIVER IMPROVEMENT AND INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION + XV DISADVANTAGES OF RIVER NAVIGATION + XVI THE CANAL ERA + XVII THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION + XVIII EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY + XIX THE RAILWAY ERA + XX RAILWAY EXPANSION + XXI RAILWAYS AND THE STATE + XXII DECLINE OF CANALS + XXIII DECLINE OF TURNPIKES + XXIV END OF THE COACHING ERA + XXV RAILWAY RATES AND CHARGES + XXVI THE RAILWAY SYSTEM TO-DAY + XXVII WHAT THE RAILWAYS HAVE DONE + XXVIII RAILWAYS A NATIONAL INDUSTRY + XXIX TRAMWAYS, MOTOR-BUSES AND RAIL-LESS ELECTRIC TRACTION + XXX CYCLES, MOTOR-VEHICLES AND TUBES + XXXI THE OUTLOOK + AUTHORITIES + INDEX + +xii. + 532 pp. 6_s._ net. By post, 6_s._ 4_d._ + + +RAILWAYS IN AMERICA. + +AMERICAN RAILWAYS. 310 pp. 2_s._ 6_d._ net. By post, 2_s._ 10_d._ [A +reprint, with additions, of a series of articles contributed to _The +Times_.] + +RAILWAYS IN GERMANY. + +GERMAN _v._ BRITISH RAILWAYS: With special reference to Owner's Risk and +Traders' Claims. 64 pp. 1_s._ net. By post, 1_s._ 2_d._ + +GERMAN RAILWAYS AND TRADERS. 46 pp. 6_d._ net. By post, 7_d._ [A digest +of the Board of Trade Railway Conference report on German Railways.] + +RAILWAYS AND THE STATE. + +THE CASE AGAINST RAILWAY NATIONALISATION. 264 pp. 1_s._ net. By post, +1_s._ 3_d._ [Published in "The Nation's Library."] + +RAILWAYS AND NATIONALISATION. 456 pp. 2_s._ 6_d._ net. By post, 2_s._ +10_d._ + +IRISH RAILWAYS AND THEIR NATIONALISATION. 44 pp. 6_d._ net. By post, +7_d._ [A detailed criticism of the report of the Vice-Regal Commission.] + +STATE RAILWAYS. 108 pp. 1_s._ net. By post, 1_s._ 2_d._ [Includes a +translation of M. Marcel Peschaud's articles on "Les Chemins de Fer de +l'État Belge."] + +RAILWAYS AND TRADERS. + +RAILWAYS AND THEIR RATES. 362 pp. 1_s._ net. By post, 1_s._ 3_d._ + +CANALS. + +CANALS AND TRADERS. 124 pp. Nine maps and diagrams, 43 photographs. +Cloth, 2_s._ 6_d._ net. By post, 2_s._ 10_d._ Paper covers, 1_s._ net. +By post, 1_s._ 3_d._ [The "Argument Pictorial," as applied to the Report +of the Royal Commission on Canals and Waterways.] + +AGRICULTURE. + +THE ORGANISATION OF AGRICULTURE. 474 pp. 1_s._ net. By post, 1_s._ 3_d._ + +AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION: Its Rise, Principles and Practice Abroad and +at Home. 270 pp. 3_s._ 6_d._ net. By post, 3_s._ 10_d._ Cheap edition, +163 pp., 1_s._ net. By post, 1_s._ 2_d._ + +SMALL HOLDERS: WHAT THEY MUST DO TO SUCCEED. 248 pp. 1_s._ net. By post, +1_s._ 2_d._ + + +_Any of the above works will be forwarded by post, at the prices +mentioned, by P. S. KING & SON, Ltd., Orchard House, Westminster, +London, S.W._ + + + + +Transcriber's Notes + +Obvious errors of punctuation and diacritics repaired. + +Note: "Liége" was the correct spelling at that time for what is now +written "Liège". + +Hyphen removed: "break-down" (p. 108), "earth-work" (p. 219), +"inter-communication" (p. 173), "plate-laying" (pp. 221, 222), +"rail-head" (pp. 66, 97, 108), "re-built" (p. 266), "re-organisation" +(p. 264), "South-African" (p. 402), "station-master" (p. 145), +"store-houses" (pp. 144, 164), "text-books" (p. 133), "turn-tables" (p. +124), "wide-spread" (pp. 15, 82). + +The following variants appear frequently and have not been changed: +block-house / blockhouse, head-quarter(s) / headquarter(s), +sub-division(s) / subdivision(s). + +P. 5: "Leipsig" changed to "Leibzig" (Leipzig-Dresden line). + +P. 15: "seceeded" changed to "seceded" (the States which had seceded). + +P. 17: "Ctiy" changed to "City" (Washington City, D.C.). + +P. 31: "Goose Greek" changed to "Goose Creek". + +P. 105: "(3)" changed to "(4)" ((4) secure the prompt unloading). + +P. 185: "Mazagine" changed to "Magazine" (United Service Magazine). + +P. 195: "Raliway" changed to "Railway" (Great Western Railway Magazine). + +P. 218: "dependance" changed to "dependence" (to dependence on the +railway). + +P. 246: "in." added (4·7 in. guns). + +P. 273: "de" changed to "des" (des chemins de fer). + +P. 273: "Juni" changed to "Juin". + +P. 284: "½" added (4 feet 8½ inches). + +P. 290: "moblisation" changed to "mobilisation" (on mobilisation, or +elsewhere). + +P. 290: "pursuading" changed to "persuading" (persuading the Belgian +Government). + +P. 296: "promotor" changed to "promotors" (the aims of their promoters). + +P. 303: "enlightment" changed to "enlightenment" (not so blind as to +need enlightenment). + +P. 306: "between" changed to "between" (communication between Swakopmund +and the capital). + +P. 315: "Renseignments" changed to "Renseignements" (Renseignements +coloniaux). + +P. 321: "Expediton" changed to "Expedition" +(Kamerun-Eisenbahn-Expedition). + +P. 328: "possesssion" changed to "possession" (into a German possession). + +P. 350: "tranverse" changed to "transverse" (transverse lines connecting +them). + +P. 355: "diciplined" changed to "disciplined" (old and well-disciplined +units). + +P. 355, footnote 82: added "no" (no harm was done). + +P. 373: Railway gauges changed to be consistently 3 ft. 6 in., 5 ft. 3 +in., 4 ft. 8-1/2 in. + +P. 377: "Eröterung" changed to "Erörterung" (gegründeter Erörterung über +die militärische Benutzung). + +P. 377: "militärischen" changed to "militärische" (Eisenbahnen für +militärische Zwecke). + +P. 378: "militärische" changed to "militärischer" (in militärische +Hinsicht). + +P. 387: "Heidelburg" changed to "Heidelberg". + +P. 388: "Fielddienst" changed to "Felddienst" (Felddienst Ordnung). + +P. 389: "Lehrer" changed to "Lehre" (Kurze Lehre ihrer wichtigsten +Grundsätze). + +P. 393: "Revista Technica" changed to "Rivista Tecnica". + +P. 401: Index entry for "Germany, Organisation in, present basis of +organisation" changed from 188-121 to 118-121. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rise of Rail-Power in War and +Conquest, 1833-1914, by Edwin A. Pratt + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42438 *** |