Appendix -- (With Additional Charts and Tables)
Table 1:
Total railroad mileage (by decade) in the North and South.
| Region | 1840 | 1850 | change (%) | 1860 | change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North (MA, NY, NJ, PA, OH, IN, IL) | 1,576 | 4,617 | 290 | 15,012 | 325 |
| South (VA, NC, GA, SC, AL, MS, LA) | 1,099 | 1,787 | 160 | 7,001 | 392 |
Source: From Jenny Bourne Wahl, “Stay East, Young Man? Market Repercussions of the Dred Scott Decision,” Chicago-Kent Law Review , Vol. 82 , No. 1 (2007): 368.
See Additional Charts in "Railroads and the Making of Modern America" Site:
| New Railroad Mileage Totals, 1850-1860 by Region |  |
| Percent of Total Miles in 1860 that were constructed in 1850s, by Region | |
| Total Miles of Railroad in 1860 by Region | |
Table 2:
Access to railroad depots and junctions, 1861 (per capita for free population per 10,000 persons).
| Region | Points (Junctions and Depots) | Pop. Estimated | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | No. per 10,000 | Within 15 miles | |
| South | 1,518 | 1.856 | 54.7 % |
| North* | 1,636 | 1.796 | 84.9 % |
*Selected northern states here include Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
Source: Historical Geographic Information System (GIS), 1861 Railroad Network, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Table 3:
Access to railroad depots and junctions by state, 1861 (per capita for free population per 10,000 persons).
| State | Total No. | Junctions/Depots | Pop. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junctions/Depots | per 10,000 Persons | in 15-mile % | ||
| Alabama | 117 | 2.211 | 38.2 | |
| Arkansas | 7 | 0.216 | 0.4 | |
| Florida | 30 | 3.813 | 36.8 | |
| Georgia | 152 | 2.554 | 61 | |
| Kentucky | 123 | 1.322 | 43.2 | |
| Louisiana | 49 | 1.302 | 45.4 | |
| Maryland | 83 | 1.384 | 79.5 | |
| Mississippi | 110 | 3.101 | 53.4 | |
| Missouri | 125 | 1.171 | 46.6 | |
| N. Carolina | 133 | 2.010 | 46.6 | |
| S. Carolina | 147 | 4.879 | 68.8 | |
| Tennessee | 152 | 1.822 | 62.6 | |
| Texas | 39 | 0.925 | 11 | |
| Virginia | 251 | 2.271 | 61.8 | |
| Selected North* | ||||
| Iowa | 73 | 1.082 | 72.4 | |
| Michigan | 97 | 1.295 | 76.8 | |
| Ohio | 413 | 1.765 | 92.6 | |
| Pennsylvania | 504 | 1.734 | 85.5 | |
| Illinois | 426 | 2.488 | 85.1 | |
| Wisconsin | 123 | 1.585 | 77.4 |
*Selected northern states here include Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
Source: Historical Geographic Information System (GIS), 1861 Railroad Network, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Table 4:
Total number of slaves by sub-region.
| Region | 1840 | 1850 | Change (%) | 1860 | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old South | 1,328,603 | 1,567,052 | 18 | 1,748,273 | 12 |
| Cotton South | 617,195 | 897,531 | 45 | 1,203,437 | 34 |
| North Border | 457,695 | 543,098 | 19 | 590,189 | 9 |
| West Border | 78,175 | 192,683 | 146 | 408,612 | 112 |
Source: U. S. Historical Census Browser, Geostat, University of Virginia, http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/. Old South is defined as Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida; Cotton South includes Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi; Northern Border — Delaware, Kentucky, and Tennessee; and Western Border — Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas. From Jenny Bourne Wahl, “Stay East, Young Man? Market Repercussions of the Dred Scott Decision,” Chicago-Kent Law Review , Vol. 82 , No. 1 ( 2007): 368.
Table 5:
Largest ten occupational categories for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 1857.
| Occupation | Number Employed |
|---|---|
| Laborer | 2,305 |
| Machinist | 315 |
| Carpenter | 268 |
| Tonnage Brakeman | 255 |
| Watchman | 252 |
| Foreman | 230 |
| Tonnage Engine man | 194 |
| Tonnage Conductor | 190 |
| Blacksmith | 139 |
| Machinist Helper | 132 |
Source: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, printed payroll lists, 1842, 1852, 1855, 1857, Maryland Historical Society. Richard Healey, Katie Dooley, and William G. Thomas, “The Geography of Free Labor: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Worker Mobility in Mid-Nineteenth Century American Society,” unpublished manuscript, 2010.
Table 6:
Largest ten employment locations for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 1857.
| Location | Number Employed |
|---|---|
| Baltimore, Md. | 962 |
| Northwestern Virginia R.R. | 563 |
| Board Tree Tunnel | 340 |
| 1st Division | 259 |
| Martinsburg, Va. | 259 |
| Welling Tunnel | 218 |
| Laying Second Track | 211 |
| Piedmont, Va. | 210 |
| 2nd Division | 185 |
| 3rd and 4th Divisions | 184 |
Source: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, printed payroll lists, 1842, 1852, 1855, 1857, Maryland Historical Society. Richard Healey, Katie Dooley, and William G. Thomas, “The Geography of Free Labor: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Worker Mobility in Mid-Nineteenth Century American Society,” unpublished manuscript, 2010.
Table 7:
Numbers of passengers and total receipts on selected northern and southern railroads in the mid-nineteenth century.
| Year | Total No. Through | Total Receipts from | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passengers | Passenger | Freight | Ratio | ||
| Terre Haute and Richmond Railroad | |||||
| 1856 | 134,595 | $319,075 | $194,612 | 1.64 | |
| 1857 | 97,217 | $280,176 | $185,380 | 1.51 | |
| 1858 | 64,900 | $189,097 | $174,104 | 1.09 | |
| 1859 | 52,697 | $173,008 | $164,492 | 1.05 | |
| Mississippi and Tennessee Railroad | |||||
| 1856/1857 | 41,531 | $46,151 | $67,651 | 0.68 | |
| 1858/1859 | 59,437 | $65,394 | $105,430 | 0.62 | |
| Richmond and Petersburg Railroad | |||||
| 1856/1857 | 89,379 | $84,872 | $62,654 | 1.35 | |
| 1857/1858 | 72,250.5 * | $76,188 | $61,530 | 1.23 | |
| 1858/1859 | 74,327.5 * | $86,650 | $63,755 | 1.35 | |
| Virginia Central Railroad | |||||
| 1855/1856 | 100,836 | $220,285 | $255,046 | 0.86 | |
| 1856/1857 | 98,638 | $242,680 | $268,812 | 0.90 | |
| 1857/1858 | 108,314 | $266,109 | $291,144 | 0.91 | |
| 1858/1859 | 134,883 | $306,312 | $319,021 | 0.96 | |
| Virginia and Tennessee Railroad | |||||
| 1853/1854 | 58,435 | $63,580 | $96,759 | 0.66 | |
| Pennsylvania Railroad | |||||
| 1853 | 1,134,908 | $1,069,740 | $1,446,261 | 0.73 | |
| 1857 | 884,024 | $1,244,858 | $3,374,040 | 0.36 | |
| 1866 | 2,483,443 | $4,174,192 | $11.1 m* * | 0.37 |
*Southern railroads counted tickets for slaves and children as .5
* * Exact figure is $11,193,565.00
Source: Annual Reports, Charles Kennedy Collection, Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries; Illinois Central Railroad Collection, IC 6M4.2, annual reports, Newberry Library, Chicago, Ill.
Table 8:
Frequency of railroad terms appearing in Union officers’ correspondence, 1862 and 1864.
| 1862 | 1864 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Word | Count | Frequency | Count | Frequency |
| (per 10,000 words) | (per 10,000 words) | |||
| enemy | 486 | 27.36 | 495 | 36.62 |
| river | 377 | 21.23 | 139 | 6.81 |
| fort | 358 | 20.16 | ||
| Richmond | 284 | 15.99 | ||
| Yorktown | 260 | 14.64 | ||
| James (River) | 203 | 11.43 | ||
| York (River) | 190 | 10.70 | ||
| road | 169 | 9.52 | 623 | 45.62 |
| roads | 155 | 8.73 | 124 | 12.26 |
| bridge | 148 | 8.33 | 242 | 17.66 |
| city | 146 | 8.22 | 25 | 1.86 |
| railroad | 98 | 5.52 | 348 | 26.03 |
| Chickahominy | 70 | 4.90 | ||
| telegraph | 66 | 3.72 | ||
| depot | 43 | 2.42 | 30 | 1.86 |
| trains | 49 | 2.76 | 66 | 6.49 |
Source: U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Gettysburg, Pa.: National Historical Society, c. 1971–1972), Vol. 11 (Part III ), 1–384, and Vol. 38 (Parts IV and V), from Cornell University, Making of America; Voyeur Tools (copyright 2009) Steffan Sinclair and Geoffrey Rockwell, v. 1.0; Trevor Munoz and William G. Thomas, Railroads and the Making of Modern America (September 2009).
View complete texts in Voyeur:
| Play with Sherman's 1864 Atlanta Campaign Correspondence in Voyeur |  |
| Explore the total Union correspondence in 1862 and 1864 | |
Table 9:
Key railroad points in the Confederacy with affected railroads and territory (using fifteen -mile catchment zone buffer).
| Junction | Date of Capture | No. of Railroads | Sq. Miles Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corinth, Miss. | October 3, 1862 | 3 | 7,872 |
| Memphis, Tenn. | June 6, 1862 | 4 | 7,687 |
| Nashville, Tenn. | February 25, 1862 | 4 | 6,292 |
| Jackson, Miss. | May 14, 1863 | 4 | 13,357 |
| Manassas, Va. | October 14, 1863 | 3 | 4,006 |
| Chattanooga, Tenn. | November 25, 1863 | 3 | 3,143 |
| Meridian, Miss. | February 14, 1864 | 3 | 9,503 |
| Atlanta, Ga. | September, 1864 | 3 | 4,576 |
| Savannah, Ga. | December 21, 1864 | 3 | 11,342 |
| Columbia, S.C. | February 17, 1865 | 3 | 3,453 |
| Charlottesville, Va. | March 5, 1865 | 3 | 5,548 |
| Gordonsville, Va. | March 12, 1865 | 3 | 4,057 |
| Florence, S.C. | March 16, 1865 | 4 | 9,562 |
| Goldsborough, N.C. | March 21, 1865 | 4 | 8,465 |
| Petersburg, Va. | April 2, 1865 | 5 | 6,002 |
| Richmond, Va. | April 2, 1865 | 5 | 4,173 |
| Burkeville, Va. | April 6, 1865 | 4 | 7,395 |
| Montgomery, Ala. | April 12, 1865 | 2 | 7,262 |
| Raleigh, N.C. | April 13, 1865 | 3 | 7,049 |
| Lynchburg, Va. | (not captured) | 3 | 16,025 |
Source: Historical Geographic Information System (GIS), 1861 Railroad Network, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Table 10:
Captured ports in the Confederacy with affected railroads and territory (using fifteen -mile catchment zone buffer).
| Port City | Date of Capture | No. of railroads | Sq. Miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandria, Va. | May 24, 1861 | 3 | 2,334 |
| Hatteras Inlet, N.C. | August 19, 1861 | none | none |
| Norfolk, Va. | May 10, 1862 | 1 | 3,156 |
| Port Royal, S.C. | November 7, 1862 | none | none |
| Roanoke Island, N.C. | February 8, 1862 | none | none |
| St. Augustine, Fla. | March 11, 1862 | none | none |
| Jacksonville, Fla. | March 12, 1862 | 1 | 1,237 |
| New Berne, N.C. | March 14, 1862 | none | none |
| New Orleans, La. | April 25, 1862 | 2 | * NA |
| Beaufort, N.C. | April 1862 | none | none |
| Pensacola, Fla. | May 9, 1862 | 1 | 1,940 |
| St. John’s River, Fla. | October 3, 1862 | none | none |
| Galveston, Tex.* | October 4, 1862 | 1 | 2,008 |
| Albemarle Sound, N.C . | May 5, 1864 | none | none |
| Savannah, Ga. | December 21, 1864 | 3 | 11,342 |
| Wilmington, N.C. | January 15, 1865 | 3 | 7,449 |
| Charleston, S.C. | February 18, 1865 | 3 | 8,021 |
| Mobile, Ala. | April 12, 1865 | 1 | 4,530 |
* Recaptured by Confederacy January 1, 1863
Source: Historical Geographic Information System (GIS), 1861 Railroad Network, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Table 11:
Railroad workers by race, 1880.
| State | White | % | African American* | % | Total No. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | 3,440 | 95 | 193 | 5 | 3,633 |
| Ohio | 17,949 | 99.5 | 107 | .5 | 18,056 |
| Pennsylvania | 25,612 | 99.5 | 114 | .5 | 25,726 |
| Virginia | 2,670 | 49 | 2,807 | 51 | 5,477 |
| West Virginia | 2,507 | 85 | 437 | 15 | 2,944 |
*Includes “Black” and “Mulatto” persons listed in U.S. Population Census
Source: North Atlantic Population Project and Minnesota Population Center , NAPP: Complete Count Microdata , NAPP Version 2.0 [computer files]. Minneapolis, Minn. : Minnesota Population Center [distributor], 2008 , http://www.nappdata.org . Richard Healey and William G. Thomas, “Mobility After Emancipation: African Americans, Railroads, and the Meaning of Freedom in Ohio and Virginia, 1865–1880,” unpublished manuscript, 2010 . The above data counts are based on the eighteen NAPP occupation codes that are unquestionably railroad workers; the percentages indicate relative proportions by race. Because one-third of railroad workers did not self-identify as railroad workers, the absolute numbers could change should future work produce revised estimates.