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.