XIX. Army wagon-trains.
That every man who swears once drove a muleIs not believed by any but a fool;
But whosoe'er drove mules and did not swear
Can be relied on for an honest prayer.
Before giving a history of the wagon-trains which formed a part, and a necessary part, of every army, I will briefly refer to what was known as k “Grant's military Railroad,” which was really a railroad built for the army, and used solely by it. When the Army of the Potomac appeared before Petersburg, City Point, on the James River, was made army headquarters and the “base of supplies,” that is, the place to which supplies were brought from the North, and from which they were distributed to the various portions of the army. The Lynchburg or Southside Railroad enters Petersburg from the west, and a short railroad, known as the City Point Railroad, connects it with City Point, ten miles eastward. The greater portion of this ten miles fell within the Union lines after our army appeared before Petersburg, and, as these lines were extended westward after the siege was determined upon, Grant conceived the plan of
