In the picture the contraband laborers often pressed into service by
Federals are repairing the "stringer" track near Murfreesboro after the
battle of Stone's River. The long lines of single-track road, often
involving a change from broad-gauge to narrow-gauge, were entirely
inadequate for the movement of troops in that great area. In these
isolated regions the railroads often became the supreme objective of both
sides. When disinclined to offer battle, each struck in wild raids against
the other's line of communication. Sections of track were tipped over
embankments; rails were torn up, heated red-hot in bonfires, and twisted
so that they could never be used again. The wrecking of a railroad might
postpone a maneuver for months, or might terminate a campaign suddenly in
defeat. Each side in retreat burned its bridges and destroyed the railroad
behind it. Again advancing, each had to pause for the weary work of
repair.
[Illustration: SKIRMISHERS AT CHANCELLORSVILLE.
_Painted by J. W. Gies._
_Copyright, 1901, by Perrien-Keydel Co.,
Detroit, Mich., U. S. A._]