sentences:  The SA&MG was chartered on September 5, 1850, with plans to connect Lavaca, Texas, later changed to Port Lavaca, Texas to San Antonio.Trackwork began in 1856, and a line was completed to Victoria, Texas in April, 1861, when the Civil War broke out.Among the founders of the railroad were German-born railroad engineer Gustav Schleicher and Joseph E. Johnston who was an army officer stationed in San Antonio, who would later be a General in the Confederate army.