| From the Mobile Advertiser &
Register |
| May 1, 1864 |
| |
| Richmond, Saturday, April 23, 1864 |
| I have just returned from a
trip of inspection over the Richmond & Petersburg Railroad, in
company with the President and a committee of stockholders, and may as
well let the trip be the basis of a letter. We started at half-past
seven in a special train; the morning was fine and we had plenty of
Havana cigars. But the trip was not one of pleasure only; the road
bed, bridges, etc., were carefully inspected, and found to be in
admirable condition, considering the heavy work the road has to do,
and the recent heavy rains. The rolling stock was pronounced more
ample and in better repair than on any other road in the South. During
the last three years this road has transported over a million
passengers, and freight in proportion. Three passengers were killed by
the explosion of the locomotive Jeff. Davis; no other accidents to the
passengers have occurred. Some of the employees have suffered, as I
shall relate further on. |
| As we passed over the great
bridge at Richmond, our attention was drawn from the deserted plain of
Belle Isle, where only a few tents now remain, to the beautiful river
roaring between its thousand rocky islets and flashing in the early
sunlight. Then, for the first time, I learned that Richmond, as it now
stands, does not possess the marvelous water-power for which it has
credit the world over. A new dam must be built before this power can
be made available, for the canal, in its present condition, feeds as
many mills and factories as it well can, without interfering with the
capacity for transportation. Ten or twelve years ago an agent of a
party of Boston and New York capitalists came to Richmond for the
purpose of "locating" a number of immense cotton and other
mills, and, after a thorough inspection, decided that it would be
necessary to dam the river several miles above the city. He attempted
to purchase a site for this dam and the accompanying mills, but
failed. Suppose he had succeeded. Richmond would have eclipsed Lowell,
and Virginia, in all probability, would have been "loyal" to
the Union. The mill site which this Yankee agent tried vainly to
purchase was bought, a few months ago, by three or four Richmond
gentlemen for $120,000. When peace comes, it will be worth millions. |
| A few miles from
Manchester, we passed the first line of fortification, which is
completed, with cantonments and other conveniences for troops. Still
further on, are the second and third lines of entrenchments, which I
need scarcely say are on the most extensive and substantial scale. The
telegraph line which connects the various fortifications around the
city will be thirty miles long. On the outer line of works, negroes
were swarming thick as bees but the works are far enough advanced to
have heavy guns alr4eady in position. Between the second and third
lines, there is a fine military road, and each line has, in addition
to the redoubts, a wide sweep of rifle pits and abattis. The
destruction of timber for abattis, fuel, houses, and to afford play
for the guns, has been enormous, so much so, as almost to threaten a
stoppage of trains for the want of wood. Nearly $100,000 were paid for
wood by the Company last year; in peace times, their fuel cost only
$8,000 per annum. Who projected these gigantic defences of the
Confederate Capital? Some say General Lee, others Gen. G. W. Smith,
and others still, attribute them to the Engineer Bureau at Richmond. |
| The first bridge we inspected
was that across Falling Creek -- the long bridge at Richmond
being reserved for a special day of inspection. Falling Creek, as its
name suggests, affords fine facilities for manufacturing purposes, but
the owner of the land on which the dam should be erected refuses to
sell to capitalists, contenting himself with a little fish-pond and an
ordinary grist mill. The bridge over this creek is guarded by a poor
woman, who, some years ago, saved the bridge from destruction by fire.
She was forthwith made guardian of the bridge, and a most faithful and
vigilant guardian she is. Whenever a train passes, by day or night,
she goes from one end of the bridge to the other, examining carefully
to see whether any sparks have caught. As we passed on our return, we
saw her hurrying up the hill from her little house in the valley. A
train is no sooner off the bridge than she is on it, and she never
misses. She has a free ticket on the road, but was never known to make
use of it. |
| The next and only other bridge
of importance is that over Swift Creek. After inspecting it, President
Ellis ordered the engineer to stop the train at the spot where the
locomotive Thomas Dodamead exploded not long ago. We spent a few
moments looking at the wreck of the engine, and the effect of the
explosion on various objects in the vicinity. The explosion occurred
in a cut some fifteen feet deep. On the embankment hard by stands a
small house, the side of which to the very top of the chimney was
completely plastered with mud, driven up by the force of the
explosion. Between this house and the road, there are some trees
higher than the house itself. The branches broken by the bodies of two
men who were hurled through the tree tops and over the house were
pointed out to us. Two other men (all four were employees of the
company), were killed at the same time, but they were thrown on the
other side of the road. One was found 150 and the other 300 yards from
the scene of the explosion. Brass knobs and other fragments were found
half a mile off. |
| Before we reached Petersburg,
we stopped at a tank, which is tended by an eccentric old negro of the
name of Columbus. Like all odd, old negroes, who do their duty
faithfully, Columbus is a privileged character. One day, before the
breaking out of the war, as the mail train from Petersburg was rushing
at full speed to Richmond, Columbus was discovered waving frantically
a red flag, the signal of danger. The train was stopped, of course,
and the Conductor anxiously inquired what the matter was. Columbus
replied, "Massa Mac, don't git mad wid de ole nigger, coz, to
tell you de truf, Massa Mac, I is dying for a chaw, Massa Mac, for
God's sake, and don't get mad wid me." Doubtless, the Conductor
swore a little, but Columbus got his chew of tobacco, and the train
flew on. |
| We stopped an hour or so in
Petersburg, and some of us walked up to take a look at the whole-souled,
hospitable little city. There was not a vessel, small boat, or any
sign of life in the Appomattox river. The town had a deserted,
melancholy look, and was as hot and dusty as ever. The stores were
open, but little business was doing. I saw a good deal of family cured
bacon at $8 a pound, eggs a dollar and a half cheaper than in
Richmond, and butter at the same price we pay. If Richmond is given
over to pea-nut stalls and bar rooms, Petersburg is in the hands of
shoe-string and neck-tie men. Wounded soldiers hobbled along the
pavements and thee were bayonets at the street corners. Alas! where
can we go without seeing cripples and bayonets? |
| Returning, we ran up the
branch road leading to the Chesterfield coal pits, inspected a bridge,
and then our task was done. We sat down to a dinner of excellent ham,
veal and round of beef, a well-dressed lettuce salad, baker's bread,
and fresh butter. In lieu of wine we had whisky julep with plenty of
ice. You Mobilians may laugh at this report, but we in Virginia are
glad enough to get such a dinner. You ought to have seen us eat it.
After dinner, the troubles of the road were discussed over our cigars.
At its last session, Congress passed a secret act authorizing the
Secretary of War to take possession of any railroad when, in his
judgment, the interests of the country require. He now desires to
control the entire line from Richmond to Wilmington, and the fear of
the railroad men is, that a year or two of government usage will ruin
their roads. But what is to be done? The law has been enacted, and
there is no evading it. But it seems a pity that two Virginia roads
should be made to suffer for the sins of one North Carolina
road. |
| At Chester, we found a long
train of soldiers returning to the army after thirty days' furlough --
fine, hearty fellows, who had evidently come from a fatter land than
Virginia. I thought I detected the Alabama physiognomy, and was told
that most of them belonged to Longstreet's corps. An ordnance officer
got off the soldier's train and took a seat with us. He had seen an
officer who took part in the capture of Plymouth, and gave us some
particulars which we had not heard -- that is, the number of small
arms captured, 3,500, and the armament of one iron-clad, the
Albemarle. *** |
| He also told us when
Beauregard was going to take the field, and with what force. Said that
Gen. B. had received a letter confirming the victory in Louisiana, and
stating the number of prisoners taken by us at 8,000. He told us that
he had just come from the scene of Sherman's and Grierson's failures,
and thought he could have bought, in that desolate region, three
million bushels of corn at a dollar the bushel, and any quantity of
bacon at a dollar and a half the pound in old currency, and a dollar
in the new. |
| GAMMA |
|