NP, CWG 7/11/1864

From the Charlotte Whig
 
July 11, 1864
 
The Transportation of Mails, our Army, etc.
   We copy from the Danville Register, of the 8th inst., the annexed editorial in reference to Gen. Lee's army, the {Richmond &} Danville Road and the transportation of the mails:
   "The people are now called upon to aid in getting supplies to our noble army under General Lee by furnishing wagons and teams to haul meat and corn across the gap made in the Richmond & Danville Railroad by the Yankee cavalry. The road will not be completely repaired for several weeks to come, and in the meantime food must be carried to the soldiers. They, for the present, have an ample supply, but not enough to last through the campaign. The Government has not the teams at a convenient distance, and it will behoove the people to render the desired assistance or the worst consequences may ensure.
   It is not supposed that these teams will be needed more than a few weeks, at most. The Engineer Department of the army is now assisting in repairing the railroad, and the work will no doubt be pushed forward with all possible dispatch. The iron to relay the track is being taken from the Statesville, N. C. railroad.
   No arrangement has yet been made to transport the mails across the breach in the Danville railroad. The raiders left the road on the 26th of June, and coaches might easily have been put on the line in a day or two afterwards, to transport the mails between Meherrin and Roanoke, yet nearly three weeks have elapsed and no steps have been taken to secure this object. We do now hear, indeed, that the Postmaster General promises to attend to this matter in the course of a week or two! Thus the Capital city and the Army of General Lee are cut off from all mail communication with the South, because, forsooth, the Postmaster does not think it a matter of sufficient importance to demand his prompt attention. A day or two after the road was cut, the Southern express Company, a corporation that has some life in it, put wagons upon the line to span the gap and have been regularly carrying packages of all sorts through ever since. If the people and not long ago voted the Post Department, under the present management, as a public nuisance, and as something out of which no good can come, they would be disposed to murmur at this utter lack of energy and attention to the public interest; but as it is, they expect nothing more. We need look for nothing better for the present."

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