| Virginia Central Railroad |
| General Superintendent's Office |
| Richmond, Va. |
| June 28, 1864 |
|
|
| Hon. James A. Seddon
|
| Secretary of War |
| |
| Sir, |
| This road will be opened to
within four miles of Staunton
on Thursday. Permit me to urge upon you the importance of protecting
us at Hanover Court-House. That is really the only point east of
Gordonsville where a small raiding party can injure us materially by
destroying the trestles and the bridge over South Anna, four miles
beyond. Our road is not so important as it has been, but we hope to
bring to the city a considerable amount of wheat and other supplies.
We have now repaired about nine miles of burned track, besides the
bridges. We cannot hope, with the materials we have on hand or
likely to get, to survive a similar disaster. We have yet about
eight miles of track to repair at and west of Staunton, and ten bridges to rebuild. We do not propose to repair west of
Staunton
at present. I have requested the editors of the city papers not to
notice the re-opening of the road. |
| Very respectfully, your obedient servant |
| H. D. Whitcomb |
| General Superintendent |
| |
| First indorsement |
| Adjutant-General |
| Refer to General Lee, who
must judge of the propriety and means of defending the road, if such
defense be needed. |
| J. A. Seddon |
| Secretary of War |
| |
| Second indorsement |
| Adjutant and Inspector General's Office |
| July 2, 1864 |
| Respectfully referred to General R. E.
Lee. |
| By order Adjutant and Inspector General: |
| H. L. Clay |
| Assistant Adjutant-General |
| |
| Third indorsement |
| Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia |
| July 30, 1864 |
| Respectfully returned to the Adjutant and
Inspector General. |
| I do not think there was any
danger to the road from small raiding parties, at least none that
could not be met by the reserve force, which I have previously
recommended should be placed at the bridges. I also advised that the
cavalry company, under Captain Anderson, in Hanover, should be used for the same purpose. They could give information
of the approach of the enemy. Now that the enemy's cavalry is in
force on the north side of
James River
the roads are exposed to attack. That can only be met by our
cavalry, which has been ordered to that side of the James. A
permanent guard for the bridges cannot be furnished from this army. |
| R. E. Lee |
| General |
| |
| Fourth indorsement |
| Adjutant and Inspector General's Office |
| August 6, 1864 |
| Respectfully submitted to the Secretary
of War. |
| H. L. Clay |
| Assistant Adjutant-General |
| |
| Fifth indorsement |
| August 8, 1864 |
| Noted. The points are
guarded by reserves, and if threatened by large force will be looked
to by General Lee. File. |
| J. A. S. |
| Secretary |