| From the Daily Intelligencer
(Wheeling, Va.) |
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| April 8, 1862 |
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| Baltimore & Ohio Railroad |
| The scene on the road between
Harper's Ferry and Martinsburg is a singular one. Streams obstructed
with the debris of burnt and broken bridges are past at frequent
intervals, and on all sides are to be seen evidences of the destruction
that has been at work with the property of the company. At Martinsburg,
particularly, are the marks of ruin visible. There it will be
remembered, a large amount of railroad property was destroyed, and the
ruins of cars and locomotives lie thickly strewn along the track; rusty
wheels, crisped by the fire, and the iron frame work of cars, which the
flames had sought in vain to destroy, are gathered into heaps, where
they had been thrown to clear the roadway, until they can be permanently
removed. |
| Within the 28 days preceding
the reopening of the road, over forty miles of track had been laid,
sometimes at the rate of three and one-half miles a day, and twenty
bridges built, two of which were a thousand feet in length, the whole
forming an aggregate of more than two miles of bridges. The road in the
region of the rebel occupation was completely destroyed down to the road
bed, and the rails carried off to complete the branch road to Winchester
which was not finished, however, owing to the scarcity of labor
thereabouts. Since the advance of our troops under Gen. Banks, these
rails have been found scattered along the way to Winchester, and all but
ten miles of them recovered. |
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