| From the Richmond Daily Dispatch |
| |
| February 1, 1865 |
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| Augusta, Georgia, January24, 1865 |
| The late freshet has not only
seriously interfered with military movements, but, for a time, it put
a complete stop to all travel by railway.
Nearly every part of this town was under water, while the whole of
Hamburg, on the opposite side of the river, was submerged to the depth
of six or ten feet. The people in both places are still engaged in
pumping out the water from the cellars and repairing the damages done
by the flood. Now that the railways have
been put in running order again, the rush of travelers and mail matter
is overwhelming. The trains, station-houses, hotels and wayside homes
are overflowed by the mighty multitude, crowding and jostling each
other; and he is considered a happy mortal who secures standing-room
in a box-car, or a chair at a hotel on which to snatch a little sleep.
So much for the freshet. |
| The injury done by Sherman to
the railway lines in Georgia has not yet
been repaired. The railways from Macon {Macon
& Western RR} and Montgomery {Montgomery
& West Point RR and Atlanta & West Point RR} to Atlanta
will soon be in running order again; but it will require several
months to restore the upper end of the line between this city and
Atlanta. No effort has been made thus far to relay the track of the
Georgia Central railroad {Central (of Georgia} between
Gordon, a station twenty miles below Macon, and Millen {90
miles}. Until these gaps can be closed up, the Government is
forced to rely upon wagon trains, which are doing all that could be
expected at this rainy period of the year. |
| But the heavy rains have
embarrassed the operations of the enemy as well as of ourselves. The
freshet which did so much damage to bridges and railways
in the hill country, where the water was confined to narrow channels,
upon approaching the coast, spread out over wide tracts of level
country, and rendered all movements across the direction of the
water-course wholly impossible for sometime. For this reason there
need be no apprehensions of an immediate raid from Savannah into
Southwestern Georgia, the teeming granary of the Confederate States.
This enforced delay on the part of the enemy will give our authorities
time to prepare for a movement into that part of the State, which
there is every reason to believe will be undertaken as soon as the
waters subside. |
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