| From the Richmond Sentinel |
| |
| January 4, 1865 |
| |
| Railroads |
| The occupation of Savannah renders very
desirable some modification of our railroad system in South Carolina
and Georgia. |
| The railroad line from Wilmington to
Augusta makes a detour at Branchville precisely in the wrong
direction, because towards the coast. From Kingsville, by Columbia, to
Augusta, would be no farther than by Branchville to Augusta, and would
give a much safer line. Cannot the link between Columbia and Augusta
be put in? The distance as measured on the map, is about seventy-five
miles. The railroad as it stands, however, is, from Augusta to
Aiken's, almost in a direct line to Columbia making Aiken's a point of
junction, would shorten the distance seventeen miles, or reduce the
whole say to sixty miles. We should thus have a safe, direct line from
Augusta to Columbia, where a choice of roads leading hitherward would
be had, by Wilmington, or Charlotte and Danville. |
| Still higher up in Abbeville, which is in
railroad connection with Columbia; and opposite to it in Georgia is
Athens, which is in connection with the Augusta and Atlanta railroad.
These points are by the map about sixty-five miles apart. If they,
too, were connected, we should have another and a more interior line
between Georgia and the eastern States. |
| It should be an object to remove the
superstructure of railroads no longer serviceable, and employ the
materials upon connections adapted to the changed state of affairs.
Large portions of the railroads leading to Savannah are now
unserviceable, and, indeed, can be of advantage only to the enemy.
Other railroads are, or may become, in like condition. We should be as
studious to dismantle these as to bring off the baggage train of an
army; nay more so. Slaves ought to be impressed in sufficient numbers
to complete with dispatch the new connections which becomes eligible.
If we construct these with judgment and in time, it will not be in the
power of the enemy to cripple our communications. |
| {This is an example of being
completely out of touch with reality. Within six weeks, both
Wilmington and Columbia will be in the Union's hands and the South
would have no military force with which to protect any interior line
of communication in the Carolinas. |
|