| From the Augusta Constitutionalist |
| |
| July 8, 1864 |
| |
| Damage to the Richmond & Danville
Railroad |
| We have taken some pains to
ascertain the amount of damage done to the Richmond & Danville R.
R. by the Yankee raiders last week, and in this, as in all other
raids, we find that the accounts vary considerably, some thinking that
the damage is not very great, and that it can be repaired in a week or
few days, and others that it will require one or two months to get the
track ready for the cars. After conversing with an officer of the
company, who was the first to reach the scene of action, and who
returned Wednesday night, we present the following, which we think may
be considered reliable: |
| The raiding party, supposed to
be about five thousand strong, reached the Junction on 23d ultimo, and
after burning all the buildings belonging to the company and to the
government, and tearing up some of the track, started for Staunton
river, burning all the property at the following depots, viz: Price's,
Maherrin, Keysville, Drake's Branch, Mossingford and Roanoke, and the
bridge over the little Roanoke river. |
| The distance from the Junction
to Staunton river, is about thirty-eight miles, and on that portion of
the road, the light strap rail was unfortunately still in use, and as
the weather was very dry, and the string pieces and sills were well
seasoned, it required very little labor on the part of the miscreants
to enable them to destroy the track very rapidly, for wherever they
found wood or fence rails convenient, it was only necessary to scatter
them along the track and set fire to them. |
| The track was destroyed in
this way, at various points, amounting in the aggregate to about
fifteen miles. |
| We understand that
arrangements have been made to relay the road with heavy iron, which
will be taken from the Charlotte and Statesville road {Atlantic,.
Tennessee & Ohio RR}, in North Carolina, which will be a
great improvement on the old frame rail. |
| We have heard no estimate of
the loss sustained to the company, and do not consider that of much
importance, when compared to the great inconvenience of being deprived
of the use of the road for four or five weeks. |
| The company has gone to work vigorously,
calling in hands and teams from the Piedmont road, which has just been
completed, and we hope that, by the first of August at farthest, the
trains will again be running through to Richmond. |
| We have been informed that the
enemy destroyed very few private residences, but that many slaves and
horses were carried off, and that the injury sustained by the farmers,
near the line of the railroad, is incalculable. |
| It is some satisfaction to
know that the enemy suffered severely at Staunton Bridge, where they
were so handsomely repulsed, and, as W. H. F. Lee is in close pursuit,
and other cavalry brigades have been sent to intercept them, we hope
but few of the raiders will ever return to boast of their raid on the
Staunton. |
| Danville Appeal |
|