| From the Richmond Whig |
| |
| October 22, 1862 |
| |
| The Crossing at South Anna River |
| The most picturesque point
along the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroad, at this time, is the
crossing at the South Anna river, a few miles below the Junction. The
railroad bridge at this point was burned by the Yankees, who made a raid
just before the Chickahominy fights, on Ashland and the country
adjacent. The South Anna is, itself, a stream of small dimensions in
ordinary times, but the land adjacent is low and subject to inundation.
The bridge not only spanned the stream, but also this lowland. On either
side the railroad track now stands, high up, a hundred feet or more. The
bridge is gone -- scarce a vestige remains except the compactly built
stone piers, which stand like so many tombstones over the departed. The
traveler on arriving at this point in the cars is informed that he must
"cross on the foot bridge." Out of the cars he gets -- before him is a
vast chasm -- just to his left a narrow pathway leading to a series of
declivitous steps, down which he goes in momentary danger of falling
himself, or some one else falling upon him. |
| At last he reaches the foot
bridge -- a very good, level crossing. Arriving on the other ride, up,
up, he goes, slipping, then climbing along for an hundred yards more, to
the railroad track, where he finds another train fired up and ready for
the "on to Richmond." |
| The crossing is a "high old
place," and will yet be made famous in the page of the novelist;
it affords sights such as are rarely witnessed save in the highlands. |
| Fred. Herald |
|