| From the Wilmington Journal |
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| February 5, 1865 |
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| We fear very much that the
enemy has succeeded in striking the line of the South Carolina Railroad
at Branchville or at some point west of Branchville. |
| The importance of this event
can hardly be overestimated, especially now that the port of Wilmington
is closed by the capture of Fort Fisher, and no more supplies for
General Lee's army can be brought in through the blockade. |
| The great importance of the
South Carolina Railroad west of Branchville arises from the fact that it
is the only road connecting Virginia and the Carolinas with Georgia,
Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. We do not see how any supplies can be
brought from the Southwest for Lee's army, and we don't know whether
Virginia and North Carolina can feed that army and support their own
population. This is a most important question involving nether more nor
less than our continued ability to hold Richmond and Petersburg, for we
suppose it is no news to any one to be informed that speculations have
been indulged in as to the possibility of General Lee, in a certain
contingency falling back upon Tennessee. That contingency has not yet
arised, nor is its occurrence regarded as very probable -- certainly not
imminent, but by no means impossible. |
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| ***** |
| We do not think that even the
fact that Sherman or some of his forces has reached the South Carolina
Railroad necessarily implies a stoppage of communication between the
Carolinas and the South West. It is true there will be a short gap, but
not as long as most people imagine, and the new router will be an
interior and much safer route than the present, not dependent upon the
possession by us of the city of Augusta, although of course that would
be important from other considerations. |
| We need not indicate this
route {Columbia & Augusta RR}, although
indeed we cannot suppose that by doing so we would be giving any
information to the enemy. An inspection of the railroad map will show
two points in upper Georgia and upper South Carolina where branches one
from the Georgia Road and the other from the South Carolina Railroad
approach each other much more nearly than the Railroad systems of the
two States approach each other at Columbia and Augusta. The distance
from Columbia to Augusta is probably about seventy-five miles. The
distance between the points referred to would not probably be much more
than half that length. Of course with moveable columns and an
enterprising and powerful enemy like Sherman, no line is
necessarily safe because of its location, but the line of which we have
been speaking is about as safe as any line can be, and as capable of
defence. With an efficient wagon train the transportation on the short
gap could be maintained quite as effectually as it is over the
unfortunate Piedmont Road in this State. |
| But without a sufficient force
of determined men, it is next to useless to talk about holding any line
or any point. If this force can be mustered and rallied to the repulse
of Sherman and the checking of his career, it will do very much towards
encouraging the people everywhere throughout the Confederacy -- nor will
its effect be less marked or less valuable at the North. It will dispel
the vain delusions of conquest and subjugation, under which the people
there so generally labor. |
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