Showing posts with label Lynchburg Canal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lynchburg Canal. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, March 13, 1865

March 13, 1865

We have a long telegram from Sheridan, dated Columbia (a small place on the James, between Lynchburg and Richmond). His raid has been a complete surprise. After defeating Early utterly at Waynesboro', he met with no further opposition, but entered Charlottesville and destroyed the rail and bridges; then struck south and got to the James, where he destroyed all destructible parts of the Lynchburg canal, and continued the work as he marched down the river. If you will look at the map, you will see how important it is to break these routes, for they leave only the road via Burkeville Junction open to their great base, Lynchburg. The canal was especially important for transportation of supplies, just as the Erie Canal is so essential to bring to market the grain of the West. . . .

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 320-1