Summary:
By August, 1862, actions in the Shenandoah Valley had quieted. In this letter,
Confederate Provost Marshall, W. Skeer, writes to the Secretary of War
concerning replacement of a burned bridge on the Cow Pasture River. Loss of the
bridge disrupted all rail traffic on the Virginia Central west of Staunton.
SECRETARY OF WAR:
August 20, 1862. (Received August 25, 1862.)
On May 18 last the Yankees burned the bridge across the Cow Pasture River, since which time trains have ceased to run on the Virginia Central Railroad west of Staunton. As the attorney of the company I have urged the rebuilding of the bridge at once, but the company declines, not knowing what the fortunes of war may be or how soon the bridge, if built, may be destroyed again. The Yankees have fallen back from Meadow Bluff beyond the Sewells, and the Government must drive them beyond the Kanawha Salt-Works, as it is indispensable to us to have the salt; and, if so, the very sinews of our strength, the very arteries of the existence of our army when it moves from Monroe to Greenbrier, on the Kanawha road, is the Central Railroad, for the Government has just completed and put in good order the road from River Depot to Lewisburg; the Yankees have from Lewisburg to Gauley. I have seen the engineer of the Central, who says that a good temporary bridge can be put up in one month, and I write to advise that you order it at once. If you think the advice is of a doubtful character, then, with the maps of the State before you, I am content for you to decide it.
I am, truly,
W. SKEER,
Provost-Marshal of Alleghany and Cmdg. Post at Covington.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 12, Serial No. 18, Pages 937, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
