Summary:
Confederate superintendent of the Virginia Central Railroad, H. D. Whitcomb, writes Secretary of War James Seddon in June, 1864, concerning efforts to rebuild the road after a Union raid. Whitcomb mentions repairs needed in the Staunton area, and the possibility of supplying Richmond with grain once the road reopens.

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Hon. JAMES A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War:

Richmond, Va.,

June 28, 1864.

SIR:

This road will be opened to within four miles of Staunton on Thursday. Permit me to urge upon you the importance of protecting us at Hanover Court-House. That is really the only point east of Gordonsville where a small raiding party can injure us materially by destroying the trestles and the bridge over south Anna, four miles beyond. Our road is not so important as it has been, but we hope to bring to the city a considerable amount of wheat and other supplies. We have now repaired about nine miles of burned track, besides the bridges. We cannot hope, with the materials we have on hand or likely to get, to survive a similar disaster. We have yet about eight miles of track to repair at and west of Staunton, and ten bridges to rebuild. We do not propose to repair west of Staunton at present. I have requested the editors of the city papers not to notice the re-opening of the road.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

H. D. WHITCOMB,
Gen. Superintendent.

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Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 40, Serial No. 81, Pages 697-698, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.