THE DUTCH GAP CANAL.
There is, in the James river, a large bend, forming a peninsula, the connecting neck of which is less than half a mile wide. This land is known as Farrar’s Island. General Butler, on the 10th of August, 1864, commenced the work of severing this projection from the main land by constructing what is memorable as the Dutch Gap Canal. The object of the canal was to enable the Unionists to save a circuit of six miles of the river, filled with obstructions, and to flank the enemy’s batteries at Howlett House. General Butler’s troops worked at this canal, with continued pertinacity and skill, for many months, being frequently subjected to the danger of rebel shells, and obliged to take frequent refuge in holes in the ground. But, in the end, the work proved a failure. It afforded much material for criticism, however, at the time, and for not a little merriment, among the Unionists as well as the rebels. Had it succeeded, it would have materially strengthened General Grant’s lines, and lessened the tediousness and toil of the siege.