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.
THE WAR SUMMER OF 1864.
During the continuance of the siege of Petersburg and Richmond, a call was made by the President of the United States, for five hundred thousand additional troops. The call was dated July 18th. A draft was subsequently ordered, and was made. Later in the summer, General Grant wrote the following letter, which concisely sums up what was then the true condition of affairs in the country:
“Headquarters Armies of the United States, }
City Point, Va., August 16th, 1864. }
“To Hon. E. B. Washburne:
“Dear Sir—I state to all citizens who visit me that all we want now to insure an early restoration of the Union is a determined unity of sentiment North. The rebels have now in their ranks their last man. The little boys and old men are guarding prisoners, guarding railroad bridges, and forming a good part of their garrisons for intrenched positions. A man lost by them cannot be replaced. They have robbed the cradle and the grave equally to get their present force. Besides what they lose in frequent skirmishes and battles, they are now losing from desertions and other causes at least one regiment per day.
“With this drain upon them the end is not far distant, if we will only be true to ourselves. Their only hope now is in a divided North. This might give them reinforcements from Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri, while it would weaken us. With the draft quickly enforced the enemy would become despondent, and would make but little resistance. I have no doubt but the enemy are exceedingly anxious to hold out until after the Presidential election. They have many hopes from its effects.
“They hope a counter revolution; they hope the election of the Peace candidate. In fact, like ‘Micawber,’ they hope for something to ‘turn up.’ Our Peace friends, if they expect peace from separation, are much mistaken. It would but be the beginning of war, with thousands of Northern men joining the South because of our disgrace in allowing a separation. To have ‘peace on any terms,’ the South would demand the restoration of their slaves already freed; they would demand indemnity for losses sustained, and they would demand a treaty which would make the North slave-hunters for the South. They would demand pay for the restoration of every slave escaping to the North.