The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-07-12
TIE TIMES RICHMOND VA SUNDAY

a prerequisite to continuing work on the
canal, which must have regular ana CON
| slant dredging.
| That the matter will be arranged sat
isfactorily between the city and the gov
| eminent we may assume. me lano
| wanted is In Henrico. at the upper enc
| of the canal and is owned by Mrs Watt
| Taylor. of this city.
The locality of the Dutch Gap Canal is
| of historic interest. There the James
/ River makes sweep Of about I'VE ano
| a half miles and returns SO near the
| point of It's departure as to leave a neck
| of land which Is but few hundred feet
in width
| On the ''lsland" was laid off In early
| colonial days Henncopols-a city not des-
tined to mature, and which was of short
life. Later on nearby. at varina, the
county seat of Henrlco, was established
and there remained until the Revolu-
tionary era, when 1t was removed to
Richmond
How Dutch Gap" got It's name is not
known to u.s. There are several stories
about It. The old story is that Dutch
man and another man had boat race,
which was won by the Dutchman. who
instead of following the meanders of the
river, pulled his boat out OF the water
and dragged 1t across the narrow neck
OF land and launched 1t again, thereby
making a gain In distance of about five
or six miles This story may or may not
be true, but 1t Is fact that the name
ia of ancient date.
Away back in the fifties the feasibility
Of cutting through this strip of land and
making a ship canal there. was discussed
and some surveys were made by the
government. but 1t remained for old Ben
Rutler to begin the actual construction
of a canal.
General Buffers army was entronched-
.'bottled up, as General Grant said-upon
the peninsula between the James and
Appomattox Rivers. and the Federal iron
clads were around about him, when 1t
occurred to him that 1t would be good
thing to dig this canal.
Ills progress around the bend Of the
river was barred by heavy Confederate
batteries at the Hewlett house on the
Chesterfield bluffs. His plan was TO es-
cape these batteries and get at the Con-
federate fleet in James River. But the
Ccnfederates shelled his working parties
mercilessly, to prevent which Butler
placed numerous Confederate prisoners
alongside his workmen in the ditch.
That was done partly. If not wholly. in
retaliation for the action of the Confed-
crates in returning to their masters GER
tain runaway negroes who had reached
tho Federal lines and enlisted In that
army. but were captured by our troops
in the field. The letter from General
Lee to the Federal authorities explaining
the position of the Confederates on this
question and justifying 1t, was recently
published In this paper.
However Buffers work Of digging this
canal was suddenly stopped, but the rea-
son therefor was not understood at the
time by many persons. After the war
was over Butler explained the mystery.
From his account, the Federal naval au-
thorities brought such a pressure upon
the commanding general as to cause
stoppage order to be issued.
Instead of seeing In an open canal an
to steam up the river and
demolish the Confederate feet. the naval
officers feared that the Confederate iron
clads would rush down on them and de-
m dish them
Tn other words. said Butler the door
order that the dogs might enter and chew
up the wolf, when the thought occurred
to the Federals that perhaps the wolf
might jump out and eat up the dogs!
So the door was prudently kept closed.
And so only the bulkhead of the canal
remained to be blown open in order to
turn the river into the canal, but 1t was
declared that 1t should not be touched
while the war lasted. And so it rem aimed
standing until some years after the war
when 1t was removed and the canal was
completed.
The land necessary for the unfinished
work was. as we have said, purchased
of Mr.. Cox, the city and the Federal
governments Joining in the expense of
finishing the canal. Mr.. Cox. we believe,
was In nowise reimbursed for the land on
which Butler had done his work during
the war.
Since the canal was first opened a good
deal of work has been done to widen and
deepen 1t, and 1T is now proposed still
further to add to It's usefulness. This Is
u consummation much to be desired, for
tho river round the bend has filed up so
much that 1t Is no longer. navigable cx-
cept for very small craft.
Observation-Disclosures
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