Evening star., 1912-07-07

under the new southern post office de-
partment.
AS was natural. things were run in a
rather haphazard manner for the first
year or two The entries in the record
show continual complaints made about
the continual failure of their mail to
reach the addresses, and Reagan's al
most despairing replies are sad evidence
that this state Of things prevailed gen.
orally over the new Confederacy. 1t seems
strange that men should have complained
Of this, condition which was inevitable,
owing not alone to the fact that every
one was new. If not to the post office
business. at least to that particular state
Of 1t. Furthermore, there was a tract of
territory lying along through the border
states, stretching from the Atlantic
ocean to the Mississippi river and varying
in width from 80 to $50 miles, which was
a. verttable No Mans Land for the postal
service of either government for it, or
some portion OF it, was almost daily
changing hands, according to the varying
fortunes of war.
Thus. after the first battle of Bull Run
the southern postal service extended
northward in Virginia almost to within
sight Of the dome Of the Capitol at Wash
ington and reached up into Kentucky in
the west. But in February, 1862 the fall
OF Forts Donelson and Henry drove the
Tennessee and the battle Of Shiloh and
the fall Of Corinth, Miss, a couple OF
months later, absolutely swept the south
ern postmaster out Of west Tennessee and
northern Alabama.
Coincidently. in the east McClellan's ad-
vance by the peninsula compelled the
southerners to evacuate Manassas and
all Of northern Virginia for more than
a hundred miles south of Washington,
and, of course. the post offices and postal
service so lately established in that Sec
ton had to be hastily abandoned and
the inhabitants left to what patchwork
service the Washington government
would afford them.
In less than three months. however, the
Seven Days battles around Richmond and
McClellan's resulting retreat, followed
within less than two months by Pope $
crushing defeat at second Bull Run and
Lees advance into Maryland almost to
the Pennsylvania line, restored all of Vir-
ginia to the Confederacy, and their post
office department was swiftly called upon
to re-establish the offices and service
abandoned less than six months before.
How disgusted, then, must Reagan
and his subordinates have felt when, in
less than months time, the battle or
Antietam and Gen. Lees retreat far up
the Shenandoah valley restored northern
Virginia to the domination of the Union
arms and compelled the southern postal
authorities to again abandon the service
they had established second time in
northern Virginia!
And, to anticipate year from that time.
how doubly disgusted rNhst they have felt
when the following spring the battle of
Charlottesville. fought on the banks Of
the RappahanOck. about seventy-ive
miles south of Washington, sent Hooker
reeling back and compelled him to follow
Lee into Maryland, when that general
marched to Gettysburg, thus a second
time abandoning northern Virginia to the
southerners, who promptly installed their
postal service in northern Virginia for
now the third time-only to be compelled
to abandon it also a third time when the
battle Of Gettysburg, like that of Antie-
tam the previous year. compelled Lee to
retreat up the Shenandoah valley and
leave northern Virginia to it's fate! 1t
was q game Of hide-and-seek between the