The C & O Canal During the Civil War: 1861-1865
Unrau HD. 1976. The C & O Canal During the Civil War: 1861-1865. National Park Service, Denver Service Center. Denver, Colorado
This monograph is the 11th Chapter of the Historic Resource Study: Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. A study of the Civil War experiences of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Company indicates a continuation of the ups and downs which had characterized the history of the waterway since the 1830s. The immediate effects were almost all negative. During the early war years the canal failed to share in the general prosperity which came to the northern states. One reason for its failure to secure much of the increased trade was that it was not a through route to the transmontane west, thereby limiting its portion of the heavy east-west traffic. Also, its geographical location was unfortunate because its entire line was on the border between the Union and the Confederacy, in the path of the contending armies. Consequently its trade was greatly reduced and its works alternately occupied and/or destroyed by the opposing forces. The resulting irregularity of its services as a carrier argued against large-scale use of it by the government or by private shippers. Furthermore the financial straits in which the company continually labored were a serious obstacle to the progress of the canal.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Unrau, Harlan
- Date of Issue
- 1976
- Publisher
- National Park Service, Denver Service Center
- Units
- CHOH , HIST , NCR
- Keywords
- Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Civil War, Cultural Resources, ehistory, historic resource study, history program