8. The journey to Richmond was by steamboat, stage, and rail
Steamboats of the antebellum days are remembered as resembling in some ways a wedding cake, with several tiers of diminishing size rising from the base. Most steamers which carried passengers more resembled a barge. The most important thing they carried was cargo, manufactured goods heading south and bales of cotton or cured tobacco to markets in the north. Passenger accommodations were often limited. In a great room, all of the male passengers slept, if at all, on benches which lined the outer walls. Meals were shared at a common table in the center of the room. Deck space for exercise or taking the air was at a premium.
It was on such a craft Dickens traveled south from Washington, until it reached a landing where the passengers transferred to stagecoaches. The stages crossed muddy roads and forded creeks to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where the passengers again were obliged to change their means of conveyance, to the railroad, which covered the remaining distance to Richmond. Dickens passed fields devoid of planting, the soil exhausted by years of growing tobacco. The entire journey from Washington to Richmond took 17 hours, covering a distance of just over 100 miles.