THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN.
Bull Run, that once unknown name, is marked with great crimson letters upon the scroll of time! Tears wrung from the anguished soul, tears hot and blinding, still fall at the mere mention of its ill-omened name. A nation’s miserere has been tolled from uncounted steeples over its dead, and a whole nation put on weeds of mourning when its battle cloud spread slowly over the land, filling it with gloom.
With bayonets for pens, and precious human blood for ink, the record of this first great battle of the Union War should be written in the history of the world;—the ensanguined page illuminated with iron hail and leaden sleet—with hissing shot—whirlwinds of death-missiles, and the fire-belching portals of masked batteries. O, day of doom, day of sad errors and illustrious deeds, when blood was poured forth like water, until the reeking earth shuddered as it drank in the crimson deluge! Generations shall hereafter look back on thee with painful wonder, for they will remember that the first pitched battle in which Americans met Americans in mortal strife, was fought on thy soil, beneath “the bloody sun at noon.”
On the morning of the 21st, McDowell’s forces were encamped in and around Centreville. The divisions were under orders to march at half-past two o’clock, that they might reach the ground early and avoid the heat. Before this time the encampments were in motion; but the troops were not yet sufficiently disciplined for the exigencies of a prompt march, and some delay arose with the first division in getting out of camp. Thus the road was obstructed, and other divisions thrown two hours out of time. But there was no lack of energy or zeal; the very want of discipline which caused delay rendered the scenes in the various encampments more grand and imposing. It was indeed a beautiful spectacle. A lovely moonlight flooded the whole country. Soft mists lay in the valleys—the hill-tops were studded for miles around by the camp-fires which thirty regiments had left, kindling the landscape with their star-like gleams. In the hollows, along the level grounds, and among the trees, thousands on thousands of armed men moved athwart the fires, harnessing horses to artillery, getting out army wagons, preparing ambulances and filling haversacks with the three days’ rations ordered for their subsistence. No man of all that vast host was idle—want of order there might have been, but no lack of energy.
Now, thirty thousand men, horses, ordnance and wagons, were all in place, ready for a march through the beautiful night, and under that serene moon, which many of them would never look upon again.
McDowell and his staff moved with the first—Tyler’s—central column, and the advance commenced. The picturesque encampments were soon left behind; the fires grew paler and twinkled out in a glow of mist; the tents dwindled into littleness, till they seemed more like great flocks of white-plumaged birds, nestled in the foliage, than the paraphernalia of war. Nothing could be more quiet and peaceful than the country the troops had left—nothing more solemnly grand than the advance. It was an army of Americans, marching through the still night to meet Americans for the first time in a great pitched battle. Nothing but holy patriotism and a stern sense of duty could have led these men into the field. They marched on, with thousands of bayonets gleaming in the moonlight, and casting long-pointed shadows over the path; staff officers formed imposing groups as they moved forward in the moonlight, casting pictures upon the earth that were like broken battle scenes.
In the ranks there was something more than stern courage; generous enthusiasm and honest emulation were eloquent there. Comrade greeted comrade, for the coming danger made friends brothers; and common acquaintances fell into affectionate intimacy. Many a touching message was exchanged between men who had never met out of the ranks, for while they panted for victory, each man prepared to earn it with his life.
These men knew that a terrible day’s fighting lay before them; but the previous defeat of Thursday rankled in their proud hearts, and each man felt it as an individual reproach which must be swept away. From the central column to the rear, this feeling prevailed among the men.
The troops of the old Bay State, of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York, entered into a spirit of generous rivalry. Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota entered the list with true Western fervor, while the rich Celtic humor rose in fun and pathos from the Irish troops.
The officers shared this enthusiasm with their men. Tyler moved on, burning to atone for his noble rashness at Blackburn’s Ford—Burnside, Corcoran, Keyes, Spidel, Meagher, and many another noble fellow, thought exultingly of the laurels to be gathered on the morrow. General McDowell’s carriage halted at the two roads, a spot that he deemed most convenient for receiving despatches from the various points of the battle-field.
Here the column of General Hunter diverged from the main body and went away through the moonlit country on its assigned duty, which led him around the enemy’s flank by a long and harassing route. With him went Heintzelman, Porter, Burnside and Sprague with their valiant Rhode Islanders, and Wilcox, that bravest of young men and most brilliant author, who met a fate almost worse than death in the hottest of the coming battle. There, too, was Slocum, Haggerty, and many another valiant fellow, marching forward to a glorious death. Each and all of these, with their regiments or brigades, swept to the right, to meet their comrades again in the hottest of the battle.
A mile from the Cross Roads, and the dawn of a bright July day broke pleasantly on the moving troops—a morning cool with dew, fresh with verdure, and tranquil and peaceful, save for the armed men that made the earth tremble under their solid tread as they moved over it. The mists of a dewy night were slowly uplifted, and beautiful reaches of the country were revealed. On the left was the station assigned to Richardson and Davies; beyond it, the valley which one unfortunate conflict had so lately stained with blood.
When Tyler’s division came to the edge of a wooded hill overlooking these scenes, the sun arose, flooding them with rosy splendor. The soldiers knew, but could not realize that this scene, so beautiful and tranquil, had been a field of carnage, and would, before that sun went down, be red with the blood of many a brave heart beating among them then. They knew well that in a brief time the pure atmosphere, which it was now a joy to breathe, would be heavy with stifling smoke; that the noble forests whose leaves trembled so pleasantly in the newborn sunshine, were but a concealment for masked batteries—fearful engines of destruction, and men more ravenous for their lives than the wild animals that civilization had driven away from them.
From the point of view just described, where the road falls gently down to a ravine, the enemy first appeared. A line of infantry was drawn up in a distant meadow, close upon a back-ground of woods.
The second and third regiments of Tyler’s brigade, under Schenck, was at once formed into line in the woods on either side, the First Ohio, Second Wisconsin, Seventy-ninth, Thirteenth, and Sixty-ninth New York regiments succeeding each other on the right, and the Second Ohio and Second New York being similarly placed on the left, while the artillery came down the road between.
A great 32-pound rifled Parrott gun—the only one of its calibre in the field service—was brought forward, and made to bear on the point where the bayonets of the enemy had suddenly disappeared in the woods, and a shell was fired at fifteen minutes past six A. M., which burst in the air; but the report of the piece awoke the country for leagues around to a sense of what that awful day would prove. The reverberation was tremendous, and the roar of the revolving shell indescribable. Throughout the battle that gun, whenever it was fired, seemed to hush and overpower everything else. No answering salute came back, so the 32-pounder sent a second shell at a hill-top, two miles off, where it was suspected that a battery had been planted by the rebels.
The bomb burst close at the intended point, but no answer came. General Tyler ordered Carlisle to cease firing, and bring the rest of his battery to the front of the woods and get the column ready for instant action.
Tyler’s position was before the valley of Bull Run, but the descent was gradual, and surrounded by thick woods down almost to the ravine through which the stream flows. The enemy, on the contrary, had cleared away all the obstructing foliage, and bared the earth in every direction over which they could bring their artillery upon the Union forces. Clumps of trees and bushes remained wherever their earthworks and other concealed defences could be advantageously planted among them. The ground on their side was vastly superior to that of the assailants. It rose in gradual slopes to great heights, but was broken into hills and terraces in many places, upon which strong earthworks were planted, some openly, but the greater portion concealed. Nature had supplied positions of defence which needed but little labor to render them desperately formidable. How thoroughly these advantages had been improved was established by the almost superhuman efforts which were required to dislodge their troops, and by the obstinate opposition which they displayed before retiring from one strong point to another. It was now about seven o’clock—for an hour everything was silent. At eight, the deep sullen boom of Richardson’s and Davies’ batteries at Blackburn’s Ford broke the stillness, and from that quarter constant cannonading was kept up for some time.
By this time scouts reported the enemy in some force on the left. Two or three Ohio skirmishers had been killed. Carlisle’s battery was sent to the front of the woods on the right, where it could be brought to play when needed. A few shells were thrown into the opposite thicket, and then the Second Ohio and Second New York marched down to rout the enemy from their hiding places. As they rushed toward a thickly-covered abatis on the banks of the Run, the rebels came swarming out like bees, and fled to the next fortification beyond.
General Schenck’s brigade was moved forward to the left, but half way to the Run met the full fire of a masked battery effectually concealed by the bushes.
A few dead and wounded began to be brought in, and the battle of Manassas had commenced. Carlisle’s howitzers and the great rifled gun were opened in the direction of the battery, which answered promptly, and a brief but terrific cannonading ensued. In less than half an hour the enemy’s guns were silenced, two of Carlisle’s howitzers advancing through the woods to gain a closer position, and Schenck’s brigade retired to its first lines.
At eleven o’clock, the artillery, which resounded from every portion of the field, extending from Davies and Richardson’s position on the extreme left, to the right near Sudley, gave startling evidence that Hunter was making his way around the enemy. The roll and thunder was incessant—great volumes of smoke surged over the vast field, impaling it in the distance, and making the air around the near batteries thick with smoke.
It was true, Hunter’s and Heintzelman’s columns had taken the field on the extreme right.
McDowell in his plan of battle had calculated that the marching colunm should diverge from the turnpike by early daylight (a night march being deemed imprudent), and reach Sudley Ford by six or seven, A. M. The Stone Bridge division did not clear the road over which both, for a certain distance, had to pass, so that the column could take up its march, until after the time. The route to Sudley proved far longer and more difficult than was anticipated. The column did not reach the Sudley Ford till near half-past nine, three or four hours “behind time.” When it reached the ford, the heads of the enemy’s columns were visible on the march to meet it.
The ground between the stream and the road, leading from Sudley south, was for about a mile thickly wooded; on the right, for the same distance, divided between fields and timber. A mile from the ford the country on both sides of the road is open, and for a mile further large, irregular fields extend to the turnpike, which, after crossing Bull Run at the “Stone Bridge,” passes what became the field of battle, through the valley of a small tributary of the Run.
But, notwithstanding a fearful march over broken grounds in the hot sun, with his men suffering from heat and thirst, Hunter had reached his point of operation, late it is true, but from no fault of his. The weary soldiers uttered exclamations of joy when they saw the limpid waters of the Run, and plunging into its current bathed their hot hands and burning faces as they waded through, and came out on the other side greatly invigorated. While his thirty men were refreshing themselves with cool draughts of water, Hunter sent a courier to General McDowell, reporting that he had safely crossed the Run.
The General was lying on the ground, having been ill during the night, but at once mounted his horse and rode on to join the column on which so much depended.
The halt had not lasted two minutes when Col. Burnside led his different regiments into their position on the field. The Second Rhode Island entered first to the extreme right; then the Rhode Island battery of six pieces, and two howitzers of the Seventy-first, and after it on the left, the First Rhode Island and the Second New Hampshire, all formed in line of battle on the top of the hill.
Shortly after the leading regiment of the first brigade reached the open space, and whilst others and the second brigade were crossing to the front and right, the enemy opened his fire, beginning with artillery, and following it up with infantry. The leading brigade (Burnside’s) had to sustain this shock for a short time without support, and met it bravely. Gov. Sprague himself directed the movements of the Rhode Island brigade, and was conspicuous through the day for gallantry. The enemy were found in heavy numbers opposite this noble brigade of our army, and greeted it with shell and long volleys of battalion firing as it advanced. But on it went, and a fierce conflict now commenced.
The enemy clung to the protecting wood with tenacity, and the Rhode Island battery became so much endangered as to impel the commander of the second brigade to call for the assistance of the battalion of regulars. At this time news ran through the lines that Colonel Hunter was seriously wounded. Porter took command of his division; and, in reply to the urgent request of Colonel Burnside, detached the battalion of regulars to his assistance, followed shortly afterwards by the New Hampshire regiments. Shortly afterward the other corps of Porter’s brigade, and a regiment detached from Heintzelman’s division to the left, emerged from the timber, where some hasty disposition of skirmishers had been made at the head of the column, in which Colonel Slocum, of the Second Rhode Island regiment, distinguished himself for great activity.
The rattle of musketry and crash of round shot through the leaves and branches, had warned them when the action commenced, and the column moved forward before these preliminaries were completed, eager for a share in the fight.
The head of Porter’s brigade was immediately turned a little to the right, in order to gain time and room for deployment on the right of the second brigade. Griffin’s battery found its way through the timber to the fields beyond, followed promptly by the marines, while the Twenty-Seventh took direction more to the left, and the Fourteenth followed upon the trail of the battery—all moving up at a double-quick step. At this time General McDowell with his staff rode through the lines and was loudly cheered as they passed within six hundred feet of the enemy’s line.
The enemy appeared drawn up in a long line, extending along the Warrenton turnpike, from a house and haystack upon their extreme right, to a house beyond the left of the division. Behind that house there was a heavy masked battery, which, with three others along his line, on the heights beyond, covered the ground through which the troops were advancing with all sorts of projectiles. A grove, in front of Porter’s right wing, afforded it shelter and protection, while the underbrush along the road in the fences, screened to some extent his left wing.
Griffin advanced to within one thousand yards, and opened a deadly fire upon these batteries, which were soon silenced or driven away.
The right was rapidly developed by the marines, Twenty-Seventh, Fourteenth, and Eighth, with the cavalry in rear of the right; the enemy retreating in more precipitation than order as the line advanced. The second brigade (Burnside’s) was at this time attacking the enemy’s right with great vigor.
The rebels soon came flying from the woods toward the right, and the Twenty-Seventh completed their rout by charging directly upon their centre in face of a scorching fire, while the Fourteenth and Eighth moved down the turnpike to cut off the retiring foe, and to support the Twenty-Seventh, which had lost its gallant Colonel, but was standing the brunt of the action, though its ranks were terribly thinned in the dreadful fire. Now the resistance of the enemy’s left was so obstinate that the beaten right retired in safety.
The head of Heintzelman’s column at this moment appeared upon the field, and the Eleventh and Fifth Massachusetts regiments moved forward to support the centre, while staff officers could be seen galloping rapidly in every direction, endeavoring to rally the broken Eighth, but with little success.
The Fourteenth, though it had broken, was soon rallied in rear of Griffin’s battery, which took up a position further to the front and right, from which his fire was delivered with such precision and rapidity as to compel the batteries of the enemy to retire in consternation far behind the brow of the hill in front.
At this time Porter’s brigade occupied a line considerably in advance of that first occupied by the left wing of the rebels. The battery was pouring its withering fire into the batteries and columns of the enemy wherever they exposed themselves. The cavalry were engaged in feeling the left flank of the enemy’s position, in doing which some important captures were made, one by Sergeant Socks, of the Second Dragoons, of a General George Stewart, of Baltimore. The cavalry also did brave service.
General Tyler’s division was engaged with the enemy’s right. The Twenty-Seventh was resting on the edge of the woods in the centre, covered by a hill upon which lay the Eleventh and Fifth Massachusetts, occasionally delivering a scattering fire. The Fourteenth was moving to the right flank, the Eighth had lost its organization, the marines were moving up in fine style in the rear of the Fourteenth, and Captain Arnold was occupying a height in the middle ground with his battery. At this juncture there was a temporary lull in the firing from the rebels, who appeared only now and then on the heights in irregular masses, but to serve as marks for Griffin’s guns. The prestige of success had thus far attended the efforts of the inexperienced but gallant Union troops. The lines of the enemy had been forcibly shifted nearly a mile to their left and rear. The flags of eight regiments, though borne somewhat wearily, now pointed toward the hill from which disordered masses of the rebels had been seen hastily retiring.
Rickett’s battery, together with Griffith’s battery, on the side of the hill, had been objects of the special attention of the enemy, who had succeeded in disabling Rickett’s battery, and then attempted to take it. Three times was he repulsed by different corps in succession, and driven back, and the guns taken by hand, the horses being killed, and pulled away. The third time the repulse seemed to be final, for he was driven entirely from the hill, and so far beyond it as not to be in sight. He had before this been driven nearly a mile and a half, and was beyond the Warrenton road, which was entirely in Federal possession, from the Stone Bridge westward. The engineers were just completing the removal of the abatis across the road, to allow reinforcements (Schenck’s brigade and Ayers’ battery) to join in. The enemy was evidently disheartened and broken.
But at this moment, when everything pointed to a speedy victory, orders came through Major Barry of the Fifth artillery, for Griffin’s battery to move from the hill upon which the house stood, to the top of a hill on the right, with the “Fire Zouaves” and marines, while the Fourteenth entered the skirt of wood on their right, to protect that flank, and a column, composed of the Twenty-seventh New York, Eleventh and Fifth Massachusetts, Second Minnesota, and Sixty-Ninth New York, moved up toward the left batteries. It had taken position, but before the flanking supports had reached theirs, a murderous fire of musketry and rifles opened at pistol range, cutting down every cannonier, and a large number of horses. The fire came from some infantry of the enemy, which had been mistaken for Union forces; an officer in the field having stated that it was a regiment sent by Colonel Heintzelman to support the batteries.
As soon as the Zouaves came up, they were led forward against an Alabama regiment, partly concealed in a clump of small pines in an old field.
After a severe fire they broke, and the greatest portion of them fell to the rear, keeping up a desultory firing over the heads of their comrades in front; at the same moment they were charged by a company of rebel cavalry on their rear, who came by a road through two strips of woods on the extreme right. The fire of the Zouaves dispersed them. The discomfiture of this cavalry was completed by a fire from Captain Colburn’s company of United States cavalry, which killed and wounded several men. Colonel Farnham, with some of his officers and men, behaved gallantly, and many of his men did good service as skirmishers later in the day. General Heintzelman then led up the Minnesota regiment, which was also repulsed, but retired in tolerably good order. It did good service in the woods on the right flank, and was among the last to retire, moving off the field with the Third United States infantry. Next was led forward the First Michigan, which was also repulsed, and retired in considerable confusion. They were rallied, and helped to hold the woods on the right. The Brooklyn Fourteenth then appeared on the ground, coming forward in gallant style. They were led forward to the left, where the Alabama regiment had been posted in the early part of the action, but had now disappeared, and soon came in sight of the line of the enemy drawn up beyond the clump of trees. Soon after the firing commenced, the regiment broke and retired. It was useless to attempt a rally. The want of discipline in these regiments was so great that the most of the men would run from fifty to several hundred yards in the rear, and continue to fire, compelling those in front to retreat.
During this time Rickett’s battery had been captured and retaken three times by Heintzelman’s forces, but was finally lost, most of the horses having been killed—Captain Ricketts being wounded, and First Lieutenant D. Ramsay killed. Lieutenant Kirby behaved gallantly, and succeeded in carrying off one caisson. Before this time, heavy reinforcements of the enemy were distinctly seen approaching by two roads, extending and outflanking Heintzelman on the right. General Howard’s brigade came on the field at this time, having been detained by the General as a reserve. It took post on a hill on Heintzelman’s right and rear, and for some time gallantly held the enemy in check. One company of cavalry attached to Heintzelman’s division, was joined, during the engagement, by the cavalry of Colonel Hunter’s division, under the command of Major Palmer.
Colonel W. B. Franklin commanded the first brigade of Heintzelman’s division. A portion of that brigade rendered distinguished service, and received official commendation from the commanding general.
General Tyler, who kept his position at the Stone Bridge, to menace that point, and at the proper moment to carry it and unite with the turning column, had sent forward the right wing of his command to co-operate with Hunter as soon as he was discovered making his way on the flank.
Two brigades (Sherman’s and Keyes’) of that division had passed the Run. Colonel Sherman joined himself to the divisions of Hunter and Heintzelman, and was soon engaged in the hottest part of the action.
The famous Irish regiment, 1,600 strong, who have had so much of the hard digging to perform, claimed the honor of a share in the hard fighting, and led the van of Tyler’s attack, followed by the Seventy-ninth (Highlanders), and Thirteenth New York, and the Second Wisconsin.
It was a brave sight—that rush of the Sixty-ninth into the death-struggle—with such cheers as proved a hearty love of the work before them! With a quick step at first, and then a double-quick, and at last a run, they dashed forward and along the edge of the extended forest. Coats and knapsacks were thrown to either side, that nothing might impede their work. It was certain that no guns would slip from the hands of those determined fellows, even if dying agonies were needed to close them with a firmer grasp. As the line swept along, Meagher galloped toward the head, crying, “Come on, boys! you’ve got your chance at last!”
BRILLIANT CHARGE ON A REBEL BATTERY.
Sherman’s brigade thus moved forward for half a mile, describing quite one-fourth of a circle on the right, Colonel Quimby’s regiment in front, the other regiments following in line of battle—the Wisconsin Second, New York Seventy-ninth, and New York Sixty-ninth in succession. Quimby’s regiment advanced steadily up the hill and opened fire on the enemy, who had made a stand. The regiment continued advancing as the enemy gave way, till the head of his column reached the point where Rickett’s battery had been cut up. The other regiments followed under a fearful cannonading. At the point where the road crossed the ridge to the left, the ground was swept by a fire of artillery, rifles, and musketry. Regiment after regiment were driven from it, following the Zouaves and a battalion of marines.
When the Wisconsin Second was abreast of the enemy, it was ordered to leave the roadway and attack him. This regiment ascended the hill, was met with a sharp fire, returned it gallantly, and advanced, delivering its fire. But the response was terrific, and the regiment fled in confusion toward the road. It rallied again, passed the brow of the hill a second time, and was again repulsed in disorder. By this time the New York Seventy-ninth had closed up. It was impossible to get a good view of the ground. In it there was one battery of artillery, which poured an incessant fire upon the advancing column, and the ground was irregular, with small clusters of pines, which afforded shelter to the enemy. The fire of rifles and musketry grew hotter and hotter. The Seventy-ninth, headed by Colonel Cameron, charged across the hill, and for a short time the contest was terrible. They rallied several times under fire, but finally broke and gained the cover of the hill.
This left the field open to the New York Sixty-ninth, Colonel Corcoran, who, in his turn, led his regiment over the crest, and had in full open view the ground so severely contested. The firing was terrific, the roar of cannon, musketry, and rifles, incessant. The enemy was here in immense force. The Sixty-ninth held the ground for some time with desperate courage, but finally fell back in disorder.
At this time Quimby’s regiment occupied another ridge to the left, overlooking the same field, fiercely engaged. Colonel Keyes, from Tyler’s division, had formed in line with Sherman’s brigade, and came into conflict on its right with the enemy’s cavalry and infantry, which he drove back. The further march of the brigade was arrested by a severe fire of artillery and infantry, sheltered by Robinson’s house, standing on the heights above the road leading to Bull Run. The charge was here ordered, and the Second Maine and Third Connecticut regiments pressed forward to the top of the hill, reached the buildings which were held by the enemy, drove them out, and for a moment had them in possession. At this point, finding the brigade under the fire of a strong force behind breastworks, the order was given to march by the left flank, with a view to turn the battery which the enemy had placed on the hill below the point at which the Warrenton turnpike crosses Bull Run. The march was conducted for a considerable distance below the Stone Bridge, causing the enemy to retire, and giving Captain Alexander an opportunity to pass the bridge, cut out the abatis which had been placed there, and prepare the way for Schenck’s brigade and the two batteries to pass over. Before this movement could be made on the enemy’s battery, it was placed in a new position; but Colonel Keyes carried his brigade, by a flank movement, around the base of the hill, and was on the point of ascending it in time to get at the battery, when he discovered that the troops were on the retreat, and that, unless a rapid movement to the rear was made, he would be cut off. At this moment, the abatis near the Stone Bridge had been cleared away by Captain Alexander, of the engineers, and Schenck’s brigade (the third of Tyler’s division) was about to pass over and join Keyes.
But one rash movement had decided the day—that movement the last change of position given to Griffin’s battery, throwing it helpless into a murderous fire, which no protecting force could encounter.
When the Zouaves broke on that fatal hill, the Union cause for that day wavered. When hordes of fresh troops poured in upon the Union battalions, beating back as brave regiments as ever trod the battle-field, one after another, overwhelming them with numbers, and driving them headlong into utter confusion, the battle was lost; and after this any description of it must be wild and turbulent as the scene itself—in no other way can a true picture of the tumultuous fighting and more tumultuous retreat be truly given.