Shortly after midnight the whole Federal army had crossed Bull Run. No time was lost in posting batteries to command the bridge; and the rear guard bivouacked till daylight at a point two miles before reaching Centreville. Jackson at the same time led his troops to the north of Centreville, endeavoring to turn the Federals’ right, that their connection with Washington might thus be cut off. General Pope, anticipating such a movement, had drawn back his troops to Germantown, where, on September 1st, he fought a sharp engagement with the rebels, fiercely repulsing them. General Kearney was repelled in this engagement. As the darkness gathered around the combatants, he rode forward to reconnoitre, and passing the Union pickets, approached so close to the enemy that a rifleman’s bullet pierced his body, and he fell to the earth, dead. Here, also, fell Colonel George W. Pratt, of New York, while leading his regiment of Ulster county boys in its first charge. A more accomplished mind, or braver spirit, never yet was given to a country.
The Army of Virginia was ordered to withdraw to Alexandria on the 2nd of September, a movement which made it necessary for General Burnside to evacuate Fredericksburg.
Falmouth Station, containing large quantities of commissary stores, was destroyed. Three bridges across the Rappahannock met a similar fate; and Acquia Creek was shortly afterward abandoned, when the forces removed to Alexandria.
At Alexandria, also, were concentrated the shattered divisions of the splendid Army of the Potomac, awaiting the arrival of Pope’s Army of Virginia.
MOVEMENTS OF M’CLELLAN.
On the 3rd of August, General Halleck issued an order to General McClellan, directing him to remove his army from Harrison’s Landing to Acquia creek. This order was received by McClellan on the 4th inst., and though protesting against this change of plan as impolitic and sacrificial, that officer took immediate measures to obey the unwelcome command. To retire under the eyes of a vigilant foe, was not, however, either a safe or an easy task; and it was not until the 14th of August that the general movement of the Army of the Potomac commenced. The occasion was, to the last degree, critical. Lee, as we have seen, had been imperiling the Army of Virginia, under Pope, since the 7th of August. Step by step that commander had yielded ground. The Capital of the Republic was considered to be in jeopardy. Party feeling ran high. Congress was divided. General Pope, on assuming command had issued a very spirited address to his soldiers, giving them the assurance of certain victory, and reflecting, with unmistakable sarcasm, upon McClellan’s campaign. Then came the discomfiture of Pope, which, of course, gave assurance to the partisans of McClellan. The tardiness of the latter in reaching Acquia creek, and reinforcing the army of Pope, was, in some quarters, confidently ascribed to a desire for that general’s defeat. Danger and difficulty of transportation were in some measure the causes of this tardiness. The movement which commenced at Harrison’s Landing on the 14th of August, continued during ten days. On the 24th inst., McClellan’s headquarters were established at Acquia creek. From that point he held frequent communication with General Halleck at Washington, and thence, also, he detached the corps of Generals Franklin and Sumner to cooperate with General Pope—the latter receiving these reinforcements on the 30th of August. At this juncture, McClellan was detached from the remains of his army, and transferred to the command of the defences of Washington. He arrived at the Capital on the 1st of September. On the following day, the Army of Virginia, led by Pope, was ordered to fall back upon the defences of Washington. This it did, closely pursued by the bold and reckless enemy. The rebels disappeared, however, on the following day, and it soon became evident that they were operating in another direction,—that, in fact, they were making up towards Leesburgh, on the south side of the Potomac. On the 7th of September, General Pope having been relieved of his command, General McClellan left Washington, leading an army to oppose whatever movement against that city might be intended by the rebel General Lee. His advance was made along the north bank of the Potomac, his left wing resting upon that river, his right upon the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. General Banks, meanwhile, was left in command of the defences around Washington. On the 8th, the rebels, who had crossed the Potomac into Maryland, were in the vicinity of Frederick, the main body being in front of McClellan’s advancing forces. Skirmishes now became frequent; but it was not till the 14th of September, that any serious collision occurred. That day, however, witnessed the desperate and important.
BATTLE OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN, MD.
September 14, 1862.
At the point known as Turner’s Gap, the South mountain is about one thousand feet in height, its general direction being from northeast to southwest. At a depression of about four hundred feet in depth the national road from Frederick to Hagerstown crosses the South mountain at right angles, through Turner’s Gap. On the north side of this road, the mountain is divided into two crests or ridges by a narrow valley, which is quite deep at the pass, but becomes only a slight depression at about a mile to the north. There are two country roads, overlooking the principal road, the one on the right, the other on the left; the latter is known as the old Sharpsburgh road, and is nearly parallel to the principal road, and about a half mile distant from it. When it reaches the crest of the mountain it bends off to the left. The other road, which is called the “Hagerstown road” passes up a ravine in the mountains about a mile from the direct road, and heading toward the left along the first crest, enters the turnpike near the summit of the pass. There it was that General McClellan’s army encountered the enemy, and contested the pass called Turner’s gap, where the rebels in very strong force resisted them bravely. The following is General McClellan’s account of his army’s position, when about to fight the battle of South mountain.
On the night of the 13th the positions of the different corps were as follows:
Reno’s corps at Middletown, except Rodman’s division at Frederick, Hooker’s corps on the Monocacy, two miles from Frederick. Sumner’s corps near Frederick. Banks’ corps near Frederick. Sykes’s division near Frederick. Franklin’s corps at Buckeystown. Couch’s division at Licksville.