General Heintzelman’s division was in rear of General Hunter’s on the march. When the battle begun the troops were several miles from Sudley Church. They were parched with thirst, and when they reached the stream they, too, stopped and filled their canteens. Burnside’s and Porter’s brigades were engaged two hours before Heintzelman’s division reached the field. Eight regiments had driven the Rebels from their first position.
General Heintzelman marched upon the Rebels west of Dogan’s house. The Rebel batteries were on a knoll, a short distance from the toll-gate. Griffin and Ricketts opened upon them with their rifled guns. Then came a great puff of smoke. It was a Rebel caisson blown up by one of Griffin’s shells. It was a continuous, steady artillery fire. The gunners of the Rebel batteries were swept away by the unerring aim of Griffin’s gunners. They changed position again and again, to avoid the shot. Mingled with the constant crashing of the cannonade was an irregular firing of muskets, like the pattering of rain-drops upon a roof. At times there was a quicker rattle, and heavy rolls, like the fall of a great building.
General Wilcox swung his brigade round upon Jackson’s flank. The Rebel general must retreat or be cut off, and he fell back to the toll-gate, to the turnpike, across it, in confusion, to the ridge by Mrs. Henry’s. Evans’s, Bee’s, Bartow’s, and Cocke’s brigades, which have been trying to hold their ground against Burnside and Porter’s brigades, by this movement are also forced back to Mr. Lewis’s house. The Rebels do not all go back. There are hundreds who rushed up in hot haste in the morning lying bleeding, torn, mangled, upon the wooded slopes. Some are prisoners.
I talked with a soldier of one of the Virginia regiments. We were near the Stone Bridge. He was a tall, athletic young man, dressed in a gray uniform trimmed with yellow braid.
“How many soldiers have you on the field?” I asked.
“Ninety thousand.”
“Hardly that number, I guess.”
“Yes, sir. We have got Beauregard’s and Johnston’s armies. Johnston came yesterday and a whole lot more from Richmond. If you whip us to-day, you will whip nigh to a hundred thousand.”
“Who is in command?”
“Jeff Davis.”