Ere long a loud shout arose from Jackson's men that told too well of the arrival of Longstreet. Far away on the hills could be seen the marching columns of Longstreet, who had passed through the gap in safety and was now rushing upon the field. Pope had lost the opportunity of fighting the army of his opponent in sections.
The field was almost the same that the opposing armies had occupied the year before, when the first great battle of the war was fought, and many of them were the same men.
The two armies faced each other in a line five miles long. Late in the afternoon, the regiments, under Kearny and Hooker, charged the Confederate left, which was swept back and rolled upon the center. But presently General Hood, with his famous Texan brigade, rushed forward in a wild, irresistible dash, pressed the Federals back and captured several prisoners.
Darkness closed over the scene and the two armies rested on their arms until morning.
Over the gory field lay multitudes of men who would dream of battlefields no more.
Lee and Pope each believed that the other would withdraw his army during the night, and each was surprised in the morning to find his opponent on the field. It was quite certain that on this day, August 30th, there would be a decisive battle, in which one army would be victor and the other defeated. Both armies were in full force, the Confederates with over 50,000 men, whose left wing was commanded by Jackson and the right by Longstreet, and the Union army with about 65,000 men, whose left wing was commanded by Porter and the right by Keno.
In the early hours of the morning the hills echoed with the firing of artillery. Porter made an infantry attack in the forenoon, and was pressed back in great confusion by superior numbers. One attack after another followed. In the afternoon a large part of the Union army made a desperate attack on the Confederate left, under Jackson, but their lines were swept by an enfilading fire from the batteries of Longstreet. Ghastly gaps were cut in the Federal ranks, and they fell back, but rallied again and again to the attack, each time to be mowed down by Longstreet's artillery. At length Longstreet's whole line rushed forward and the Union front began to waver. General Lee ordered a general advance. Pope retreated across Bull Run, leaving several thousand prisoners in the hands of the Confederates.
Pope led his army back to the entrenchments at Washington, while Jackson and Stuart followed close on the heels of his army, and he was compelled to make several stands in battle on his retreat, in one of which General Kearny was killed.