The doctor, in telling it, would laugh and say, "These words sent a chill down my spinal column," and that when they emerged from the pines into the open field, and saw the men of Company G lying down in skirmish line, they thought these men had been killed and laid out there in a row, and some one exclaimed, "Good God, look at the dead men!"
Dr. Elliott also related, as they passed by Major Harrison, being borne to the rear on the stretcher, the Major said, "Hurry up, men, or you will be too late"; and that Colonel Early said to them as they started, "Now, boys, if you don't run, the Yankees will." And when the command was given the regiment to load, one of the captains stepped out in front of his company and gave the command, "Load in nine times—load!" Then "old Jube" in his piping voice at a high pitch, exclaimed, "Load in nine times? Hell and damnation! Load in the most expeditious manner possible."
The Twenty-fourth was the leading regiment of a brigade commanded by Col. Jubal A. Early. About the time the front files of the regiment was half-way across the field between the pines and the run, Colonel Early came riding along down by the line, his black horse in a long trot, calling out, "Halt in front!" Colonel Hairston could not hear him on account of the noise of the battle. Finally, Colonel Early reined in his horse so hard that the war steed was thrown well back on his haunches, and called out in a loud and emphatic tone, "Tell Colonel Hairston to halt." From the position occupied by the Eleventh Regiment, we could see and hear all these incidents.
The word "halt" was passed rapidly along to the front of the regiment, and just before the head of the column (the troops were marching by the flank) reached the bushes bordering the run, they came to a halt, and Colonel Early went forward to find General Longstreet and ascertain where to place his brigade in line of battle. Just then the firing slackened and in a few moments the musketry firing ceased altogether. The Yankees had been driven back, retiring out of sight over the hill; the artillery fire was kept up for some time, however.
Up to this time the Confederates had no artillery engaged in the fight, though a few shots were fired at the right flank of the enemy from Mitchell's Ford, where General Bonham of South Carolina commanded.
Soon after the musketry firing ceased, and while the Yankees were still throwing shot and shell from their guns on the hill, scaring many but hurting few, a battery of the New Orleans Washington Artillery came in a gallop into the open field, and wheeling to the right into battery, about midway between the pines and the run, unlimbered and opened up a lively fire at the Yankee battery over on the hill beyond the run. These batteries were not in sight the one of the other, the woods on and beyond the run intervening to obstruct the view, the gunners firing at the puffs of smoke from their opponents' guns.
This was a lively and spirited artillery duel for a while, but the plucky Louisianians proved too much for their opponents. When the Yankee gunners got the range on them, they moved their guns by hand to the right or left and poured shot and shell into the enemy thick and fast, soon knocking their opponents out of action, disabling one or more of their guns, and causing them to get out of range in great haste. The Washington Artillery won laurels in this their first fight, which they wore proudly and deservedly through the whole war, being conspicuous in all the great battles in which the army of Northern Virginia engaged, and always performing their part bravely and well.
INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE
In the midst of the battle General Longstreet's big bay horse came galloping out from the bushes along the run, riderless, and wild with the noise and excitement of battle, dashing across the field with head high in air, swaying from right to left, with bridle reins and stirrups flying over his neck and back. We thought sure our General was either killed or badly wounded, but it turned out that General Longstreet had thrown himself off his horse to the ground to escape the fire of some of his own men. The general was unhurt, and was soon again mounted on his horse, though there was dirt on his clothes from the fall to the ground. The smoke of the battle, which was thick and heavy along the run, soon cleared away, the wounded were all carried to the field hospital in the rear, the dead were laid away, and ere the shades of night set in, all was peaceful and quiet along Bull Run, except that now and then the words, "Friends on the other side, pass it down the line," were passed from company to company along the line, our scouts, at intervals, crossing over the run to watch the Yankees, lest, peradventure, they might make another attack. But no other efforts were made to dislodge the Confederates at Blackburn's Ford.
The Yankees were very much surprised at the stubborn resistance they met here. Their newspapers, and other writers since, gave conflicting statements of the affair, some making light of it as a battle, claiming that it was only a reconnoissance in force, a mere skirmish. Others attributed it to the "rash enthusiasm" of Gen. E. B. Tyler, who thought he could easily brush aside the rebels and march on to Manassas. General McDowell, the commander-in-chief, who had established his headquarters at Centreville, contemplated, it was said, turning the Confederates' left flank when all his troops were up and everything ready for the attack. General Tyler had in the fight, Richardson's and Sherman's Brigades of Infantry, and Ayres's Battery. These were met and successfully resisted by Longstreet with his brigade, with eight companies of one of the regiments, the Eleventh, in reserve.