I CHAPTER XV. BATTLE OF BULL RUN. "But now the trumpet, terrible from far, T was Sunday, July 21, 1861, that the memorable battle of Bull Run, near Manassas Railway Station, Virginia, the most decisive and desperate which had yet occurred on the the American Continent, took place. The Union Army, during the preceding day and night, reposed at Centerville, about seven miles East from the scene of conflict. The Union Army was placed under the command of General Irwin McDowell, an officer who had received a military education at West Point, had distinguished himself during the Mexican war, had been rapidly promoted from rank to rank, had invariably conducted himself with gallantry and heroism, and who was worthy of the important trust which was on this occasion conferred upon him. The plan of attack devised by General McDowell, and which he proposed to execute, was in the opinion of those most competent to judge, an excellent one. The Union Army was separated into three divisions, which were ordered to advance to the position of the enemy by three different routes. Two of these movements were to be actual assaults; the third, however, to be a feint for the purpose of distracting the attention of the Confederates. The three divisions of the Union Army were commanded by Generals Tyler, Hunter and Heintzelman. General Tyler's division comprised the first and second Ohio, and the second New York regiments under General Schenck, the sixty-ninth, seventy-ninth and thirteenth of New York, with the second Wisconsin regiment. Three efficient batteries accompanied them, those of Carlisle, Ayres and Rickett. This embraced Tyler's command, and was directed to march forward by the Washington road, and to cross Bull Run a mile and a half to the right. General Hunter's division on the extreme right, consisted of the eighth and fourteenth New York regiments, a battalion of the second, third and eighth regular infantry, a number of artillery, the first and second Ohio, the seventy-first New York, two New Hampshire regiments, and the powerful Rhode Island battery. This division of the Union Army formed General Hunter's command, and was instructed to move forward on the second road. General Heintzelman's division was made up of the fourth and fifth Massachusetts and the first Minnesota regiments, the second, fourth and fifth Maine, and the second Vermont regiments, supported by cavalry and artillery, and were directed to take the third route. General Hunter's orders were to pass a small stream called Cub Run, to turn to the right, then to the North, to pass the upper ford of Bull Run, then marching Southward, to attack the enemy in the rear. General Heintzelman was directed to cross Bull Run at the lower ford, and then attack the Confederates, when they were being driven before the advancing lines of Hunter. A reserve of six thousand Union troops under General Miles, was posted at Centerville. The whole number of Union troops who marched to the attack of the Confederates at Bull Run is estimated at about twenty-three thousand. The duty assigned to Hunter and Heintzelman was, to drive the enemy from the right and from the rear upon the force of General Tyler on the left, so that hemmed in between the three bodies, their defeat might be more certainly and efficiently accomplished. General McDowell had at first intended to commence the march from Centerville on Saturday afternoon, July 20, and orders had actually been given to that effect. But it was discovered at the moment of starting that a deficiency of heavy ammunition existed, and that a large supply must at once be obtained from Fairfax. This process rendered a short delay necessary, and then it was determined to postpone the advance until the following day. Accordingly at half past two o'clock on Sunday morning, the command was given to strike the tents and to commence the march. The scene Soon the great army began to move forward. which was then presented to the view of an observer was one of imposing magnificence, and of solemn martial splendor. The moon shone brightly and serenely in the distant heavens, while which were spangled with myriads of sparkling gems, the vast array, swarming over many a hill and vale, hurried forward with impetuous tread toward a field soon to become reddened with human blood. The mellow light of night's golden luminary, and the glittering stars, served only to add the charm of a mystic and mysterious grandeur to the spectacle. The sacred silence of the Sabbath morn was broken by the rumbling sound of the artillery, by the confused tread of horses and of men, intermingled with the occasional echo of the stern word of command, or the gladsome voices of laughter and song. General McDowell and his staff accompanied the central column of General Tyler's command. At length the clearer light of the early dawn spread over the face of the earth. Then, after a short interval, the sun appeared in all his glory in the rosy East, and as he commenced to mount the azure heavens, the head of General Tyler's column reached the eminence from which the first distant view of the position of the enemy could be obtained. Seldom had a fairer, calmer or lovelier scene been presented to the charmed eye of the enthusiastic admirer of nature, than that which the wide sweep of country before them exhibited, soon to be torn and riven by the impetuous rush of infantry and cavalry, by the terrific discharges of the artillery; soon to be covered with human gore, and with the bleeding bodies of the dying and the dead. It was half-past five o'clock in the morning, when the head of General Tyler's division reached a position favorable for commencing the attack. The enemy could be seen from that position busily forming their lines in front. Skirmishers were immediately thrown forward, who soon encountered the Rebel pickets and exchanged shots with them. A ponderous thirty two pound rifled cannon was then advanced upon the road, and a number of shells were thrown into their ranks. To this salute they made no reply, and General Tyler ordered his division to move forward, so as to be in nearer contact with the enemy, who seemed to have concealed the principal portion of their numbers behind the woods and the rolling hills. They had, in fact, taken their position, in great part, in the forest on the right and left, and had posted their artillery and masked their guns behind the groves which were scattered over the intervening country. The second Ohio and the second New York regiments were then ordered by General Tyler to advance and attack the enemy in their concealed position. They obeyed, and soon demonstrated the fact that they had posted themselves in such a manner as to entice our men forward, that they might be more completely within the range of their batteries. So heavy an attack was now opened upon them from cannon which were almost invisible, and which seemed to pour forth a deadly deluge from fiery mouths opening upon the very surface of the earth, that General Schenck at length gave the order to retire from the unequal contest. But, at the same moment, Carlisle's battery was ordered forward to respond to the masked artillery. His great guns replied with terrible effect. In half an hour the concealed cannon of the enemy at this point were completely silenced. While these events were progressing in the front of the enemy's main position, the divisions of Hunter and of Heintzelman were operating on the extreme right, so as to reach the flank and rear of Beauregard's army. The circuit which they made was an extensive one of some miles; the march was difficult, and it was half-past ten before they reached the presence of the enemy. The latter were posted in a strong posi tion, beyond Ludley Springs. General Hunter at once attacked them with the fourteenth New York, the Rhode Island regimeat, commanded by Burnside, the second New Hampshire and the New York seventy-first. As these troops advanced, the Confederates poured upon them a destructive deluge of shot and shell, but they continued to advance with firmness and unflinching heroism. This was the northern extremity of the battle-ground, and some of the fiercest fighting of that bloody day took place in this part of the engagement. The gallant sixty-ninth rushed forward to the encounter with yells of mingled fury and exultation. They formed the van of a column which General Tyler had sent forward to co-operate with Hunter's division in surrounding the foe, and they fell upon the enemy with that combination of gallantry and ferocity which have characterized the patriot soldier in every country on the globe. These operations were but preliminary to the grand and chief contest of the day. The cannonading between the two armies now became general. All the guns of the Confederates were by this time brought into play, and nearly all the Union forces except the reserves had come into action. The battle field, the range of the artillery, and the various operations of the assailants and defendants, extended over an area of about five miles. The discharges of artillery were very continuous, the reverberation was deafening, the intensity and effect of the battle were terrific. The sullen roar of the guns was heard at Centerville, at Fairfax, at Alexandria; it was even perceptible at Washington. The widely spread and still extending scene of conflict over the hills, the valleys and the ravines of Manassas and Bull Run, was now enveloped in countless up-rolling volumes of smoke; and only at intervals, by the friendly aid of fitful gusts of the wind, could a glimpse be obtained of the exact position and operations of the opposing armies. Thus far, however, it was evident that all had gone well with the Union army. Hunter had succeeded in turning the flank of the enemy, and masses of fugitive Mississippians, retreating before his advancing columns, gave evidence that the tide of victory was his. But as the Union troops pressed forward in pursuit, new batteries, till then concealed in the rear, opened their deadly mouths upon them, hurling death into their serried ranks. The Confederates fought here indeed. with the utmost desperation. At times a furious charge from |