ARMY OPERATIONS. 



131 



retire, and which he effected on the 18th and 

 the subsequent day. Below the junction of the 

 tributaries the stream is called the Rappa- 

 hannock. This junction is twenty miles be- 

 low the spot where the Culpepper or Orange 

 and Alexandria railroad crosses the North Fork. 



Gen. Lee commenced reconnoitring on the 

 day that Gen. Pope retired, and at night a 

 considerable body of his troops had crossed the 

 Rapidan. On the 19th he crossed with a large 

 force, comprising cavalry, infantry, and artillery. 



Gen. Pope had thus far received some re- 

 enforcements from Gen. Burnside, who landed 

 at Fredericksburg from the mouth of the James 

 river on the 4th of August. On the 6th, at six 

 p. M., Gen. Reno, with his division of Gen. 

 Burnside's corps, left camp to march to Gen. 

 Pope. On the 10th Gen. King, of McDowell's 

 corps, hurried forward to Culpepper Court 

 House for the same purpose, and on the 13th 

 Gen. Stevens, with six regiments of his division, 

 and four of Gen. Wright's, which had been de- 

 tached from Port Royal, S. C., followed. 

 Thus nearly forty regiments of infantry, fully 

 armed and provided with trains and a large 

 force of artillery and cavalry, were sent for- 

 ward from Fredericksburg. lie was also au- 

 thorized to call the main portion of Gen. Cox's 

 forces from western Virginia. 



The Orange and Alexandria railroad, which 

 runs from Alexandria, and connects with the 

 Virginia Central railroad at Gordonsville, was, 

 at the end near Alexandria, the route by which 

 Gen. Pope received his supplies. The stations 

 on that part of the road were as follows: 

 Alexandria, to Springfield, 9 miles ; to Burke's, 

 14 miles ; to Fairfax, 18 miles ; to Union Mills, 

 23 miles ; to Manassas Junction, 27 miles ; to 

 Bristol, 31 miles; to Catlett's, 38 miles; to 

 Warrenton Junction, 41 miles; to Bealeton, 

 47 miles; to Rappahanuock, 51 miles; to Bran- 

 dy, 56 miles; to Culpepper, 02- miles; to 

 Mitchell's, 69 miles. The road crosses the 

 North Fork at the Rappahannock station, ten 

 miles beyond Warrenton Junction. At Manas- 

 sas Junction the Manassas Gap railroad cemes 

 in from the northwest. The first station west 

 of Manassas Junction is Gainesville, distant 8 

 miles ; the next is Thoroughfare, distant from 

 Manassas Junction 14 miles. At the Warren- 

 ton Junction comes in from the northwest the 

 Warrenton railroad. It connects Warrenton 

 with Warrenton Junction. All these positions 

 were in the rear of Gen. Pope's army on the 

 North Fork, and were involved in the subse- 

 quent movements. 



When the retreat of Gen. Pope commenced, 

 Gen. Sigel's command was in the advance, Gen. 

 Reno's held the left in the vicinity of Mitchell's 

 Station, on the line of the Orange and Alexan- 

 dria railroad, and Gen. McDowell's forces, sup- 

 ported by Gen. Banks, occupied the right centre. 

 At half-past ten on the night of the 18th of 

 August, Gen. Sigel commenced moving back 

 toward Culpepper. Previous to this hour, 

 however, the troops in the rear were in motion, 



The night was dark and cold, and the march 

 slow in consequence of the immense train of 

 transportation wagons placed in advance of 

 the troops. The usual camp fires were extin- 

 guished, excepting those necessary for the safe 

 passage of the trains, and all unnecessary noise 

 was avoided. At midnight the advance of Gen. 

 Sigel reached Cedar Mountain, the scene of the 

 late battle, and at a late hour on Tuesday morn- 

 ing, the 19th, it reached Culpepper. The forces 

 of Gen. McDowell, including Gen. King's divi- 

 sion, had then passed through the town. Gen. 

 Banks's division was at an encampment on the 

 right of the road, and Gen. Sigel brought up 

 the rear. Far as the eye could reach, there was 

 to be seen nought but moving masses of infan- 

 try, cavalry, and artillery ; beyond that it could 

 catch an occasional glimmer of the white-cov- 

 ered tops of the wagon trains slowly winding 

 up the distant hills. All the sick and wounded, 

 excepting eighty-five men whose injuries were 

 of such a kind as to prevent their removal, and 

 all the stores of the medical department, had 

 been sent off by railroad before five o'clock that 

 afternoon. The rear guard of the army con- 

 sisted of the cavalry under Gen. Bayard. The 

 movement of the troops during the day, although 

 made in different directions, all tended toward 

 one point, the Rappahannock station on the 

 railroad, at which was the bridge crossing the 

 North Fork. During the forenoon of the 19th, 

 the advance crossed, and the rear, which was 

 that day under Gen. Sigel, encamped at night 

 some four miles from the bridge. All night, 

 long army trains, infantry, and artillery were 

 moving across the bridge, and by noon on the 

 20th the cavalry composing the rear guard 

 made its appearance just on the west side of 

 the bridge, and was then drawn up in line of 

 battle to meet the enemy's cavalry, with whom 

 Gen. Bayard had been skirmishing from Cedar 

 Mountain. About one o'clock the Confederate 

 cavalry made a charge, but accomplished noth- 

 ing except wounding a few men. The Feder- 

 al cavalry then came across the bridge, and the 

 retreat behind the North Fork of the Rappa- 

 hannock was complete. 



During the afternoon and night, the Confed- 

 erate artillery came up. On the next day, the 

 21st, being Thursday, an attempt was made by 

 them to cross a few miles above the bridge. 

 The New York battery of Crowell and the 

 Third Maryland regiment, stationed at the ford, 

 would have been driven off except for the ad- 

 ditional batteries sent to their support. At the 

 same tune an attack was made at Kelly's Ford ; 

 this was also repulsed. An attack of the enemy 

 was expected during the night, and the Federal 

 force slept on their arms. Early the next morn- 

 ing a Confederate battery opened at the spot ' 

 where the first attempt to cross was made, 

 which kept up a fire for some time. A little 

 farther up the stream a bridge was discovered 

 which the enemy had erected during the night. 

 A Federal battery opened, which slackened fire 

 soon after and appeared to be silenced by the 



