82 



BULL RUN. 



ninth New York. The Thirteenth advanced 

 steadily down the hill and up the ridge, from 

 which it opened fire upon the enemy who had 

 made another stand on ground very favorable 

 to him, and the regiment continued advancing 

 as the enemy gave way. 



The position which the battle had now at- 

 tained was as follows : Early in the morning 

 the force of the enemy had been stationed along 

 Bull Run, from the Stone Bridge down to the 

 Union Mills, below Blackburn's Ford. But 

 owing to the crossing of the Federal troops at 

 Sudley's Spring, further up than the extreme 

 left of the enemy at the Stone Bridge, the line 

 of the latter was entirely changed. It formed, 

 as has been stated, along the Warrenton turn- 

 pike, which crosses at the Stone Bridge, and 

 continues on in a due western course. In this 

 position the enemy was found by the first 

 troops that crossed over. On the Federal side. 

 Col. Richardson's brigade, of the first division, 

 was posted at Blackburn Ford, to prevent the 

 enemy from crossing, and also to make a feint 

 to cross when the firing of Gen. Tyler at the 

 Stone Bridge above should be heard, which was 

 so done. Gen. Hunter's division opened the at- 

 tack upon the enemy's line formed on the War- 

 renton turnpike. The brigade of Col. Porter 

 on the right had been strengthened by Col. 

 Heintzelman's division, consisting of Cols. Wil- 

 cox's and Howard's brigades and a part of Col. 

 Franklin's. To these was now added Col. Sher- 

 . man's brigade, from Gen. Tyler's first division. 

 Further on the left the attack was commenced 

 by Col. Burnside, with the second brigade of 

 Col. Hunter's division, and sustained with 

 great gallantry and resolution, especially by 

 the First and Second Rhode Island and the 

 Rhode Island battery, until strengthened by 

 Major Sykes' battalion of regulars, and still 

 further by a portion of Col. Heintzelman's 

 force and Keyes' brigade, of Gen. Tyler's divi- 

 sion. All the Federal force was now on the 

 field of battle, excepting the division of Col. 

 Miles, consisting of Cols. Blenker and Davies' 

 brigades, and also the brigade of Col. Richard- 

 son at Blackburn's Ford, and the brigade of 

 Col. Schenck at the Stone Bridge, with the 

 accompanying batteries. The effect of this 

 strong and lirm attack on the enemy's line had 

 caused it to yield at all points. The Federal 

 force was in possession of the "Warrenton turn- 

 pike from the Stone Bridge westward. On 

 their right the enemy had retreated nearly a 

 mile and a half. On the left they had also 

 given way so that Col. Schenck's brigade was 

 about to cross over the Stone Bridge. 



The road taken by the troops from Sudley's 

 Spring down to the Warrenton turnpike, de- 

 flects to the left somewhat, near the turnpike, 

 and crosses it at about right angles. On the 

 left of this road, after it crosses the turnpike, is 

 a hill with a farm-house on it, where the enemy 

 had, early in the day, planted some of his most 

 annoying batteries. Across the road from this 

 hill was another hill, or rather elevated ridge, 



or table land. The hottest part of the contest was 

 for the possession of this hill, with the house 

 on it. General McDowell thus describes it : 

 "The force engaged here was Heintzelman's 

 division of Wilcox's and Howard's brigades on 

 the right, supported by part of Porter's brigade, 

 of Hunter's division, and the cavalry under 

 Palmer, and Franklin's brigade, of Heintzel- 

 man's division, Sherman's brigade, of Tyler's 

 division, in the centre, and up the road, whilst 

 Keyes' brigade, of Tyler's division, was on the 

 left attacking the batteries near the Stone 

 Bridge. The Rhode Island battery, of the Burn- 

 side brigade, also participated in this attack, by 

 its fire from the north of the turnpike. Rick- 

 etts' battery, together with Griffins' battery, 

 was on the side of the hill and became the ob- 

 ject of the special attention of the enemy, who 

 succeeded, through a mistake by which one of 

 his regiments was thought to be a Federal force, 

 in disabling the battery, and then attempting 

 to take it. Three times was he repulsed by 

 different corps in succession, and driven back, 

 and the guns taken by hand, the horses having 

 been killed, and pulled away. The third time, 

 it was supposed by us all that the repulse was 

 final, for he was driven entirely from the hill, 

 and so far beyond it as not to be in sight, and 

 all were certain the day was ours. 



" The enemy was evidently disheartened and 

 broken. But we had been fighting since half- 

 past 10 o'clock in the morning, and it was after 

 3 o'clock in the afternoon ; the men had been up 

 since 2 o'clock in the morning, and had made 

 what to those unused to such things, seemed a 

 long march before coming into action, though 

 the longest distance gone over was not more 

 than nine and a half miles ; and though they had 

 three days' provisions served out to them the day 

 before, many no doubt did not eat them, orthrew 

 them away on the march, or during the battle, 

 and were therefore without food. They had 

 done much severe fighting. Some of the regi- 

 ments which had been driven from the hill in 

 the first two attempts of the enemy to keep 

 possession of it, had become shaken, were un- 

 steady, and had many men out of the ranks." 



Colonel Porter, in command of Hunter's di- 

 vision after Colonel Hunter was wounded, thus 

 reports the same scenes : " The flags of eight reg- 

 iments, though borne somewhat wearily, now 

 pointed towards the hill, from which disordered 

 masses of the enemy had been seen hastily re- 

 tiring. Griffin's and Ricketts' batteries were or- 

 dered by the Commanding General to the top of 

 the hill on the right, as supporting with the Fire 

 Zouaves and marines, while the Fourteenth en- 

 tered the skirt of wood on their right, to protect 

 that flank as a column composed of the Twenty- 

 seventh New York, and Eleventh and Fifth Mas- 

 sachusetts, Second Minnesota, and Sixty-ninth 

 New York moved up towards the left flank of the 

 batteries ; but so soon as they were in position, 

 and before the flanking supports had reached 

 theirs, a murderous fire of muske'try and rifles 

 opened at pistol range, cut down every cannon- 



