84 



BULL RUN. 



The ground occupied by our guns, on a level 

 with that held by the batteries of the enemy, 

 was an open space of limited extent, behind a 

 low undulation, just at the eastern verge of the 

 plateau, some 500 or 600 yards from the Henry 

 bouse. Here, as before said, some thirteen 

 pieces, mostly six-pounders, were maintained in 

 action. The several batteries of Imboden, Sta- 

 nard, Pendleton, (Rockbridge Artillery,) and 

 Alburtis', of the Army of the Shenandoah, and 

 five guns of Walton's, and Beaton's section of 

 Rogers' battery, of the Army of the Potomac, 

 alternating to some extent with each other, and 

 taking part as needed ; all from the outset dis- 

 playing that marvellous capacity of our people 

 as artillerists which has made them, it would 

 appear, at once the terror and the admiration of 

 the enemy. As was soon apparent, the Fede- 

 ralists had suffered severely from our artillery, 

 and from the fire of our musketry on the right, 

 and especially from the left flank, placed under 

 cover, within whose galling range they had 

 been advanced. And, we are told in their offi- 

 cial reports, how regiment after regiment, 

 thrown forward to dislodge iis, was broken, 

 never to recover its entire organization on that 

 field. In the mean time, also, two companies 

 of Stuart's cavalry (Carter's and Hoge's) made 

 a dashing charge down the Brentsville and Sud- 

 ley road upon the Fire Zouaves then the ene- 

 my's right on the plateau which added to the 

 disorder wrought by our musketry on that 

 flank. But still the press*of the enemy was 

 heavy in that quarter of the field, as fresh 

 troops were thrown forward there to outflank 

 us ; and some three guns of a battery, in an 

 attempt to obtain a position apparently to enfi- 

 lade our batteries, were thrown so close to the 

 Thirty-third Regiment, Jackson's brigade, that 

 that regiment, springing forward, seized them, 

 but with severe loss, and was subsequently 

 driven back by an overpowering force of Fede- 

 ral musketry. 



" Now, full 2 o'clock P. M., I gave the order 

 for the right of my line, except my reserves, 

 to advance to recover the plateau. It was done 

 with uncommon resolution and vigor, and at 

 the same time, Jackson's brigade pierced the 

 enemy's centre with the determination of vete- 

 rans, and the spirit of men who fight for a 

 sacred cause ; but it suffered seriously. With 

 equal spirit the other parts of the line made 

 the onset, and the Federal lines were broken 

 and swept back, at all points, from the open 

 ground of the plateau. Rallying soon, however, 

 as they were strongly reinforced by fresh regi- 

 ments, the Federalists returned, and by weight 

 of numbers pressed our lines back, recovered 

 their ground and guns, and renewed the offen- 

 sive. By this time, between half-past 2 and 3 

 o'clock p. M., our reinforcements pushed for- 

 ward, and directed by General Johnston to the 

 required quarter, were at hand just as I had or- 

 dered forward to a second effort for the recov- 

 ery of the disputed plateau, the whole line, in- 

 cluding my reserves, which, at this crisis of the 



battle, I felt called upon to lead in person. 

 This attack was general, and was shared in by 

 every regiment then in the field, including the 

 Sixth (Fisher's) North Carolina Regiment, which 

 had just come up and taken position on the 

 immediate left of the Forty-ninth Virginia Reg- 

 iment. The whole open ground was again 

 swept clear of the enemy, and the plateau 

 around the Henry and Robinson houses re- 

 mained finally in our possession, with the 

 greater part of the Ricketts and Griffin batter- 

 ies, and a flag of the First Michigan Regiment, 

 captured by the Twenty-seventh Virginia Reg- 

 iment, (Lieutenant-Col onelEcholls,) of Jackson's 

 brigade. This part of the day was rich with 

 deeds of individual coolness and dauntless con- 

 duct, as well as well-directed embodied resolu- 

 tion and bravery, but fraught with the loss to 

 the service of the country, of lives of inestimable 

 preciousness at this juncture. The brave Bee 

 was mortally wounded, at the head of the 

 Fourth Alabama and some Mississippians, in 

 an open field near the Henry house ; and a few 

 yards distant, the promising life of Bartow, 

 while leading the Seventh Georgia Regiment, 

 was quenched in blood. Colonel F. J. Thomas, 

 Acting Chief-of-Ordnance, of General John- 

 ston's staff, after gallant conduct, and most effi- 

 cient service, was also slain. Colonel Fisher, 

 Sixth North Carolina, likewise fell, after sol- 

 dierly behavior, at the head of his regiment, 

 with ranks greatly thinned. Withers' Eighteenth 

 Regiment, of Cocke's brigade, had come up in 

 time to follow this charge, and, in conjunction 

 with Hampton's Legion, captured several rifle 

 pieces, which may have fallen previously in 

 possession of some of our troops ; but if so, had 

 been recovered by the enemy. These pieces 

 were immediately turned, and effectively served 

 on distant masses of the enemy, by the hands 

 of some of our officers. 



" While the enemy had thus been driven back 

 on our right entirely across the turnpike, and 

 beyond Young's branch on our left, the woods 

 yet swarmed with them, when our reinforce- 

 ments opportunely arrived in quick succession, 

 and took position in that, portion of the field. 

 Kershaw's Second, and Cash's Eighth South 

 Carolina regiments, which had arrived soon 

 after Withers', were led through the oaks just 

 east of the Sudley-Brentsville road, brushing 

 some of the enemy before them, and, taking an 

 advantageous position along and west of that 

 road, opened with much skill and effect on 

 bodies of the enemy that had been rallied 

 under cover of a strong Federal brigade posted 

 on a plateau in the southwest angle, formed 

 by intersection of the turnpike with the Snd- 

 ley-Brentsville road. Among the troops thus' 

 engaged, were the Federal regular infantry. 

 At the same time, Kemper's battery, passing 

 northward by the S.-B. road, took position 

 on the open space under orders of Colonel 

 Kershaw near where an enemy's battery had 

 been captured, and opened with effective re- 

 sults upon the federal right, then the mark 



