four wounded. The retreat was accomplished in good order— the enemy not pursuing. A troop of cavalry sallied over the bridge, and fell upon the wagons collecting the woundeddisregarding the flag of truce borne by the Chaplain in command, but no attack was made on the lines. Colonel Phelps had dispatched two hundred and fifty men, under Colonel Hawkins, to the scene of combat; but these troops only met the retreat.

This contest excited the public mind greatly. Upon General Pierce the censure of defeat fell, with merciless severity. He was charged with inefficiency, ignorance of field manœuvres, want of pluck, etc., etc. It is questionable if the charges were wholly true. The first error was in dispatching so large a force without equivalent artillery. Had there been a dozen good field pieces, the enemy would have been driven from his position in half-an-hour. As it was, Greble's single gun did memorable service, and, had Bendix and Duryea been allowed to charge, as they wished, at a moment when it was evident that Greble and the sharpshooters had silenced over half of the enemy's guns, it is more than probable that the day would have been won. General Pierce lacked confidence in himself. It was his first experience on the battle field; he seemed confused by its responsibilities. Conceded to be a brave officer and a good disciplinarian, he still lacked the experiences of a general field command. Had he wisely conferred that command upon Duryea, or, indeed, upon any one of his Colonels, that army never would have retreated, especially after the arrival of Colonel Carr's fine troops, with their two effective pieces of artillery.

In the enemy's account of the fight, as given by the Richmond Dispatch, the fact was made known that Magruder commanded in person. The infantry present consisted of the First North Carolina regiment, Colonel Hill. Their guns consisted of a superb howitzer battery (seven guns), embracing one fine Parrot field-piece. The battery was worked by one hundred chosen men, under Major Randolph. The account stated, among other things:

"About nine o'clock, the glittering bayonets of the enemy appeared on the hill opposite, and above them waved the Star Spangled Banner. The moment the head of the column advanced far enough to show one or two companies, the Parrot gun of the howitzer battery opened on them, throwing a shell right into their midst. Their ranks broke in confusion, and the column, or as much of it as we could see, retreated behind two small farm-houses. From their position a fire was opened on us, which was replied to by our battery, which commanded the route of their approach. Our firing was excellent, and the shells scattered in all directions when they burst. They could hardly approach the guns which they were firing for the shells which came from our battery. Within our encampment fell a perfect hailstorm of canister-shot, bullets, and balls. Remark able to say, not one of our men was killed, inside of our en campment. Several horses were slain by the shells and bullets.

"Finding that bombardment would not answer, the enemy, about eleven o'clock, tried to carry the position by assault, but met a terrible repulse at the hands of the infantry, as he tried to scale the breastworks, The men disregarded sometimes tho defenses erected for them, and, leaping on the embankment, stood and fired at the Yankees, cutting them down as they came up. One company of the New York Seventh regiment, under Captain Winthrop, attempted to take the redoubt on the left. The marsh they crossed was strewn with their bodies. Their Captain, a fine-looking man, reached the fence, and, leaning on a log, waved his sword, crying, 'Come on, boys, one charge, and the day is ours.' The words were his last, for a Carolina rifle ended his life the next moment, and his men fled in terror back. At the redoubt on the right, a company of about three hundred New York Zouaves charged one of our guns, but could not stand the fire of the infantry, and retreated precipitately.

"During these charges, the main body of the enemy on the hill were attempting to concentrate for a general assault, but the shells from the howitzer battery prevented them. As one

regiment would give up the effort, another would be marched to the position, but with no better success, for a shell would scatter them like chaff. The men did not seem able to stand fire at all.

"About one o'clock their guns were silenced, and a few moments after, their infantry retreated precipitately down the road to Hampton."

F

XIII.

THE SECOND DISASTER.

THE defeat of the Federal army of invasion at Bull Run Sunday, July 21st, 1861, was one of the most remarkable and mysterious affairs recorded in the annals of modern warfare. A magnificent army, having fought, against great odds, a battle of an unusually sanguinary nature, at a moment when victory was about to rest upon its standard, broke up in a panic, retreated in disorder to their fartherest defenses, abandoned vast stores, artillery and equippage, forsook positions which a few brave men could have held securely, and collected in camp a disorganized and dispirited mass-all from no perceptible good reason and without being able to fasten the first fault upon any particular corps or regiment.

That the battle was virtually won by the Federal forces the rebel leaders themselves confess. Beauregard, at a dinner given him in Richmond, stated, with minuteness, the circumstances of his peril and his defeat-that he had just given the order to his aid for the grand retreat to Manassas, but retained the aid to await the solution of a single movement: a banner

was seen in the distance, to the west, advancing at the head of a division--if that of the Federals all was lost-if that of one of his own divisions it would steady the movements about to be ordered, or possibly turn the tide of defeat. He depicted the intensity of his emotions at that moment, and how his heart leaped for joy upon distinguishing, with his glass, that the flag was that of the Confederacy. The order for retreat was not issued, and soon the General-in-Chief learned that the long looked-for reenforcements from Johnson's army had arrived. This timely arrival of fourteen thousand comparatively fresh men saved Beauregard's overwhelming defeat and gave him the vantage ground. The Union troops, however, fought the way on-were pushing the enemy slowly but surely backward when, without just cause, a stampede commenced, which no power of officers, or of eminent civilians present, could prevent. The regiments of most undoubted bravery, those whose ranks were deplorably thinned by service fled in dismay before an imaginary pursuit. Artillery of the most costly and efficient character was abandoned-the gunners taking to the horses for escape. Wagons loaded with immense quantities" of stores were abandoned, while the teamsters or the flying infantry seized the horses and mules to hasten in advance of the disordered mass. Officers came on without commands, wild with frenzy at the course of their troops, but perfectly powerless to stay the disgraceful scamper. A few regiments moved on in comparatively good order, but their course was Washington-ward, and no efforts to stand were made. Blenker's fine division-held as a reserve at Centerville, covered the rout in good order, but did no service as no enemy pursued. It was a causeless, senseless, disgraceful panic-one which ever will stand as one of the inexplicable phenomena of the modern battle-field.

No battle ever was fought where so many and such various opinions were expressed by those present. Many newspapers were represented by able and vigilant correspondents; numbers of Congressmen were there; eminent civilians came out to view the conflict, which was heralded by the skirmishing

of three previous days;—most all of whom published statements and narratives of the disaster, many of which disagreed in important, specific and general particulars. The statements of officers only added to the confusion, while official reports failed to throw any light upon the actual cause or the extent of the disaster.

A letter from an officer of the regular service present at the battle, gave the following general narrative of the events of the day:

"The march from our bivouac, near Centreville, was taken up at 21 A.M. on Sunday. Among officers and men the impression prevailed that the action would occur at Bull's Run, the scene of General Tyler's repulse a day or two previously. In this they were disappointed. Tyler's brigade posted themselves at the bridge over Bull's Run, where they were ordered to feign an attack as soon as General Hunter's division were known to be in position. This order was partially obeyed. Hunter's division, composed of Burnside's brigade and Porter's brigade, after proceeding a mile beyond Centreville, made a detour to the right, and proceeded over a wood road, well covered from observation, to the left flank of the enemy at Manassas, a distance of about eight miles. At six o'clock firing was heard on the heights at Bull's Run, from a battery in Tyler's brigade, which was promptly answered by the enemy's batteries. Their position thus revealed, the advance division (Hunter's) ascended a hill at double quick, and almost immediately the Rhode Island battery and Griffin's West Point battery were in brisk action. The former was supported by the First regiment Rhode Island volunteers, who maintained their ground nobly for a half hour. At this mo ment Porter's brigade, composed of the Fourteenth, Seventh and Twen ty-seventh New York, with a battalion of United States marines, under Major Reynolds, and a battalion of United States Third, Second and Eighth infantry, under Major Sykes, took their position in line of battle upon a hill, within range of the enemy's fire. Burnside's battery being Borely pressed, the enemy having charged closely upon it, the gallant Colonel galloped to Major Sykes and implored him to come to his assistance. Major Sykes brought up his men at a run, and, with a deafening shout, they charged upon the enemy's skirmishers, who fled before them several hundred yards. Forming in column of divisions, Sykes' battalion advanced a considerable distance, until they drew upon themselves an intensely hot fire of musketry and artillery. This was a trying moment. The volunteers expected much of the regulars, and gazed upon them as they stood in unbroken line, receiving the fire, and return