£ DOLL (R PER ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. TOWANDA : . *+++* * Thursday Morning, August 8, 1861. [From Wilkes's Spirit of the Times J The Battle as seen by an Eye-Witness. WASHINGTON, Friday, July 26, 1861. The minor action on the 18th, though end a serious repulse, served but to stimulate ,e ardor of our troops; and as I walked, on he following morning, among the swarming battalions that rested in the valley this side of Centreville I heard but one wish expressed, JA that wish was that we should again and I once move forward, and wipe out the d.s- ; Lee of that temporary check before the ex-, oiling rebels could take fresh heart by their It was soon plain, however, that (ilT McDowell, warned by the unexpected evidence of strength which had been develop ed from the treacherous covert at Bull Ruu, had determined to remain for a time near Cen treville while he made the minute reconnois junce which was necessary before a general attack The teams, therefore, were turned from the tlving batteries and wagons, and the fine army beeves, which were our best camp followers, were driven in and slaughtered by the wholesale, under an order for the prepa ration of three days' rations. " Griui-visaged I war rtlaitii his wrinkled trout," and now, in stead of prancinjg steads and regiments drawn II M in line, nothing could be seen through the ere valley but lounging swarms surrounding ccaiß kettles, whose ardor and whose fullness | hroaitht hack the picture of the wedding of Cimacho. Jt was in the midst of this vast I picnic and these savory steams that theSecre- I arv of War paid a visit to the scene, and im I parted, by the mere fact of his presence, an I assurance tiiat we would not move lat day. When lie left ns in the afternoon, ftvro were some who believed we were on the ■ kof action; but the majority were of the I-mion that the general advance would not F mole till daybreak Monday morning. This f ai the prevailing notion in the California I amp (whose head quarters I had halt adopt ed, in view of the impending departure of the Seventy-first,) and, I must confess, it was ! partly none. I had, however, at the same time, an idea that we might, perhaps, wait till , lien.' Ratterson could descend from Harper's Ferry and co operate on our right. ; Tne night wore quietly away, with the ex ception of a slight alarm at the distant cot- ] t.ige where f slept, and, which though more | than a mil • from our lines, I had chosen for | the convenience of making up my letters. At j I io hours past midnight, three or four vol-I I of musketry from a grove near by startled It;awake, and, as I rose upon my arm, 1 could ft-;r the squad of Germans who were picketed I 'atli the porch cautiously cock their mns- j Mi 'in expectation of an attack. Bat the lir ■ gsooii ceased, and daybreak revealed the |hit that it prorccdsd from newly arrived reg inents which had settled themselves hard by, W.'JO had been merely expelling stale charges bin their pieces in anticipation of important rjrk CRN. MCnOWEM.'s PI.AN. Meanwhile, and all the following l day. the ablest engineers of Gen McDowell's staff had liecn reconnoitering for miles around, and the fruit of their labors was h report that the en t-mv's position could not Ik* turned to the left or southward,) by reason of the roughness of the roads; that it was not advisable to renew the attack of the IStli on the battery of Bull llun, Imt that the road to the light through Oritrerille, was a practicable nvenue to an | other crossing, and which was undefended, and to which artillery could not be easily drawn. This was called the Warrcnton road, ami at some distance down, it had the fur ther advantage of a path diverging from it to the northward, by which a circuit could be made to the rear of certain heavy batteries, which the course of the main road itself would wide us to strike in front. It was therefore frded hy (Jen. McDowell to send merely one Iflgade to Bull Run to hold the battery in 'heck, and to make his grand attack by the road, relying upon the column that * to pass off into the northward path to 'am the enemy's position and throw it into < infusion while attacked by us upon its face. 1 'is seemed to be a very proper and consistent I'M. Undoubtedly the theory of it was plan (as a theory,) and it might have heen practically successful, had it but fitted 'he proportions of the enemy. Unfortunate ly, however, Gen. McDowell had not taken 'he fall measure of his foe, and the ci r cuit *hich he had decided upon, instead of reach the base of the Rebel's principal position merely plunged against the side'of his trian ?e, where he was most fearfully in strength, Md where the most desperate valor could but "*rve to feed his guns. The Confederates, as te might have ascertained, numbered, with Ca t Johnston and his forces, at least 70,000 ® l ' n ; and he now proposed to fling against j 'compact mass, reposing in jungles behind ; arteries of the heaviest guns, some six orsev brigades, to explore the labyrinth of 'ffrible position, and seek, by impetus alone, J° 1)0,114 hole through it, and hold on to the lo *er end. . I' must he stated at this time, that while w. McDowell was forming his calculations '"the basis of hin engineers' report, he was nwaro that Gen. Patterson was but 50 miles w ' t ' 1 a Federal army of nearly " "D men, who were then employed in watch- J l .", 80 f T lB ' rebel force nnder Gen. Johnston, a v ' ew °f preventing him from descend 2'o Manassas. He knew, also, that while Mon, from having a railway track behind ■ could reach Manassas in two days, Put -,i cou 'd riot follow, over obstructed roads th ,r '."- en bridges, in less than five. Under cor- Circ,mistauees ' would seem that the ...iionest military prudence would have sug ed aV' <Jen c^owe " "boold have paus b'iH IMS ! ,0 know whether Johnston had <noned the neighborhood of Winchester, ■ br, therefore, it was Dot absolutely THE BRADFORD REPORTER. necessary to the safety of the Federal forces, to say nothing of a hope of victory, that he should intrench himself at Centreville, and wait for Patterson's arrival. But it appears that Gen. McDowell considered the prestige of the Federal cause and his own good luck as equal to all the odds which treason could ac cumulate, and accordingly he decided to stake the fortunes of the Republic against the reb els in general battle as he stood. A strong evidence of patriotic self reliance, but not an abundant proof of judgment. The army, how ever, did not question the determination of their Generul, but, with the wholesome vanity of valor, each soldier felt the happiness of ex pectation, and slept the sounder for the pros pects of the morrow. POSITION OF TIIE RERELS. On their part, the Rebels lay on that brill iant moonlight evening enfolded in vast strength; their position being that of a triangle with the point towards us,and branching up ward to Manassas,with an open base of several miles. The point or open of this triangle, about a Hide round, was most heavily pro tected at Bull Run, where the direct road to Manassas crossed the Oeoquan. All up its , branching sides, however, batteries faced out- j ward in deep rows, their ponderous iron ! concealed by artificial masks,whenever natur- j al groves did not volunteer a screen. A I stronger field position could hardly be imag- j ined. Defended as it was by 70,000 men, to tie increased to 110,000 in the morning, it would scarcely suffer in comparison of strength with Solferiiio or Savastopol; and I doubt if there is any French or Russian engineer who would have undertaken to assail it, except.by regular approaches, and several respectful days of distant compliment with heavy shot . and shell. Brigadier General Irwin McDow ell, however, was going at it with a few 32 pounders and 10 field batteries) nearly all of tlit*in light,) backed by some five or six brig ades, whom, mentally, lie gave the credit of believing to be equal to its capture. Had our poor fellows but known the depth of the compliment thus lavished on their prowess, I doubt if they would have risen so joyful for the Iray on the Sunday morning now so near upon us. What rendered tilings even still more desperate, could we but have known their state, the enemy were thoroughly ac quainted with our strength and intentions, 1 and awaited our coming with the greatest ea gerness. Their anxiety, however, was deeply mixed with dread that our General might change his mind. With them, therefore, the eve of this battle was a night of true hopeful ness and intelligent reliance; and well might ' the rebel chieftains, as they looked proudly over the vast host which an immense and des perate energy hud got together, flatter them selves that they now had the fo.tunes of the j Great Republic, which they had so long con temned and plundered, securely in their grasp. In this belief, Davis aud his legions early went j to sleep, while our battalions, halt rested, rose I a little after midnight, to be wearied by scv- I eral hours of hot march before catering upon I the more violent fatigues of the attack. The order for an early movement in the ; morning was promulgated iu our camp at 10 j o'clock on Saturday night; and we now have j reason to believe that tiie order of march and ' battle, then distributed among our militia Ma i jor-GeneraJs, was in possession of the Con fed | orate leaders before our troops had risen for i the conflict. From the hour of midnight, our j sentinels could hear the oft repeated distant railway whistle at the Junction, signaling the arrival either of the last regiments of John ston, or of Iresh troops coming up froin Rich mond. As the time of our start was fixed at 2:30 a. m., the entire army was awake an hour be fore, and in marching order ut the indicated moment. It was bright moonlight ; yet through the brilliant sheen some of the stronger stars looked curiously down, as if they shared with us our wonder at the specta cle. From the hill of Centreville backward toward Fairfax, the whole valley, so lately un trodden in its verdure, was sparkling with a frost of steel; and, as the thirty thousand bay onets moved forward in the uncertain light. with that billowy motion peculiar to the step of troops, the stirring mass looked like a bristling monster lifting him-elf by a slow, wavy motion up the laborious ascent. To the left, and forward through the village in the direction of the Run, the ground defend ed three or four miles toward the Occoqnan, and then rose in a gradual acsent to Manas sas . It was a scene of mingled grove and opening, and the moonlight slept as pla cidly upon the jungles of that rise, as if Trea son, armed in triple strength, were not slyly watching fiom its lair our ignorant advance, ready to belch forth upon us its deadly aud malignant tires. PI.AN OK TIIE ATTACK. The plan of Gen. McDowell was, as I have i already indicated, to advauce upon the enemy in two directions, launching his main and cen tral column along the Warren ton road in a direct line, until he reached their batteries— while a strong column, by a circuit to tho right ' was to smite them in the rear. The road to Bull Run ou the left, apd the hostile batteries at its end, were to be merely watched through out the day, so that the enemy could not issue from that quarter and turn our left. Colonel Richardson, with the Ist Massachusetts, 2d and 3d Michigan, and New-York Volunteer 12th, and U. S. Artillery, was charged with ' this duty ; while to support him, in case he ! should be seriously attacked, Gen. Miles, with nine regiments, was posted in reserve, but tar enough hack toward Centreville to give aid or succor also to the main column in case it should meet with a reverse. These niue regiments consisted of the Bth, 16th, 17th, 18th, 29th, | 31st and 32d N. Y., t'ue Garibaldi Guard, and the Bth New York German Rifles. It was further supported by Green's and Barry's U. S. Batteries. The left being thus guarded, Gen. McDowell posted the New Jersey Regi ments, seven in uuraber, in reserve, at Oeiitre j ville, and even still further back, so the rear ! should also have a proper protection on the PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA„ BY E 0. GOODRICH. right and guard alike against any flank move ment in that quarter. The rear beiug thus de fended, on all sides, the central column which poured on, aud which was to divide at the path to the right, on the Warranton road, consist ed of the divisions of Gen's. Tyler, Hunter and Heintzleman ; the first being appropriated to the eeutral and direct attack, and the two lat ter to the flank movement on the right. THE CENTRAL ATTACKING COLUMN. The division of Tyler consisted of three brig ades ; and those of Heintzelman and Hunter contained three and two respectively. The first brigade of Tyler consisted of the 2d New York and Ist and 2d of Ohio, under Gen. Schenck, accompanied by a battery of light ar tillery ; then followed the brigade of Sherman, consisting ot New-York 69th, 79th, 13th aud 2d Wisconsin, accompanied by Ayer's Bat tery ; while the brigade of Keyes, comprising the Ist, 2d, and 3d Connecticut, and 2d Maine, formed a rear guard for the division. This latter brigade was accompanied by Tompkin's U. S Battery and by the New York Volun teer Battery of Varian. The division was fur ther accompanied by a rifled 32 pounder, which was known as the Parrot gun. THF. FLANKING DIVISION. The flanking divisi n of Hunter and Heintz leman consisted of the Bth, 14th, and 27th New York, under Gen. Porter, accompanied by companies of United States infantry, aud cavalry, and marines, Ransom's United States and Grittin's West Point Batteries. Then came Bnrnside's Brigade, of the Rhode Island Regiments, the New York 71st, and 2d New Hampshire, accompanied by Reynold's and Webb's Batteries, and two light howitzers, which the boys of the 71st had learned to work, and borrowed from the Navy Yard This brigade also had a battery of rifled 32 pounders, under Capt. Seymour, of Fort Sum ter. Ht-iutzlemau's Division consisted, in its first brigade, of the sth Massachusetts, Ist Minnesota, and 4th Pennsylvania. Two bat teries accompanied this brigade. The next brigade was under Wilcox, and consisted of the Ist Michigan, 38th New York, and the Fire Zouaves, backed by a battery of United States Artillery. The last brigade contained the 3d, 4ti, and sth of Maine, and the 2d of Yer mont. Tne sixteen regiments thus enumerat ed in the flanking column may he set down at between 13.000 and 14,000 men, while the eleven in the central line may lie numbered at between 8,0 10 and 9,000. The entire attack ing force, therefore, may be summed up at 22,- 000 men, all of whouie could hardly expect to be engaged. This was the army which passed out of the valley up over the hill at 3 o'clock on the morning of the 21st, and which, with the moon siiil lighting them upon their journey, took the right-hand road toward the strong holds of the enemy. It was a iirave sight, not soon to be forgotten by those who witnessed it, while the thoughts which it inspired were to become henceforth an established portion of the mind. The regiments of the reserve, as they stood looking ou at the passing line, en vied their marching comrades what they re- garded us u better fortune ; and as they went j by, saluted them with various requests, rang- > iug between the acquisition of some traitor's scalp, down to the possession of a palmetto button. The marching line replied with va- : li iu< conceits, but in most cases the requests I were responded to with a large excess ot pro mise. ft was, indeed, a gallant sight ; how sadly to be changed in a few hours none of j them, fortunately, knew, By 3 1-2 o'clock, ' the last bayonet had disappeared over the hill j and the entire column was on its way bv the memorable Warrenpoiut turnpike to teek its | fortune. The halts were numerous, in order i that the Generals luignt insure the compact- i ness of the line, and presently we all passed across a wooden bridge in quiet, no challenge being made that might prevent us from reach ing the deepest entangle sent where the foe desired to give us more bitter battle. Ouward we went, the soldiers cursing the rough road, wondering when they would have breakfast, or vowing to get even on the fellows who had put tlicni to all this trouble. The day broke mildly as we pushed aiong, and many asoldier thought from the dead silence of the woods that lined the road at iutervals, we should have no battle after all. Presently we struck the path that branched off to the right, and here the column, under Hunter's lead, broke off, while the central column, with McDowell at its head, went directly on. THE MAIN' ATTACK. As the circuit of the flanking column was to be a wide one, aud as it could not reach its destined point and come into action with effect, in less than two or three hours, our first atten tion must be given to the maiu column accom panied by the Commander-in-Ctiief. It was | broad day wheu we parted with the flanking i column, and we proceeded along with an easy I step, with our skirmishers well in advance, and | watchful, on the look-out. No traces of the i enemy appeared, however, and the extraordi nary quiet of the scene, coupled with tiie fact ; that our entire coiumu had been allowed to I cross the wooden bridge unmolested, induced j many to believe that the enemy, consulting : prudence, would yield the defenses of the Run aud give us battle ouly at Manassas. But this idea was formed iu perfect ignorance of the extent of the Confederate dtfeuses, for we were | already within range'of some of their batter ] ics, and at the close of the day they lauded ! their shell upon the bridge with murderous ef i feet. In short, their whole strategy was aile ; coy, and their hasty retirement from Fairfax, ; and pretended abandonment of camp furniture, ! as well as the shallow obstruction of our ad vance by leveled trees, were merely portions of a well digested plan, to coax our army, step by step, into their gigantic trap. Of all pla ces, therefore, on the whole continent, Alau nassas, and its miles of its densely serried bat teries, was the last with which the Federal Army had any business ; yet, there we were, " going it blind," with the vain coufldeuce of fools, on perfectly good terms with ourselves, and exalting in advance the profound military leader, who was thus giving us a chance to ae- "REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER.' velop his keen foresight and commanding ge nius After we bad got about a mile aud a half beyond the wooden bridge, the road be gan gradually to slope toward the Run, and to be more closed in with trees ; and even at that early hour the coolness of those leafy I aisles, was felt as a relief from the already hot and dusty path. After we emerged from this I pleasing shelter, the column proceeded along to the distance of, perhaps,a quarter of a mile, descending all the while toward a ravine which harbored a sluggish stream crossed by a stone bridge. From that point the enemy's defenses rose, spreading and thickening at easy inter vals, and surmounted by powerful batteries where the lino met the horizon ; and I may pause here to say—with powerful batteries packed, aud extending behind that line for miles along. Suddenly, an exclatnatiou of " There they are !" from a member of Gener cral Tyler's staff, brought our column to a stand. Every field olficer at once brought his glass to bear, and the consciousness that we were surely to have a fight ran in an electric ' whisper along the entire column. There, In deed, they were, the Rebels, down in a mea i dow, still a distance off, and riot boldly pre-1 ceptible, because of the dark background of ! the woods. It was a body of infantry drawn up in line of battle, its full strength concealed j from being extended partly in the forest. It i was now necessary that we also should take ! battle order—so we deployed into the adjoin- ! iug fields, Geu. Scbenck's brigade, consisting of the 2d New York and Ist and 2d Ohio Re giments, being extended to the left, and Sher man's brigade, composed of the New York 1 09th, 79tli, 13th and 2d Wisconsin, stretching on the right. The large rifled 32 pounder was then brought forward through the center, and j put into position in the middle of the road. The enemy evidently saw this movement with their glasses, for they suddenly fell back, whereupon the gnn, giving out its thunder, flung a shell towards the spot of their retire ment. The fuse was short, however, and after plowing its roaring progress just over the j proper spot, it burst harmless in air. But j the echoes of that solemn challenge announced to a hundred and fifty thou-ainl armed men ; that the battle had begun. The silence that ; followed was profound ; but it was broken by no answer from the enemy ; so. after a pause of several minutes, our iron monster spoke again, this time leveling itself at a battery higher on the hill, and dropping its compli- i meut directly inside the works, to the destruc-1 tion, as we were afterwards informed, of half j a dozen men. The enemy, nevertheless, did j not seem to think the game quiet made, and ! though he was near enough, as subsequent ly proved, to reach us from two or three posi tions on our right and left, persisted in a sul len silence. Our first shot had been fired at half-past six, and it was now after seven ; still the foe dained no response, and it was plain ! he would not be satisGed unless we sought him j deeper in his fastnesses. The big gun, there- fore, was superseded by light artillery for; closer service, and an order was given for] the j brigades, thus strengthened,to move right and i left and explore the adjoining woods. This order necessarily brought up the brigade of , Keyes, which now occupied the center, but i >till acting as a reserve. The timber branch- j ed away on either side in a sort of crescent toward the batteries of the enemy ; on the i right hand, however it pursued the straight ' line. Both brigades, without skirmishers well j out at once proceeded upon their respective i tasks, Scheuck following at a left oblique along j the edge of the wood, with Col. M'Cook ami i the Ist Ohio in the lead ; Col. Tompkins and j the New-York 2d next, with the 3d Ohio, | under Col. Harris, in the rear. The brigade; proceeded in this way, exhibiting the utmost caution lor the distance of about a mile, when they struck a fine newly-opened road to the ■ left, whose clean, broad path seemed to invite their entrance. They turned iuto it and fol- j lowed it for some distance, when, to their sur- j prise, it ended abruptly to a fence, with no evidence of any road beyond. Suddeuly the enemy showed himself in two or three places to the left, and shaking his flag at our troops, opened a tremendous lire. It was promptly ! answered by the whole brigade, who endured the storm of balls with the greates fortitude, j and returned fire for fire. Several fell at this spot, and among others, the favorite ! drummer boy of the '2d. The poor little fel-1 low was struck by a cannon ball, which took him just below the arm-pits and literally cut biin in two, his childish shriek of pain rniug ling with the whistle of the rifled shot as his little life went with it down the wind. The storm from the batteries seemed now to in crease rather than to slacken, and unable to endure it in such an exposed position, the brigade fell, in good order, back upon the wood. General Schenrk, who exhibited throughout the whole affair the most reckless bravery, uow ordered his men to emerge and charge the main battery by a flank movement, but owing to the remonstrances of nearly all the officers, the desperate project was abandoned. The men, though now out of musket range, were yet subjected to the constant drop of shell,which seemed to have instinctively found out their leafy covert; so, after consultation, they were drawn off aud retired, in good order, to their position in the neighborhood of the Parrot gun ; hearing on their way the thunder of battle on the right, with an occa sional heavy report from Richardson, on the extreme left, to indicate that the enemy had been putting his feelers forward at Bull Run, to try whether a movement to turn our rear .were practicable in that quarter. The Sherman brigade, which had separated from the central column, and went off to the light at the same time that Sehenck's brigade set out in the opposite direction, had pro cecded but a little way upon their errand he fore they were saluted with fearful showers of shot and shell ; but receiving it only as a pro vocation, they overraD two or three earthworks with their headlong charges, the Irishmen and Highlanders screaming with excitement all the while, and the stout Wisconsouiatiß and brave New-York 13th silently wading by their sides. But we must now leave them ia the midst of this pleasant and congenial work, to follow the fortunes of the flanking eolumn THE BATTLE OS THEfLANB. Having now shown the course and features of the tattle on the centre, for three hours, we now turn to the flanking column, which was expected to be able, in about that time, to turu the rear of the Confederate position, and unite itself, through the broken columns of the foe, with the direct onward tide. This column, as I have already stated, con tained the two divisiousof Hunter, and Heint zlemeu, and ft was led by the Brunside brigade, consisting of the Ist and 2d Rode Islanders, the 2d New-Hampshire, and the New York "Ist. The next brigade was com posed of the New-York Bth, 14th, and 27th ; the next of the Ist Michigan, the Fire Zouaves and the 38tb New-York ; the uext, the sth Massachusetts, and Ist Minnesota, and the last, the 3d and 4th and sth Maine, and 2d Vermont. The Colonels of those regi ments respectively, in the order I have placed them, were I'itiuan, Sloctim, Marston, Martin Lyons, Wood, Slocutn, Comstock. Farnham, Ward, Lawrence, Gorman, Tucker, Berry, Gontiel, and Whitney. The reader, who is specially interested, will place them for him self. Immediately after leaving the central col umn, the Buriiside brigade having the lead, > threw out its skirmishers, and proceeded along ' at a brisk rate, perserving, however, common j time, in view of the iong'distauce to be made.— The course for the first fore or five miles, was I rather boldly to the right. It then inclined more gently to the northward, and then, after some eight or nine miles had beeu accompish- [ ed, curved sharp toward the left. The march I was a most fatiguing one, and though shaded to considerable extent by long stretches of ! close timber, much of it lay in the glare of j the hot sun, and all of it had its share of | stifling dust, except wliere we crossed the i fields. But the men were hungry and also very much fatigued, most ot them having 5 got but two or three hours' sleep the night j ! before. Still they trudged cheerfully along, animated by the task before them, and made more elastic by the sound of the cannonade, which had for some time been heard, and which they were now seusibly approaching.— In the brigade, nay, in the whole line, none i heard this with higher spirit than the 71st. j ! About 10 o'clock the, head of the column | came into an open country, and after proceed ing in it for a mile, Capt. Ellis of the 71st, | detected a masked battery about half a mile I to the left ; and bringing our .glasses to bear upon it, we could also preceive the enemy moving to their position through the woods, iu considerable force. Soou after this, Gen j M'Dowtll came riding up, and orders were > given that we should proceed at more rapid | pace, and an hour more brought the brigade close to the rattle of the strife. The columu now made its final curve, and turning sharp- j ly to tire left faced the rear of battle as it ; came from the head of the central column which, under the lead of the 69th, was now ! pressing its way toward us. The dins of guns I and musketry at this point was almost deaf- : ening, and the very earth trembled with the ! i roar of the heavier artillery. Burnside, who | was forward, then sent an order to the 71st ; to take its howitzers and dash through a ' < piece of woods, and form its positiou on the right of the Rhode Islanders. Obeying the orders with alacrity, the "Ist passed the New Hampshier men in their impetuosity and emerged into the fire, while the 2d N. H. formed in good order on the extreme right. It was now nearly four o'clock, p. m , and the general battle seemed to have subsided ; nay, almost entirely to have ceased ; and notb ing but an occasional great gun, and isolated flirt of musketry proclaimed its countinuance in any quarter. In their ignorance of the ex tent of the field, the Federal forces imagined they had won a victory. They had shown greater dash and steadiuess than the enemy i from first to last ; and while, by far, the most exposed, had inflicted a much heavier slaught er thau they had undergone themselves. The whole aspect within our lines, or rather within the boundaries of our brigades, wore the look of triumph. Our enemies, wherever we had met them baud to hand, in anything like open opportunity, had sunk before us ; all their bafc | teries immediately within our reach had silenc ed ; but, what was iufinitely more conclusive to our green appreciations, General McDowell, our Cammander-in Chief,now came jingling on the field, waving, first his glove, and then his hat, calling us " brave boys," and telling us with the grand air of Caesar, that we had won the day. He passed away like a splendid dream. "A big thing," in glorious uniform, aud branching new regulation hat. After our joyful shouts had gone down the wind after him, our tired legions flung them selves, by oue accord, upon the ground,to take a brief suap at their haversacks, und to catch a few minutes repose before making their final dispositions for tho day. Perhaps no army which had.won a victory was ever more fa tigued, and tho men as they lay upon their sides, and rehearsed the horrors of the day, wondered how they had held out so long.— •Many, however, had not even this repose, for they were bearing off their wounded comrade? to the hospital, and others were searching for their sworn brethren in arms among the dead These lay about in the most fantastic shapes some absolutely headless, some represented bj a gory trunk alone, some with smiles,and sotut with rage upon their lips,as they grasped tbeii bent and curiously twisted weapons, and som< actually rolled up like a ball Whoever woulc study the eccentricities of carnage, might hert have graduated through all the degrees of hor ror, to a full experience at once. Nearly the whole of our army was now grouped pretty well together. The brigade: which had made the circuit against the enemy': .•<ide had been joined by those which had fough straight on ; and a glance at the field showet that the whole breadth of our battle had no spread over a mile and a half Had we been up ii Professor Lowe's balloon, we might have seei VOL. XXII. —NO. lO at once that, with all our prowess aud heroic daring, we had merely cut a hole in the small end of the enemy's plateau of batteries, aud that his rear, which our Geueral imagined he had turned, overhung us in massive wings, which still remaiued untouched. Our plan, therefore, was, as I said before, too small for the measure of our customer. The coat which bad been chalked in conception of a boy,would uot inclose the proportions of a man, and we were destined, as is often the case with new beginuers, to have our work turned upon our hauds. This truth came soou j for suddenly as wo were restiug, the roar of battle broke out again in every direction, and batteries we had thought mute forever, now opened with redoubled fury. The most terrific yells from the enemy accompanied the renewal or the con flict, and it became evideot that, instead of having yielded to the untoward fortunes of the day, they had only been refreshing them selves while pouring new regiments into their lower works. The Sherman Brigade, astound, ed by this new assault, was forced to retire from the position it had occupied ; but it re treated in good-style, and being now entirely without otders, began to march off toward the rear. They passed on their road the brigade of Schenck, which, with the brigades of Howard and Franklin, had been siuce noou in the densest of strife ; the Maine boys and the Vermouters haviug signalized themselves espe cially by the enthusiasm of their charges,while none, during the tempestuous fortunes of that day, excelled the Miuuesota and the sth Mas sachusetts iu the stubborn fortitude with which again aud again, they pressed through, and withstood the fiercest fire. As the Sherman Brigade went by, Scbeuck's men stood breath ing in the woods, the New.York 2d occupying a posiliou ou the left. The 6lh brought up the rear of the temporarily retiring colamn ; but its gallant Colonel, watchful its welfare lingered behind, and urged stragglers not to get separated from their commands. Hu paused for an instant to salute Col. Tompkins of the 2d,who stood dismounted at a little dis tance from his regiment, on the opposite side of the road. Just at this moment, a large body of the enemy's Black Horse were seen making a chargo toward them, though its immediate object was to attack Carlisle's bat tery, which, out of ammunition, stood limber ed up iu the centre of the road. The t% Colonels watched the movement, and, transfix ed with excitement as tht-y saw the dragoons saber the canuoniers, forgot to take measures for their owu protectiou. It was imminently necessary that they should for the quick exploit upon the battery had scarcely retarded the black column in the least, and they came pouring ou the unformed col umns of the Schenck Brigade. Promptly, however, the quick order of McCook shaped the Ist Ohio, and the others, following by in* i stinct, showtd a firm line, with bayonets nil poised, and ready tor the charge. The Black Horse looked for a moment, but not liking that array of steel, they liirted off to the right ; (receiving a vo'ley as they went), and a squad of them made a dashlto cut-off the two colonels who were isolated in the road. Thompkins, who saw the danger coming, quickly sprang to a horse near at baud, and calling on Cor coran to follow, spurred him at a fence. The troopers, however, were too near for Corcor au's tired horse, and whirling around the Irish Colonel, they took him captive, and bore bim off. A portiou of the squad followed after Tompkins, but his spirited charger leaped two fences in fine style, and amid the crack ol the dragoous' six shooters, he got safe away. The brigade of Schenck, being now utter'y fagged ont, and being moreover entirely without or ders, fell back upon the footsteps of the 69th, The Burnside Brigade was still upon the field, where they had received from General McDowell the news of victory, and, conse qnently, had heard, with the surprise that was equal amoug all of oar brigades, the angry re opening of the Gght. They had seen, too, tha other brigades file off toward the rear, but having no orders for such movement, and not being in the fire, the staunch Rhode Islanders, Wisconeooians and list doggedly held their feet. But the musketry on oor side was get ting faint, and the great gnns of the enemy, unprovoked from our almost exheusted batter ies, were now but sparsely fired. Everything therefore, indicated another lull, and it could not be made certain to onr minds but that we I had really won the victory after all, and that last cannonade was but the angry finish of the enemy. Suddenly aery broke from the ranks of " Look there ! Look there I" and, turning their eyes toward Manassas, the whole of onr drooping regiments, as well as those who were moving to the rear as those who stood, saw a sight which none who ever gazed opon it will forget. THE PAGEANT OF THE ENEMY'S RESERVES. At a long way up the rise, and issuing from the enemy's extreme left, appeared, slowly de bouching into sight, a dense column of infan try, marching with slow and solid step, and loc king, at this noiseless distance,like a mirage of ourselves, or the illusion of a panorama.—- Rod by rod the massive cofbmn lengthened, not breaking off ut the completion of a regi ment, as we had hoped, but still pouring on, and on, and on, till one regiment had length ened into ten. Even then the stern tide did not pause ; tor one of its arms turned down ward along the far side of the triangle, and, the source of the flood thus relieved, poured ' forth again, aud commenced lining the other ! in like manner. Still the solemn picture swol • led its volume, till the ten regiments had doubl s ed iuto twenty, and hnd taken the formation 1 of three sides of a hollow sqware. Our awe ! struck legionß, though beginning to feel tha • approaches of despair.could not take their eyes from that majestic pageant, and, thoogh ex ' periencing a uew necessity, were frozen to the < sight. 5 The martial tide flowed on, the lengthening t regiments growing into thirty thousand men, 1 with a mass of black cavalry in its centre, the t whole moving toward us, as the sun danced i upon its pomp of bayonets, with the soledaa l ( Conelv-ded. on foutth fig* )
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