With all these advantages, the separation of our armies gave to the Confederates an opportunity not to be neglected. Stonewall Jackson, the moment the Seven Days' battles were over, urged an offensive movement against the Army of Virginia. Lee, however, more cautious if not more sagacious, recognizing, like McClellan, that the defense of Washington lay at Richmond, waited till the 13th of July, when, knowing that no reenforcements had been sent to the Army of the Potomac, he moved Jackson with his own and Ewell's division to Culpeper Court House. Near this place, on the 9th of August, Jackson fought the battle of Cedar Mountain, and then fell back across the Rapidan. This temporary retreat resorted to for safety, was but preparatory to a general movement.

The reports of spies from Washington, where, after the injunction of secrecy was removed, army movements could be discussed in Congress, on the streets, and in the hotels; the advance of the Army of Virginia midway to the Confederate capital; the reembarkation of Burnside's corps at Fort Monroe, and its landing at Aquia Creek; the increase of the number of transports on the James River, together with the shipment of troops and stores, satisfied the mind of the Confederate commander that if Richmond was still our objective point, we had determined to reach it by the overland route."

No longer uneasy as to the safety of his capital, he designated a division for its protection, and on the 13th of August, the day before the Fifth Corps began the retreat from the Peninsula, put the main body of his army in march for the Rapidan.

Fortunately for the Union, the Confederates were slow in profiting by their advantage. With but 60 miles to march to the Rapidan, part of the troops proceeding by rail, and a further march of 20 miles to the Rappahannock, it was not till the 21st and 22d of August, that they were able to make demonstrations along the line of the latter river, which, owing to the judicious dispositions of General Pope, they were unable to cross until the 25th.

In the meantime, General Pope had been reenforced by Reno's division of Burnside's corps, and by the Fifth Corps under General Porter, the head of which only arrived at Aquia Creek on the 21st.

Thus, notwithstanding the tardiness of the Confederates, but one corps of the Army of the Potomac, by making forced marches and using every exertion to hasten its transportation by water, was able to join the Army of Virginia on the line designated by the General in Chief,

a Pollard's Lost Cause, p. 303.

CHAPTER XXIII.

REVIEW OF THE CAMPAIGN OF THE SECOND BULL RUN.

GENERAL POPE'S ORDERS AND DISPOSITION OF TROOPS.

Had General Pope been left to himself, it is probable that he would have conducted his army back to Bull Run or to the defenses where the concentration could have been effected in safety; but on the 21st, General Halleck telegraphed that in fully forty-eight hours he could be made strong enough, adding "Don't yield an inch if you can help it." a

This order General Pope carried out to the letter. On the 23d, he intended to cross the Rappahannock and give battle, but was prevented by a rise of the river. The same day, Heintzelman's corps from the Army of the Potomac, without its artillery, arrived by rail at Warrenton Junction, having, by a change of orders, been disembarked at Alexandria, instead of Aquia Creek. On the 25th, General Pope became fully aware of a turning movement by his right. On the 26th, in the evening, Stonewall Jackson, with about 30,000 men, seized his communications at Kettle Run, 6 miles east of Warrenton Junction. For more than sixteen years, the mass of our loyal people of the country have been convinced that the second battle of Bull Run was lost on the 29th of August, and that the loss was due to the disobedience of orders, insubordination, and treachery of some of the high officers of the Army of the Potomac. This conviction was naturally produced by the official dispatches and subsequent report of the commander of the Army of Virginia.

In settling so important a question, the only safe data are despatches and official reports. From these it appears that up to the night of August 27, the dispositions of the commander of the Army of Virginia were all that could have been expected from a skillful commander. General Halleck had asked him to hold the Rappahannock till the 23d; he held it till the 26th. His army at the time consisted as follows:

5,000

Banks's corps

Sigel's corps

Reno's corps (Burnside's command)

McDowell's corps (including Reynold's division of the Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac)

9,000

15,500

7,000

Heintzelman's corps and Porter's corps.

18,000

Cavalry

4,000

Total.....

58,500

The cavalry was so completely broken down that there were not more than 500 fit for effective service. Although short of this class of

a Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, pt. 2, p. 125, Supplement.

troops, called the eyes of an army, General Pope had exact information of the movements and strength of the enemy. He knew, on the evening of the 27th, that Jackson, with Ewell's, Taliaferro's and A. P. Hill's infantry divisions, supported by cavalry and artillery, the whole from 25,000 to 30,000 strong, had left the main body of Lee's army and gotten completely in his rear. He saw also, with satisfaction, that his own movements betokened an easy victory over his adversary.

The evening of the 27th, McDowell and Sigel, 24,500 strong, were at Gainesville, on the Warrenton and Centreville pike, the only route by which Jackson could escape through Thoroughfare Gap. Reno's command and Kearney's division, with a total of about 11,000, were at Greenwich. Hooker's division of Heintzelman's corps, moving along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad toward Manassas, on the afternoon of the 27th, had already had a fight with Ewell's divisions at Bristoe Station. Porter, with 9,000 men, was between Warrenton Junction and Bristoe. Banks, with 5,000 men, brought up the rear, guarding the material and trains.

Although the two armies had not been wholly united, the commander of the Army of Virginia saw himself at the head of 60,000 men, while the enemy had but 30,000. Another move, and his triumph would be complete. Confident of success, he sent the following order to General Porter at 6.30 p. m. from Bristoe Station:

The Major-General Commanding directs that you start at 1 o'clock to-night, and come forward with your whole corps, or such part of it as is with you, so as to be here by daylight to-morrow morning. Hooker has had a very severe action with the enemy, with a loss of about 300 killed and wounded. The enemy has been driven back, but is retiring along the railroad. We must drive him from Manassas and clear the country between that place and Gainesville, where McDowell is It is necessary on all accounts that you should be here by daylight. " To General Kearny he sent orders from Bristoe at 9.30 p. m.:

*

*

*

a

At the very earliest blush of dawn push forward with your command with all speed to this place. You can not be more than 3 or 4 miles distant. Jackson, A. P. Hill, and Ewell are in front of us. Hooker has had a severe fight with them to-day. McDowell marches upon Manassas Junction from Gainesville to-morrow at daybreak. Reno upon the same place at the same hour. I want you here at day dawn, if possible, and we shall bag the whole crowd. Be prompt and expeditious, and never mind wagon trains or roads till this affair is over.

To General McDowell (commanding left wing, consisting of his own and Sigel's corps) he sent orders:

At daylight to-morrow morning march rapidly on Manassas Junction with your whole force, resting your right on the Manassas Gap Railroad, throwing your left well to the east. Jackson, Ewell, and A. P. Hill are between Gainesville and Manassas Junction. We had a severe fight with them to-day, driving them back several miles along the railroad. If you will march promptly and rapidly at the earliest dawn of day upon Manassas Junction, we shall bag the whole crowd. I have directed Reno to march from Greenwich at the same hour upon Manassas Junction, and Kearny, who is in his rear, to march on Bristo at daybreak. Be expeditious and the day is our own.

The order to General McDowell implied that he should march in parallel columns, or en échelon of columns, with sufficient distance between them to form line at any moment, his right resting on the Manassas Gap Railroad, his left "well to the east.

a Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, vol. 2, p. 144. Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, vol. 2, p. 145, Supplement.

General McDowell's order shows that he comprehended the views of the army commander. It read:

I. Major-General Sigel will immediately march with his whole corps on Manassas Junction, his right resting on the Manassas Railroad.

II. Brigadier-General Reynolds will march on the turnpike, immediately in the rear of General Sigel, and form his division on the left of General Sigel, and march upon Manassas Junction.

III. Brigadier-General King will follow immediately after General Reynolds and form his division on General Reynolds's left and direct his march on Manassas

Junction.

IV. Brigadier-General Ricketts will follow Brigadier-General King and march to Gainesville, and if on arriving there no indication shall appear of the approach of the enemy from Thoroughfare Gap, he will continue his march along the turnpike, form on the left of General King, and march on Manassas Junction. He will be constantly on the lookout for an attack from the direction of Thoroughfare Gap, and in case one is threatened, he will form his division to the left and march to resist it. The headquarters of the corps will be at King's division. a

General Pope believed the enemy to be between Gainesville and Manassas, and this conclusion was warranted by such information as he had received.

The enemy in the meantime had made new dispositions. Talliaferro's division, late on the night of the 27th, or early in the morning of the 28th, moved from Manassas by the Sudley Church road and took position on the Warrenton pike near Groveton, three miles and a half east of Gainesville. Ewell's division, crossing Bull Run on the morning of the 28th, moved up the north bank, and then joined Talliaferro, via the Warrenton pike. A. P. Hill at the same time moved to Centreville, turned to the left, and via the Warrenton pike hastened to join the other two divisions west of Bull Run. Jackson's cavalry pressed on to Fairfax Court-House. Whether the enemy had remained at Manassas on the morning of the 28th, or was executing the movements just explained, it admits of no doubt that had General Pope's order been executed (by McDowell's command), Jackson must have been totally defeated, if not captured.

On a front of two lines, omitting Ricketts's division, which was wisely ordered to Thoroughfare Gap, General McDowell's two corps would have extended almost two miles. To execute the movement directed in General McDowell's order, King's division, which was to form the left, must have marched by the Warrenton pike as far east as Groveton before turning off for Manassas. This will appear the more certain, when it is stated that had line been formed with the right resting on the Manassas Gap Railroad, three miles east of Gainesville, the left would have reached to Groveton. To cover properly the advance of McDowell's left, his cavalry should have been sent at least two miles east of Groveton, which would have enabled it to overlook Bull Run and thus discover any movement of the enemy on the Warrenton pike west of Stone Bridge. Had this precaution been observed, or even had the left column advanced without cavalry as far east as Groveton, the enemy's position would have been discovered and a battle would have been inevitable. But to prevent such a result a series of contretemps now occurred, for which General Pope was in no wise responsible.

On the evening of the 27th, one division of Sigel's corps was at Gainesville, the other a mile or two in its rear. McDowell's corps

a Report of Military Operations during the Rebellion, vol. 6, p. 222.

was at Buckland Mills, three miles west of Gainesville. General Pope's order prescribed that the troops should move at earliest dawn, but at 7.30 a. m. General McDowell was notified by General Reynolds, commanding the leading division of his own corps, that Sigel's corps was halting at the junction of the pike and the Manassas Gap Railroad, and that it was making no preparations to advance, the men at the time being engaged in cooking their breakfasts." Although an adjutant-general was sent to correct the neglect, it was not till late in the forenoon that the head of the corps began the march for Manassas. Meanwhile Reynolds's division, crossing the railroad and advancing toward Groveton, had a brush with the enemy, whose sudden disappearance led to the belief that it was merely a rear guard or a detachment of cavalry with artillery, sent out to reconnoiter.

The demonstration, however, slight as it was, made both Reynolds and Sigel deploy the former perpendicular, the latter parallel to the pike. This caused another delay, succeeded by a mistake which more than any other proved fatal to the campaign. In resuming the march, General Sigel misconstrued his orders and began a circular movement to place his right on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. Reynolds and King followed in echelon, on the left. As a consequence, the whole force which was to have advanced on the north of the Manassas Gap Railroad, crossed to the south and proceeded in this false direction until the right arrived within 2 miles of Manassas. Here the cavalry reported that the place had been evacuated.

General Sigel states in his report that, before he faced his corps about and moved back to form line near Gainesville so as to assist General Reynolds, the cavalry sent out a mile and a half to the left of the road to Manassas was shelled by the enemy. This fact, in connection with General Reynolds's skirmish at Gainesville, denoted the presence of the enemy in the direction of Groveton. Later in the day, when the movement was again resumed, the two corps passing around the enemy's flank lost their contact, and hence when they arrived near Manassas had no information to communicate. General Pope was thus left to divine the enemy's movements from such information as he could gather at Manassas.

The orders that followed, with the serious consequences they entailed, will justify us in pausing for a few moments to call attention to the inadequate strength of the Adjutant-General's Department.

Of late no argument has been used more effectively to prevent military legislation, than the assertion that the principles of military organization abroad are designed to support monarchies, and that, if not dangerous, they are at least incompatible with free institutions. No delusion could be greater. The student of modern history cannot fail to discover that the principles of organization, like those of strategy, are of universal application, and that no nation has ever violated them, except at its peril.

Under the European system, by means of war academies and interchangeability between the line and the staff, every division commander in time of war is furnished with at least three, and every corps commander with at least six, and every army commander with from half a dozen to a dozen officers of the general staff, all of whom have made military history and the movements of armies a special study.

@McDowell's report, Report of Military Operations during the Rebellion, vol. 6, p. 207.