FIRST HAND ACCOUNT:
[This first hand account was written by George Baylor, Captain Company B, The Virginia 12th Cavalry Regiment].
On July 4th, General Johnston, who was in command of the Army of the Shenandoah, joined us at Darkesville with his whole command, and his little army was drawn up in line of battle to confront Patterson, who was then in possession of Martinsburg. This offer of battle was not accepted by Patterson, and after remaining in this position several days our army retired to Winchester, and preparations were hastily made to join Beauregard at Manassas, though our destination was not disclosed until we were well on our way.
On the 18th, our brigade marched to Berry’s Ferry, waded the Shenandoah, then up to the shoulders of the men, and reached Piedmont next morning, where we took the cars and arrived at Manassas on the evening of the 19th. At Piedmont, when the train pulled up, and orders were given to board, there was one coach a little superior to the others (which were principally box-cars and gondolas), and the Botts Greys seeing it, were soon snugly seated within; when to our surprise, Sandy Pendleton, then on General Johnston’s staff, entered and ordered us to vacate, saying that was the officers’ coach. The boys, saying they were as good as the officers, refused to vacate, and after some idle threats Pendleton disappeared, and the coach was retained.
On the 20th, our brigade went into line in front of McDowell, near Mitchell’s Ford, on Bull Run, close to the battle-field of the 18th.
On the morning of the 21st, the brigade was ordered to the left of our army to reinforce our troops then engaged with McDowell’s advance. We moved into line southeast of the Henry house, on a little crest, in front of a pine thicket. The battle was then raging and the Confederates were retiring. As the dead and wounded were carried past, we realized for the first time the horrors of battle.
Company C, commanded by Captain Nelson, was on the left of our regiment, the Botts Greys, Company G, was next in line to Company C, and as the men in the companies fell into line according to size, my place was on the extreme left of Company G, next to Tom Burnett, our fourth corporal, and adjoining the right of Company C. Captain Nelson was at the right of his company, and near him were the Randolph’s, Grubbs, Cooke, and others of large stature. On the left of Company C was the Thirty-third regiment of our brigade, the Fourth, Fifth, and Twenty-seventh being on the right.
The enemy’s artillery shelled us in this position for an hour or more, doing little damage. During this cannonade I remember General Beauregard riding in our front and the rousing cheer we gave him. Sam Wright broke ranks, ran forward and shook his hand. This was our first view of Beauregard, and his appearance is still indelibly impressed on my mind. About 2 P. M. I heard small-arms on our left, and turning in that direction, saw the Thirty-third regiment engaging the enemy. I recollect their first volley and how unfavorably it affected me. It was apparently made with guns raised at an angle of forty-five degrees, and I was fully assured that their bullets would not hit the Yankees, unless they were nearer heaven than they were generally located by our people. To my great astonishment and admiration, however, I soon saw these same men gallantly charging a battery in their front, and my spirits rose. Our men clamored to go forward to assist them, but our officers refused permission, and the golden opportunity was accordingly lost. The Thirty-third took the battery, but not being reinforced, was forced to fall back in some disorder, which resulted in leaving the left of our regiment exposed to an enfilading fire, and the enemy soon took advantage of the situation and opened on Companies C and G at short range. Under this galling fire, with some of our officers shouting to the men, "don’t fire; they are friends," our men were somewhat confused, but soon realizing the true situation, briskly returned the enemy’s fire with telling effect. I have since that time been in many engagements, yet have never seen men act as coolly and boldly under such disadvantageous circumstances as our men did on that occasion. Companies C and G, though suffering heavily, were unflinching and holding their own against largely superior numbers when the order was given to fall back and form a new line. This was done, no doubt, to present a front to the foe now outflanking us. It was, however, an unfortunate move. Few men can retire calmly under a galling fire, and the execution of this order resulted in stampeding some good soldiers, but the large majority re-formed and again advanced, and our right at the same time moving forward, the enemy was pressed back and soon in flight. The forward movement of our brigade, sustained by the attack of a portion of Gen. Kirby Smith’s command, produced this favorable result. We had now received our baptism of fire and the brigade was christened by the dying words of General Bee, "Stonewall," a name which it bore through the four years’ conflict and handed down to posterity untarnished.
The victory was decisive. General Scott wired McClellan:
"After fairly beating the enemy and taking three of his batteries, a panic seized McDowell’s army and it is in full retreat on the Potomac. A most unaccountable transformation into a mob of a finely appointed and admirably led army."
B. S. Alexander, a captain of engineers, wired General Scott:
"General McDowell’s army in full retreat through Centreville. The day is lost. Save Washington and the remnant of this army. General McDowell is doing all he can to cover the retreat. Colonel Miles is forming for that purpose. He was in reserve at Centreville. The routed troops will not re-form."
The report of General McDowell, then at Fairfax Courthouse, on his retreat, says:
"The men having thrown away their haversacks in battle and left them behind, they are without food; have eaten nothing since breakfast. We are without artillery ammunition. The larger part of the men are a confused mob, entirely demoralized. It was the opinion of all the commanders that no stand could be made this side of the Potomac. We will, however, make the attempt at Fairfax Courthouse. From a prisoner we learn that 20,000 from Johnston joined last night, and they will march on us to-night."
And in his report, written at Arlington, on August 4th, two weeks after the battle, he says:
"From the late reports it will be seen that our killed amounted to 19 officers and 462 non-commissioned officers and men, and our wounded to 64 officers and 947 non-commissioned officers and privates. The returns of the missing are very inaccurate, the men supposed to be missing having fallen into other regiments and gone to Washington—many of the Zouaves to New York."
General Johnston, in his report of the battle, says:
"Our victory was as complete as one gained by infantry and artillery can be. An adequate force of cavalry would have made it decisive. It is due, under Almighty God, to the skill and resolution of General Beauregard, the admirable conduct of Generals Bee, E. K. Smith, and Jackson, and of Colonels (commanding brigades) Evans, Cocke, Early, and Elzey, and the courage and unyielding firmness of our patriotic volunteers. The admirable character of our troops is incontestably proved by the results of this battle, especially when it is remembered that little more than 6,000 men of the Army of the Shenandoah with 16 guns, and less than 2,000 of that of the Potomac with six guns, for fully five hours successfully resisted 35,000 United States troops with powerful artillery and a superior force of regular cavalry. The loss of the Army of the Potomac was 108 killed, 510 wounded, and 12 missing. That of the Army of the Shenandoah was 270 killed, 979 wounded, and 18 missing. Twenty-eight pieces of artillery, about 5,000 muskets, and nearly 500,000 cartridges, a garrison flag and ten colors, were captured on the field or in the pursuit. Besides these, we captured 64 artillery horses with their harness, 26 wagons and much camp equipage, clothing and other property abandoned in their flight. We captured also about 1,600 prisoners.
As will appear from the foregoing reports, the rout was complete, and only a small portion of our forces was actually engaged. The brunt of the day was borne by the Seventh and Eighth Georgia, the Fourth Alabama, the Second and Eleventh Mississippi, the Sixth North Carolina, Hampton’s Legion, and Jackson’s Brigade—about three-fourths of the total loss on our side being suffered by these commands.
Though the rout of the Federal army was complete, the fruits of the victory were lost by poor generalship. With fully 10,000 men who had not been engaged favorably located on our right, where the distance to Centreville was less than it was from the battle-field, no effort was made to intercept the flying foe. It was reported and currently believed that Jackson had been refused permission to pursue with his brigade. With President Davis, Generals Johnston and Beauregard on the field, eye-witnesses of the enemy’s discomfiture and utter demoralization, their strange conduct cannot be explained or their sin of omission condoned.
It has been truly said that the Army of Northern Virginia possessed only one general who reaped the proper fruits of victory—his name was Stonewall Jackson. Having routed the enemy, our army quietly rested on its arms and patiently waited until our opponent, fully rallied from discomfiture, recruited and organized a larger and better-equipped force, and again advanced to give us battle. Such folly on our part seems almost criminal. With an Alexander, a Napoleon, or a Von Moltke for a leader, the war would have been of short duration, and the success of our arms assured.
Company G, Botts Greys, lost in this battle, Butler, Page, and Briscoe killed, and Lieutenant English and Privates Aisquith, W. P. Manning, Seth and Joe Timberlake, Wiltshire, Painter, Wright, and Middlecoff wounded.
Source: Barlor, George. Bull Run to Bull Run; of Four Years in the Army of Northern Virginia. Clearwater, SC. Eastern Digital Resources. 2003. 145 pgs. CD-ROM Ebook Paperback Hardback
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