Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1861-08-16

l could not, with every e1ertion, get foryar,
with the troops earlier than we did. / wished I
go to Centrevlle the second day, which would ha,,
taken us there on the 18th, and enabled us, SO IA
as they were concerned, to go into action on IN
18th instead of The 2lst; but when went forwart
from Fairfax Court House, beyond Germantown
to urge them forward, / was told it was impossibT
for the men 70 march forward. They had onI
come from Vienna, about miles. and it w,spr
more than G J miles farther to CentrevilIe-in 81
a march oil IA miles; but the men were foot
| weary, not so much, / was told by the distaoce
marched, as by the time they had been on foot
| caused by the Obstructions in the road and the
SLOW pace we had to move to avoid ambuscades
The men were, moreover, unaccustomed to march.
ing, their bodies not in condition for that kind ot
work, and not used to carrying even tho load o.
! Light marching order
We crossed Bull Run wi h about S ,0O9 men Of
all arms the 9TH division miles and Richardson,
! brigade, the left, at Blackburns ford 10 Cen
trey ;le, aud Scheuchs brigade, of Tyers division.
on the left OF re road, near the stone bridge, not
participatiHe an the main action.
The number opposed to us have been varicuslv
estimated. may safely say, and avoid even the
appearance Of exaggeration, that the enemy bro't
Up all be could, which were not kept engaged
elsewhere. lie had notice Of our coming on the
18th, and had from that time until the 2lst 70
bring up whatever he had 1t is known that in
estimating the force to 60 against Manassas, en-
EdbSN uOl 10 nave 10 90 WIN Inc enemy forces
under Johnston, then kept in check in the valley
by Maj Gen. Patterson, or those kept engaged by
Maj. zen. Butler; and know that every effort
was made by the Genersl-in-chief that this should
be done, and that even if Johnston Joined Beaure-
gard, it would not be because he could be followed
by Gen. Patterson, but from causes not necessary
for me to refer to, if knew them ALL
This was not done, and the enemy was free to
semble from every direction, in numbers only
limited by the amount of the railroad rolling
stock and his supply of provisions. To the forces,
therefore, we drove in from Fairfax Court House,
Fairfax Station, Germantown and Centreville and
those under Beauregsrd at Manassas, must be
added those under Johnston from Winchester, and
those brought up by Davis from Richmond to 9TH
er places at the South TO which is to be added the
levy en- masse, ordered by the Richmond authori-
tics, which was ordered to assemble at Manassas
hat all this amounted to, cannot say--certain-
ly much more than we attacked them with.
! could not, as have said, moro early push on
faster, nor could 1 delay. A large and the best
part OF my forces were three months volunteers
whose term Of service was about to expire, but
wbo were sent forward as having long enough TO
serve for the purpose Of the expedition. On the
eve of battle the Fourth Pennsylvania regiment of
volunteers and tn battery of volunteer artillery
OF the New York Eighth militia. whose term Of
service expired, insisted their discharge.
wrote TO the regiment, expressing a request for
them to remain short time, and the Hon. Secre-
tary oil W ar, who was at the time on the ground,
tried TO induce the battery 10 remain at least 5
days. But in vain They insisted on their dis
charge that night. 1t was granted; and the next
morning, when the army moved forward into bat
tie, these troops moved TO the rear to the sound Of
the enemy's cannon.
In the next few days, day by day, l should
have lost ten thousand of the best armed drilled
oficered AID disciplined troops in the army. In
other words, every day which added to the
strength of the enemy made us weaker.
In conclusion, / desire 10 say, in reference to
the events of the 2lst ult, that the general order
for the battle TO which | referred was with
slight notifications, literally corformed to; that
the corps were brought Bull Run in the
manner proposed, and put into action as before
arranged, and that up to late in the afternoon
every movement ordered was carrying us success
fully to the object we had proposed before start
ing-that of getting to the railroad leading from
Manassas to the valley of Virginia, and going on
1t far enough to break up and destroy the COM
munication and interviews between the forces
under Beauregard aud those under Johnston
And could we have fought day or a few hours
sooner, there is everything to show how could
have continued successful, even against the odds
with which contended.
have the honor to be, very respectfully, your
most obedient servant,
IRWIN MCDOWELL,
Big Gen. ling.