Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1861-07-26
xEfs aEsAY hArrLE,

L
ton. by an eve witness OF the mighty conflict Of Sunday
last. the greater portion Of which We annex:
@, yriday the 1s.h, General Joseph T. Johnston, who
he'd command Of the army Of the SHENANDOAH posed at
! ;rpcaeetsr arrived At Manassas junction win iour
Thousand OF hs DIVISION TO reinforce Inc
remainder Of bis army with the exception q safhelen'
forcs 70 hold ~inoheser) were Intended 10 arrive on
s,,nrIay the ooh; but in consequence Of some rail-
ROAD casualty they did Lot reach the scene OF oo1nct
| until Sunday between the hours OF and O'Clock,
when the battle was raging at lis hight. =,
Gan Johnston although perhaps entitled, by strict mill
itary rule the command being ihs superior 10 rabk o.
Besusegasd, with tho mAgnauimy and chi'alre cour-
tesy for which that gallant soldier Distinguished iei'
the latter TO execute the plans which had all been ma
tuei assuring General Beauregard OF bis earnest CO.
operation towards their success And ncby did een'
| eral Johnston redeem his promise.
The distant cannon short intervals since taybreak
had apprsed US that the enemy 10 motion, but 10
what direction could only surmse until we reached
| point mile and half from the breastworks, h the
North west angle Of the Notifications Of hanassas juno
ton.
| At about o'clock We reachad bill above kitohers
Ford almost bare Of trees and sufficiently bigh to at
ford su unobsruced view of the opposite heigh After
taking eisurey survey OF the beautiful landscape spread
out before US all the loneliness and grandeur OF nature
and listening with wachu intent TO the booming oil the
heavy cannon on our right and nxiousy examining the
locations where the guns OF the enemy on the opposite
hills were plainly be with the naked eye, and the
heavy clouds Of dust rising above the woods in from: and
on either side indicating the direction 10 which the heavy
columns of the enemy were marching, We each sought
the shade OF tree where drew forth our memoran-
dun books and pencils note down for tho information
of the thousands who looked TO US for description oil
the day occurrences tie various shifngs OF the scene
which hencsforth forms an era in the history oil our
young Confederacy and grandy naugurates the march
Of glory on which she has entered.
Shortly afterwards Generals Beauregard Johnston and
Bonbsm accompanied by their aid, came galopng up
the hill and dsmounted on the summit. The Generals
held an conversation for few minutes while tax
ing survey OF the field and watching the successive
challenge, from the enemys batteries, directed against
| our right and among the woods near htchelps Ford
where the hospital stationed and the yellow flag flying
This was also the point where the fire OF Thursday was
directed and where the mark Of cannon ball to be
s,eu In the kitchen and stable OF house In which Gen.
eaure gard dued that cay at the time the ball struck
the building Whether the enemy thoughtit was aga!a BIZ
Headquarters or whether the f.e was nov playing TO-
ward that point TO draw out response from US, "a not
known Ii is more likely, however, IL was mere fen'
Ian impotent attempt deceive our skiul and able
commander "a TO the point whers the enemy most IN
force for 50 our wise General considered H. IS he VA
seen 30 direct Gen. Johnsans attention particularly with
his hand TO our extreme Left he knew the struggle
was TO be made there.
should here remark that it had been Gen. Beaurc-
CARDS purpose to make the attack instead OF waiting to
receive IT, but from cause unknown to me, DO pre-
ferred at last et tho enemy take the initshye per
haps for the reason tina. Gen. Johns,ons division had
been detained on the railroad.
Just at this tms by the aid OF our glass We could see
tAcir guns brought TO bear tho bill where we stood
for in few moments the smoke was discovered issuing
from their batteries Of ei cannou AID before scarcely
word could DO said the peculiar whI and Kissing oil
the balls notified tnat their aim had been well taken
Several balls fell in field Immediately behind US and
not hundred yards from the spot where the Generals
stood An officer Of Gen. Beauregsrds staff requestea
us 10 leave the hill and moved away shell burst
not twenty feet OF. Gel Bonner calculated with bis
watch the time taken by the balls to pass US, and made
the ditsncs and threequ.rtcr miles from the ene-
mys battery. The enemy, no doubt, discovered the
horses vi tho Generals and thought it good
TO display their marssEsnshp and credit is due TO them
for the accuracy Of their aim. Providence, hoTever,
who governed all things, covered the heads Of our Gen
erals as shield and preserved them for the hazardous
service in which they in short hour or two TO be
engaged.
|! was now abou. eleven O'clock and the enemy hsv-
ing opened with ride cannon and shell their right,
which they had continued for than three hours,
without response, heard away to the left about
miles distant the heavy booming Of cannon, followed i'm
mediatey by the rafting crack Of musketry-ihe dis
charges being repeated aud continuous-which notified
US the engagement had commenced in earnest at the
point where the battle was to be fought and won.
! Proceeding towards the ecene Of action soout two
miles We came & creek in the hollow where Of the
hospitss for the day he'd been stationed and tho first
wounded, come 20 or So had been brought Or. Gss-
ton Of South CAroliua formerly Surgeon in Col Cregss
Regiment but nov attached Gen. B,auregards head
quarters assduously attending TO the wants OF the
| wounded.
At this point Generals Beauregsrd aud Johnston, a:
| companied by staff OF twelve officers,
passed at tho full gaop, riding towards their headqua
tiers for the day. which hill Immediately over
looking the ground where brave eolders were man.
| fully and persistenty struggling for the victory.
large force Of cavalry here stationed, aud as
the Generals passed they called for three cheers for
Bcauregard, which were Immediately given, with right
| good will, and which the General gracefully acknow-
edged BY lifting his hat from his head and boSing his
thanks.
Both of our Generals plainly dressed No large
cpauletes gilt any fuss and fcather you could
only distinguish them at distance TO be officers by their
swords but closer inspection, the mai ks OF genius
end military xii! were unmsakable. Their uniform
vine. took be plain uadress. No: the least sign
of excitement 60 be OIL tho countsnsuces OF
either they cooy rode forward into tho storm Of iron
hail Beauregards eyes glstened with expectation,
doubt. when he 1erT4fds threw himself into the very
heart Of the action, appearing then, afterwards
mos. eypress!yey said OF him. 10 be the very mpersona
ton OF the god OF war" Gen. johnston, too, looked
every inch commander, and proved himself 70 DO tho
worthy inferior OF the proves and virtues OF bis
cestors.
On reaching the top of the hill where was q white
house. owned believe by NJ Lswis, they again
discovered BY the enemy, az the rf.d shot ADD shell
whzzod through the air and lodged in tue hollow behind
lersts thres miles b,ioY not having yet como up with
the enemy's main body.
At about II ooock Besuregsri and Johnston ss;url-
ed the command of our body at tho Stone Bridge.
The lie OF battle extended miles mp aud
down the creek, aud during the dag there some
minor engagements 81 other fords
At BIa0kburns Ford, Gen. jones' brigade made at
tack upon the left flank of the enemy who had two strorE
batteries in commanding position, which was impor
tsnt to capture. The iith South Caron, Regiment led
tie attack but troops were compelled 10 retire for
while under the heavy se of the batteries and musketry
Up TO the time os this attack these batteries had been
bonbsrdinz all the morning General Longsreets posi-
ton in his iutrsDchments On this SIDE Of the RAN
Gen. Evans of South Carolina the rst to lead his
brigade into action At Stone Bridge Il consisted Of the
Fourth South Carolina Regiment and Whests Louisiana
Battalion. Sustaining item, Gen. Cookies Brigade,
consisting o. the l7h and lsh aud 2sh Virginia Regi-
ments, commanded respectively by Co.'s Cooke, Withsrs
sod Robert T. Preston These brgadss we're the first
bear the bsunt Of the action they exposed 10
coccenrc fire. the obj ot OF tho enemy being TO turn our
LOFT flank while oudesvorng turn his right.
These regiments Of infantry sustaining tho famous
Washington Artillery Of New 0rsaus who had two OF
their guns at this point which made terrible havoc 10 the
ranks Of the enemy. The Federal troops Leading the
action consisted of 900 Regulars sustaining the cels
brled Shernans Battery these Regulars being In their
sustained by immense masses Of volunte, r. thu
New York Zouaves among the number. Gen. Bsaure-
gard estimated the mys numbers in the action 10 be
not less than 5000 men,
Their artillery far cunumbered ou:s. We have CAP
tured 81 pieces of cannon. while had only eighteen
guns that part Of the field It has been sa.ed to me
by many Of our soldiers cannot bus believe It, that
the enemy by hsd obtained our signal for
the day-they also used red badge which fortunate
~ discovered in time and they carried into action
the figs of the Palmetto State and tho States