Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-08-13
EHEoNHEAT RATTLR OF mANAs.

III T~NSp' Pot yodl 4 IN
HHEotsHEAT BATTLE OF mANAs
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Melty ln!eresting NRrraGiyss--Gai
A I'LL Onnduct OF Officers and Men
4 HsceneS and HnctdemIs l'-f'- = afrrNN-
IL From the Richmond Dispatch, July 20. 1 tAa
Although more than week has passed sine
4 the great battle OF Manassas, and the publio IA
daily been furnished with narratives of deed
Done on that bloody field, there vet remain
mucn 10 De told, and we have spared no effort
70 procure from the most reliable sources sucl
records OF the event a. will not only interes
tne reader, but serve 40 guide to the historian
Mno snail hereafter embody the Incidents OF the
distinguished officer, who bore n oansnionou
part 90 the field of battle, on the 3lst OF july;
I Y aabos THE BATTLE eE MANASSAS. 7 10 Alma.
y RoHNosD, July 81, 1861 ut may not be iuu
acceptable 10 your readers to learn sometbinp
OF the battle OF MANASSAS from aa eyewitness
VINO had better opportunities of observation
perhaps,than any one else. The first gun fireC
Dy the enemy was at five minutes past s,
o'clock in the morning, batteries opening sgains
our center as q feint to conceal the movement
against our left "A short time afterward, Gen
Johnston and Gef Beauregard, with their staff
rode on to the nearest point of elevation and OBJ
servation convenient to the centre, and there
awaited Developments, whilst the iron hail Whs
tied around and over them A singular mis-.
conception seems to pervade the public mind
which has not yet been corrected, that Gen
BeguregsTd fought the battle, and Gen. Johnston
yielded 10 preconceiusd plans. Whilst according
D 10 lran Raau I'd kha -. L
entitled, and there does not live more gallant
gentleman and officer, nor one for whom / have
q higher admiration as General, it is due to
Gen. Johnston to say, that he planned the battle.
Ere eminently modest man, Gen. Johnston,
perhaps, would never claim the high honor,
which is his due, and therefore It devolyes upon
MIS- friends to portray the man. h'ss
without such General, the Republic would
no Longer flourish so greenly, for reverses would
have shoWered upon our arms, and despondency
would wreathe our faces instead of the bright
CLEANS Of hope. Essentially q man of iudg-
ment, General Johnston has never risked, during
the campaign, any battle where o IT chances were
| not good. Though our men murmured, vastly
when ordered to 60 backward from Harper
Ferry, from Bunker's Hill, from Darksvile
and from Winchester, no one can now dare dis.
pute the ssgacity which planned all the move
ments. To have risked a battle by attacking
superior numbers, entaiilng defeat upon us
would doubtless have crushed our proud Repub
lilo In its inception When General Johnston
lwho has always been in correspondence with
General Beauregard in regard to the junction OF
the armies, and whofo weeks have also pointed
out to the President the absolute necessity Of
such a moyement) received orders 10 form the
junction, 1t came at a fortunate moment, when
PATTERSON had moved to Charleston, twenty -four
miles distant, and had placed it out of bis power
TO attack us in the rear. Only ten thousand OF
our column arrived in time for the battle, but
they were enough. s...... - -. 80
To return, However, to the battle; our line
was extended over distance Of eight miles, In
position nearly assimiating to q semi circle.
On Saturday night General Johnston assumed
command, and nearly the entire night was con-
sumed by the staff of both Generals In writing
orders to the different brigades to prepare for a
forward movement in the morning. = General
Beauregard's plans were to be carried ont in q
great measure, and the rout Of the enemy would
have been more signal, and doubtless Washing.
ton would now be In our possession, If our at
tack had not been converted into defense by
the lmoyementsiof the enemy. We intended 70
move about o'clock, and they commenced their
attack before our movement could be made.---
From letter written by one of the enemy,
dated July ~, T. NJ, and afterward found by
thelwriter, their position was taken and move
ments commenced at that hour. Our Generals
waited patiently upon the knoll which have
designated, but the same cannot be said of your
humble servant or the other gentlemen around
about, until finally the rattle of musketry upon
our extreme left betokened that somebody was
getting hurt.n bta g9d! N9.i hsyn-h a iliW
lf To understand the battle, you must know that
our line was faced toward Bull Run and imme
diately back Of it, defending the various fords.
By turning our flank, the line OF battle was
changed to direction perpendicular to the one
which we had assumed, and commencing ct our
left, extended back for mile and quarter.
When the musketry betrayed the "cat Ia the
meal tub, "away went the Generals and their
staff, flying upon the wings of the wind to reach
the scene Of action, distant three miles. The
country was a rolling one, thickly interspersed
with pine thickets, and the battle ground was an
open valley with hill upon each side, rising
som Q 100 feet above the low ground. and distant
from each other about 600 yards, The struggle
was an alternate movement Of regiments. When
the head Of McDoWell's 3 column, reached Sud
ley,s spring, ford much higher up than It was
anticipated they would efosa, as the Stone
Bridge was the point we were defending upon
Vuki GAtADAANl A9&st 4aAOeAy tuCy uuChkeu 0tQ0R,
getting In behind us, until discovered, believe,
BY General E Eyaps's p lr Brigade, who opened fire
They had now retreated to the brow Of the hill,
where the brigade of Gen jackson was lying
perdu, aud this was thelmost, critical point Of
the day. Fighting for hours under hot sun,
without drop OF water near, the conduct Of
our men could not be excelled; but human en-.
dnrance has its bounds, and oil seemed about 70
be lost. Our reserves were yet miles distant
from the scene of action, whilst the enemy's re-
serve kept pressing on. From the knoll near
the Lewis HVupo, the two Generals had remained
anxious spectators Of the conflict, bot the time
had come for, action, and plunging their spurs
into the quick footed steeds, away went the
Genetals and their staff into the thickest Of the
fight. Coming up frat 70 the Alabamians, who
we're without q field officer, Gen. Johnston
placed his color1besrer BY his horses side and
moyed on-each and all Of the staff, with the
Generals, vieing with each other Ia words Of en-
confsgement to the men to come on. And well
timed was this movement x bhAs sssi lsaaiss
Already our line upon the hill top was giving
away, but melted to fresh deeds Of heroism by
the appearance in their midst Of our Generals,
apparently bringing up reinforcements, they
pitched into the fray. with redoubled afdor, and
from that time yielded not an inch Of ground
Gen Beaufegard, riding over to- the left, tool
chafgeof operations there, Displaying bis feck-
less bravery by riding every whore In the face oi
the enemy's fire, and having his horse killed be-
meath him, fortunately escaping uninjured him.
self. The tide Of battle thus checked, away
went Gen, Johnston's staff to hurry up the re
serves and assign them to proper positions. Thl
fret we're met two miles back, covered with dus
and coming at double quick, On they went
| plungingJ into the midst Of the fray, and th,
sunshine Of certainty did mot CLEAN from be
meath the mprky clouds until Gen. Kirby Smitl
ler,ivad ! with n nortion of hia atviaioa r,nr an.