Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1861-08-22
Jshn Bull and RuII RIM

hd"or OF hs Ersnisg Star: The battle roar of
BUN Kun has been echoed back from the columns
OF the IhsHds,sr-the London Tinlss-in which.
sswas expected, Mr.. Correspondent r ussell figures
Iene'nilV as deineator Of what he saw Of that
hghs By his own account he saw nothing Of the
Dattie. He arrived at late hour Of the conflict
al Centrevillei saw not a shot fred; saw not one
soldier Of the rebel army, horse or foot but wa, s.
spectator merely Of the panic and the rout In
no respect, perhaps, has he given an exaggerated
picture Of either; but Mr. Russell has not hestated
10 rest on his limited opportunities Of seeing
oerogatory comments upon the character of the
connlct ne did not witness at all, and upon the
behavior OF our troops, successfully engaged for
hours before and up to the time of bis arrival
the first flying portion only Of which he saw, and
among whom he ,cds himself ION testimony pres
entity to be quoted) found In hasty re treat to
| Washington.
The editor Of the Times also, has doubtless
based his bitterly sarcastic criticism upon the
oattle ana the conduct Of the volunteers upon
the same unfair slender means Of judging either,
| furnished by his purveyor. Without advertipp
| 70 the dnfnps IN quo pervading the illusions of
both, let us glance at the selfcom plscent sketch
| MI Russell gives Of himself near the field of
battle
After having lunched at Centrevile he is en-
| couraged by the report Of an officer from the
scene OF strife that the ''rebes are whipped -
| ana MI Russell mounting his horse, tries to get
| sin 'front.' Of the battle II e soon finds himself
In the midst Of panic-stricken crowd of fugi.
lives among whom he appears to be the only
unalarmed person, going the other way As he
| bravely pushes towards ''the frontr the signs of
disastrous rout thicken, the cannon aounds nearer
and to his puzzled queries az to the cause OF the
panic, not man or officer passed is able to give
tcnh anil,
the fugitives, and in the midst Of bis calm er-
horations to them, his tsste for the active scenes
Of battle ''in front, )" which he .veut out for 10
see" suddenly disappears. Near a the pros.
Pect of personally witnessing mat1ll4ls for his
written account to the Times, he suddenly recol-
| lects that he must leave the field at once IL he
| wishes to secure the mailing Of his letter by the
| steamer Of Wednesday"
| "Punctuality is the soul of business Is an
| axiom not to be driven from the consderate mind
| OF the gentleman, even amid falling shells and
| the booming Of cannon! Faithful correspondent,
to be thus punctual, even IL you had to turn your
back upon the scenes you had not time to stop and
witness.
Then follows a detailed account Of the retreat
during which Mr.. Russell represents himself al
the only self possessed man visible, alternately
engaged in reproving runaways for their cause
/ r
ty," and considerably telling all the pickets he
passes that 1t was only a falling back upon Gen.
| tervile-no defeat. no fout "
Now this is certainly very impressive picture
Of the chaotic Of routed soldiers and civilians
amid which be alone moved along the imperson-
alton OF calm disdain, Of "causeless panic''-of
philanthropic efforts TO save Uncle Sans prop
erty," OF eloquent reproofs to craven officers, and
ingenious comfortings to anxious pickets; but 1t
| Is In strange contrast with another sketch by
another artist, Of this same devoted hero an he
appeared on the road to Washington Could
| sudden fear of being caught and supplied by an
unreasonable suit Of tar and feathers promised
him by southern journals for his structures upon
the southern people, have caused the change I'm
his aspect which the following sketch represents,
Or must we attribute the change to the contapIon
of the 'causeless panic )" and put the spond
ent In the same category with our troops-showing
nerve and courage to "get to the front" but
| shaky and rather hurried in retiring from the
field Here 10 what is said Of MIR Russell by NJ
q. p. Putnam, Of New York, in an article in
the knickerbocker, entitled Before and After the
Battle.'
"About half past four, possibly nearer five Cen
t ,svils was still mile g. 80 .hs.d Of rs We
| and as we plodded on down IT'S slope I turned
| glance back along the read we had passed-a
Il n
full fresh regiment were Overtaking us In double
quick step, having just come up from Vienna
Ihey reached the top Of the hill Just as we began
70 pick our way acress the brook which flooded
the road In the little valley below At this mo-
| ment, looking at the ascent ahead, we saw army
| wagons, private vehicles, and some six or eight
| soldiers on horseback, rushing down the hill in
| 'front.', IN exciting confusion and thick cloud of
| dust The equestrian soldiers were evidently, at
| glance, only impr0mptu horsemen, and their
| steeds were ali unused to this melting msde most
| OF them being bare bac krd.
| Their riders appeared to be in haste, for some
| reason best known to themselves Among them
ana rather leading the ran, ,ras solitary horse
| man OF different aspect; figure somewhat stout
| face round and broad, gentlemanly in aspect but
somewhat flushed and impatient-not to saw
an.,0nS IN trPresston Under broad-brimmed
| nat d Six handkerchief screened his neck like a
| haVeiock He rode fine horse, still in good
condition, and his MOTTO seemed to be s.onward,,-
whether In PERSONAL alarm or not II would be i'm
| pertinent 10 say His identity was appsrent at a
| Elance As his horse reached the spot " here ''we
| hve' stood together, thus suddenly headed off by
.ee stampede, the regiment behind us had reached
| the FOOT OF the hill and the Colonel a Iarge and
| resoiute-looklng man, had dashed his horse ahead
OF his, until he was face to face with the STAN
| peders
"What are you doing herc,r shouted he in =,
tone that meant Q mething" Halt. ITO his
men form across the road; stop every one of
them!' Then turning to the whitehead soldiers
from the field, and brandishiny his sword
| " BACK! the whole OF We; back, / say.n and their
horses In moment are making reverse move
/ nicut up the NIL, while the army wagons remain:
the thousand of muskets of the regiment In ODE
dience rather to the action than the tcOrd of the
Coionei. 6eing all pointed at the group In front,
In the midst Of which we stood
But, sir, II you will examine this paper, !" thus
| spoke our distinguished Visitor In the advance TO
the determined and now excited Colonel " you
VIII see that am civilian, spectator merely,
and that this Ii special pass-(here, imagined,
doubt OF the character Of the regiment flashed in
Tor moment)-a pass from General Scott!'' The
manner and the tone indicated that the speaker
II ontftI aA -
the man up" shouted the Colonel somewhat
bluntly, and impatient Of delay; and on gaIioped
the representative Of the Thunderer towards
washington. .TQuery-will he write rs down so
many Iunaways, or has he seen the true spirit on
| our side,l
Now, the art Of Dragging and habit Of ex-
aggeranon are vices TO which all we Americans
are too much addicted. But IL | saw that nv
friend T and myself stood in the midst Of this
melee much more impressed with its ludicrous
Picturesqueness than with any idea of personal
danger, my friend would at least agree that this
was the simple truth. The brief parley of % Our
Own Correspondent suggested merely the
thought that II was a pity such stranger should