Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-09-20
For the Enquirer
MR. yu.sciI and the Battle OF Hinnassa'
" III A VIRGINIA ARTlLLERYMAS.
FAIRFAX Court HOUSE,
FAIRFAN CUEKT IIUIHh,
Snnt 18th. lS6l.A

Sept. 10th, lS6i,}
MsssRs EplroRs:-It seems that MIR. RUSSELL
tho CORRESPONDENT Of the London Times, mas
acs,mcd the duty of informing commanders
and soldiers who were in the first and last Oh
tho preat Manassas Battles, all about the par
t;cuIars of the engagements. though admitting
h;msslf hat he was about the first to run, only
requesting the deluded, fleeing tugltives I"
Lii in order TO afford him a better chance TO
oot in the advance. Prudence might seem 10
55ic,ate to such a military chieftain the propriety
- hoidinr his peace, especially when every
word he has in his three letters is conlraalcteu
bv the official Reports of all the Federal oli-
cors ENGAGED, who are presumed to know merry
40 much as Russell, who ut no time was wltn'n
three miles of the battle ground. In his trsl
letter he attributes the retreat OF the tederals
~ ,be confusion of teamsters, aided by the ter.
ror and fright Of Congressman and LADIES' lo'
course they were ladies, none else "ouiu "i-
low in the wake of IN army, who came to
ulunder Virginia, and murder her citZehs =
Bnt Burnside, Hunter, IIeintzelman, Miles ana
Sherman, who commanded the man ooay OF
Federal troops on that day, never mentioned
ary such cause, but in their Official lieporlS
acknowledge n fair and square defeat, alter a
hard days fight, on q field of their own cioos'
ing. Gen. Burnside, in his report, says us o
sad duty to record 4 defeat accompanied win
the loss Of SO many valuable lives while Co!.
Heintzelman in his official report says ne
never saw such 4 rout in his life; while CoI.
Sherman declares that the New York Sew
enty Ninth, under Cameron, and Sixty Moth
under Corcoran, last in the light and hrst
in the retreat, gave way IN DISORDER
under the incessant fire Of superior numbers,
and that three miles from where any Yankee
baggage wagon had turned u wheel during the
entire day.
Russell's second letter is simply a correction
and contradiction Of the first, and therefore OF
not much Importance one way or the other
But one word as to the last letter. lie thinks
the battle of Manassas neither q hard fought,
bloody one, nor 4 glorious field. Probably not
if when le wrote he was musing DER the one
at New Orleans, in which three thousand "i
his countrymen were lost to thirteen South
erners. He says it was a most trying day to
the Federalists, who were badly fed, and hard
worked in a waterlris country. | have before
me the official order of General Mcdowell,
bearing date CentreviIIe, July 30, (night before
the fight to distribute three days rations to
the 80, 900 men (cngaged the neSt day at Ma
nassas,) which order was carried out oy
each man. Every dead and wounded Yankee
had his havcrsack containing the three days.
provisions lying BY his side, while the road
over which the "Grand Array" retreated was
covered with crackers and meat. The whole
country, from the battle field to Crntrcville,
over which the Federalists retreated, was
strewn with these articles OF food for soldiers.
Had Russell tr~aveTSed the field with me the
succeeding Monday morning, nc would have
reversed the report and written they were
encountered with provisions. But they were
in O watcrless country, though did hear some
thing about tn. "GranI Army" crossing Cub
Run, furding Bull Run, turning up by Sud
lcy's Springs, and skirInlshing all along the
intervening branches, and all within q compass
Of -four miles. Rather q damp region lone would
s~uppOsr) tor Il waterleSS country. Mr.. Russell
thinks it strange that but Is, 900 Confederate
troops was engaged but did it ever occur to
him that the attack was made rs d flank move.
ment of tho enemy, where nobody expected
them and consequently troops had 10 be
marched from three to six miles On that ho;
Jaly day, Of which Mr. Russell speaks, and
that, before one quarter Of them arrived, the res:
had the Grand Army whipped These are
HILLS WclI hlU"h " .IIt, anu W ~ III
the candid Black Republican officers in their
official reports. Justi(ying the time Ironored
adagc, that, while the brave acknowledge the
superiority Of their antagonist, it brlongsalnnc
to the coward 10 palate his tlafca; ny false,
tickle and frivolous cxcn-cs.
Mr.. Russell is quite severe upon the Penn
~slyvania regiments, whn refused 10 serve Inhgcr
against Virginia. They had been told that
Lincoln'S war WAS To maintain the Constitution,
yet he called Congress together to lesalize his
unconstitutional, Illegal and unnatural war,
while fieedum Of speech, freedom Of the
press, and individual rights in The free States
guaranteed under that Constitution, hal been
trampied beneath the feet Oft hateful deSpot;
and when PennSylvanianS were asked n Sane
ton the innovation, like men, they exclaimed
to General Patterson: 'are thy servants dogs,
that they should do this thing" M, it br-
lnngel to puritanical New England to licl; the
hand that smOte them.
On the day after the battle | visited hun.
drcds Of The wounded, and after supplying them
with water, inquired why they came to in
wade Virginia. Poverty and political proscrip-
ton at home were the only replies. Suffering
mothers, housless wives and starving children
drove forth their wearicd protectors. Well has
Mr.. Russell said in his second letter, that "thc
sword which the abolition horde nave drawn
is held over their own heads by the hands of
Some coming man." Those footsteps are already
audible, while the ground shakei henelth his
tread and VOC bctiie the Lincoln dies pots whtn
left 10 the tender mercics oil his owncrushcd mil.
lions in free States. lighting for the Constitution
which guarantees life. liberty ard the pursuit Of
happiness to all. At present prison houses and
pcnitentiaries Of the free States are full of men
born in the free North" because they refused
to say that Abe Lincoln was purer than n
Washington, and greater than Il Napoleon, and
failing to give a hearty support to an admins
tration that is booming the citizens OF the free
States to n slavery more degrading and opprcs.
sive than any the world has ever seen. The
cringing, cnwardly spirits Of the North, who
would willingly submit to its iron heel dicta.
ton, without an effort to shake it off, have the
right so to do; but when they attempt to drag
the patriotic SONS Of the South down to their
" servile position, VIC will welcome them as
OF Manassas, with bloody hands to hospitable
graves"
| was at the Stone Bridge with one Of two
G.pounder cannon, which defended its passage on
the Dist, and while lay ing under my gun, was
much amused at the taste displayed by Gen.
Tyler in getting Ayers and CarIislc's Battery in
position at the head oil the field, a short dis.
lance from the bridge. The tirst ball struck Il
lew yards from my gun, which I dug ont Of the
ground; it was a rUnical shell, which, after re.
moving Inc cap, | presented 10 Gen. Evans. -
The YANKEES did not attempt il crossing here;
if they had, their affection for masked batteries
would not have been improved any by The ex
pertinent. Finding they were flnking uS, We
proceeded up the Warrenton road in full view
and complete range Of their guns. and amid q
perlrc; haiIstorm OF balls, until We met the
llaaking army face to face in an open field, two
miles from Stone Bridge; and with Two cannun,
G-pounders, Stone s'rcSiment, Whrat's battalion,
y Georgia regiment and one from Alahau'a,
We held their whole force, some 10000, in