Brownlow's weekly Whig. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1861-1861, 1861-09-07


,,hts Gar The ,nen te sasfth further. They
I'D oaly come non FlsheA, shsnl Ella miles,
ana Il gas hos mere thAa sEk and hair miles
further 10 Centspvilie--ln SD a march Of
twelve and 4 half miiea; hat the men we're
foot weary, not 90 much, Was told By the
distance marched, ~ by the time sheg lad
been Ga foot caused BY tbe ohetrussious in
the read, and The slow pare We bad % nave
to avoid emhasrades. The men were nere-
over, unaecaatoued 10 marching their bodice
not In condition fos thai Kind Of work. and
not ased 10 carrying even the loas Of Hight
marching order.
We dressed Ball's Run 9Th about $4,000
men Of all arms, the gsfh division Miles and
Richardson's hrssaael % the lsis, - Black
burns aer9 20 CsnlreSille, aad sehsasks
brigade, Of Tyier's division, On the lefi Of the
rosd, near the stone bridge, net participating
IN the main actlen. The ngmbefE opposed to
us have been vsriously estimated may safe.
IL say, and avoid eren the appearance Of sx-
aggeration, that the enemy brought mp eli be
could which were not kept engaged elsewhere.
lie had notice of cal coming on the nth, and
had hon that time antil the aist 20 bring up
whatever he bad. Il is knowa that In esti.-
mating the force TO 20 against Manassas,
engaged not TO have TO dc with the etemy's
forces under Johnston, thea kept in cheek Ia
the VALLEY by Major General Patterson, or
those kept Engaged BY Major General Builder,
ard know eyery effort Was made by the
Geheral-ln Chief that this should be done,
and even II johnson Joined Beanreeard, Il
would not be because be could be followed
by General Patterson, hHt Irom causes not
necessary fer me to refer 70, be knew them
nil. This was not done, and the enemy was
free TO assemble from every direction in NUM-
hers only limited By the amount Of the rail-
road rolling stock and bis supply VI proyis-
ions. To the forces, therefore, We drove Ia
from Fairfax Court House, Fairfax Station,
Germantown and Cenireville, and those under
under Besufegar6 1T Manassas, must be added
those under Johnston from Winchester, and
those brought HRby Davis from Richmond TO
other places at the South, to which Il 20 be
added the levy en- atasss ordered By the Rich.
moud authorities, which was ordered to as.
sembie At Manassas. What this amounted TO
] eannOt sAy--certainly much more than we
attacked them with.
could not, as have said, more early push
on faster, nor could delay. AIarge and the
best part E isy forces were three months vol
naieers, whose term Of service was about 10
expire, but who we're sent forward as having
long enough to serve for the purpose Of the
eKpedition. On the eve Of the battle the
FeaFsh PenhsyiVania regiment Of yelhnte
and the battery of the volanteer artillery Of
the New York Eighth militia, whose term Of
service expired, insisted on their discharge
| wrote 10 the regiment, expressing q request
for them TO remain a short time, the Hon.
Secretary Of War, who was at the time on the
ground, tried 10 indace the battery TO remSin
At least Ave DAYS. Bat IN vain. They insist.
ed on their discharge that night. Il WAS
granted, and the next morning, when she
army moved forward into battle, these troops
moved 10 the rear 20 the sound of the enc
my's cannon.
Ia the next few days, day BY day, should
have lost ten thousand of the best armed,
drilled, differed and disciplined tteops in the
army. In other words, every dayswhieh add.
ed TO the strength Of the enemy made us
weaker.
In conclusion, desire TO say, IN reference
to the evehts of the 2lst uFtimo, that the gen-
eral order for the battle 10 which referred
Was, with slight notifications, literally con-
formed TO that the corps were brought over
Balls Ran in the manner proposed, aud pat
into action as before arranged, and that up TO
late In the afternoon every movement ordered
and carrying rs successfully 10 the object we
had proposed before starting--that Of getting
10 the railroad leading from Manassas TO the
valley Of Virginia, and going on IL far enough
70. break up sad destroy The Communication
and interviews between the forces under
Beauregasd sad those snnaer Johnston And
could we have Tough . day or = few hours
sooner, there Is everything toshov bow We
could have continued successful, eyea against
the odds with which we commended.
! have the honor 10 be, very respectfully,
your most obedient servant,
iRwtE McDowELL,
BrigAdieF General, Commanding.