, 1862-03-19
! MANASSAS
Descriptive. Letter Of Bayartl
Taylor.
The Future Of the Army OF
the Potomac,
Strength Of the Rebel Regiments.

the Potomac.
Strength Of the Rebel Regiments.
OPINIONS OF THE II. z. WORLD.
BAYARD TAYLoKs LETTERS i
Correspondence Of n. 7. Tribune, yesterdas.l
CAxP. .p1sArPots1NExT, Near CentseyilIe, /
Here We. are: tonight, one Of tie lovelfest
nights Of the year, epcamped at Union Mills,
on Bull Run, where the rebels right wing and
other On the disastrous 21st Of July.
Gen. Summers Division is encamped herel-
bout, having left Fairfax and Saagster's Sta
tloDs at an early hour this morning Gurus
worth's Cavalry are with this diyision.) Here
Of the provision train-.uuaccountab1e and in
e1cusable, even allowing much for the still
shocking bad condition Of shocking bad roads.
Horses have had nothing since early morning;
nen nc, nothing @ saye the llttle thsy brought and
On approaching from Blackbnrn's Ford, I
had ridden in advance Of the commander and
staff, and reached the junction with the first
cavalry company. While pledding over the
muddy plain, I perceived . solitary horseman,
. roughly clad civilian, with a round cap on
his head, Jogging along with such cool, in
different air, that at first supposed he might
be farmer OF the neighborhood. But as
drew near, in the hope Of procuring little
Information, he turned his head and l recog-
nized the Prince de Joinyil1e. erode through
thing with keen curiosity. "Ah, caissorsii''
heard him remark to an officer; "they must
have been very near leaving their guns also"
The group Of Generals, with Mcclellan at
their head, rode along the track fora quarter
Of a mile. the horses hoofs Gathering THROUGH
pots and pans, heaps Of iron fragments and
broken bottles, to the little redan, which I
have already described Il is raised some 40
or so feet above the plain, and partly demo1-
ished on the eastern side, showing the walls
| to have been composed Of hogshcads Tiled
with earth As the entire party Of Generals
and etaf were collected together inside, look
| ing over the mud walls, aud enveloped il the
smoke from burning piles Of corn, tue idea Of
a mine came invo1untaEily into my. head. On
| the left, inside the gate was the entrance to a
I empty chamber we're another i'll, d with pow
| der, with slow match calculated to reach it
| in twenty -four hotus9 Here vera all our best
commanders In bunch, ready to be exploded.
presume, however, that the first duty OF the
occupying party is to search for indications o.
covered
The young French aids rode around In grea,
glce. Prince dc Jolnville, rubbing his hand:
with satisfaction, exclaimed: We'll, nov
that the ball is in motion, we must keep i!
rolling" Mcclellan and Med lowell conyerscc
apart, at the summit Of the redan. The othe1
/ officers were busy, comparing impressions o.
The place, or examining contrlbands. Mean
time against the western sky rose the smokes
Of burning bridges, or, it may be, Of burning
from time to time, dashing through the edges
Of the timber, on the borders Of the plain
The scouting was probably carried to SONS
distance beyond the Junction, on the track O
The retreating rebels, but this is . point con
cernfng Which ] did not feel myself at Ibert,
to inquire.
Collecting all accounts and comparing then
am Satisfied that tile entire rebel force re
| treated beyond the Rappahannock, and th1
the destruction Of the bridges on the Manas
sas Gap branch was the work Of small BAN
detailed for that especial purpose. The whit
man with whom I eonTersed, us well as til
| yellow contra band, stated positively tl1atJacs
son had eyac1aIed Winchester three or fou
days ago, retreating through the Gap, whenc
he struck across, via Warreuton Springs, t
join the main force Ut or near GordonsV1lle.
TIE RIDE TO BULL RUN.
Learning that the Generals reconnaissance
was to be extended to Bull Run, determine
: to accompanyit. We left the railroad tracE
and took one Of the rebel army-roads 1eadfn
| uO4ulWa1A LQHAlA LII ffAIiEutQu 4uiuplht
For q mile and lalf, the road ran oyt
, swampy fields and through groves Of persiu
: mon and stuntcd oak. Then ne LEFT tho plaia
. Which is here gradually merged into line I
bare, rolling hills, Of slight elevation. Her
, the soil was drying rapidly, the water 1eakin
K of down all the holloS5.
:. We. now deserted large white house, wi,
], out-buildings and paling around it. The plat
c was still evidently Inhabited, and-wc saw tn
" Or tbrre officers directing their way toward
;, across tic feDcc1ess fields Riding up, ?
4 found the occupants in the yard, telling the
;. story to the eager qucstioners. There w
. an old man With rhcnmy eyes, Lis son, q
:. sons wife, and bog Of twelve. 4 strappil
! | qaadroon girl, with j bold, saucy air, #
drawing water at the well and serving it ont
= tumblc- to a ring Of thirsty visitors, amo
whom was the Prince dc Jolnv1ae, patient
III waiting his turn. He came next after c cav
!. The hills now elopcd down eastward
I. ward Bull Run, which vas some two-thiFds
D. a mile distant. The creek here makes be-
=. =. space On the left side, while its right ba
i, {tlat occupied By the rebel batteries) is III
7. and steep. a narrow gully leads to the fol
L, Along the crest Of the bank, which is forty
e, fifty feet high, rnn5 single entrenehme
IN somewhat larger than ziae.pit. saw
!, signs Of q masked battery, and am told by o
r. GERS who examined other parts Of the bal
a. that they, also, saw no traces Of any,.
r, tween Manassas Junction and the Stone Brio
N. "a distance Of five miles-{aere is not a sin
ID .fo7t5featio,a. am not able to discover .
II evidence that the rebels had any entrencs
y doubt masked by the trees and bushes, bn
IL w3a hauled down to it's position and hau
81 back again after the battle.
Tte ford-irdicatgd on Corbett's map as
point wherc the Rebel eava{Ey charge !
made across the stream upon Ricketts, bal
Ill. f.ssi1v r3npEr 4ha 1EntpT mt ria1ut
IN IN our sad6le-skirts. 1took road leading Il
r. the bottom through groves OF short yell
&c pine, which was dryer than thst through
I'D | open fields, and thus missed the site Of
covered Rebel encampment to the right,
~ sheltered hollow There were quarters fe
s. regiment, the b1lts well built OF squared Il
y Etopptd d with clay. The roofs, however,
- been carried away, and the obllteration Of
i traces of recent occupation showed that N
- abandoned. It is, indeed, possible that
:. were never wholly completed After wint
/ for mile or two through: the woods, G
:. upon the Narrenton turnpike, short
. tance east Of the Stone Bridge.
I had ridden across the left skirt of the
tie field, the main portion Of which was
yas between ne and Bull Run, on both sides Of
turnpike The last low hill on this sid
0. the stream Tas the main position assumed
on- our forces shcrman's Battery was fur
~. :. On, hey ond house still standing, which
fsn, fae. then used as d hospital learn from sev
~ officers who were in the fight, and who ]
md over the ground last evening, that our
tc1ies were placed too low on that memoE
day. The true positions were neglected,
OIL VIC suffered far more than, from the natui
the ground, was really necessary.
Tie most vulnerable approach to Mana
No is that hy way Of Blackburn's Ford. f
De- however, Gen. Tyler was instructed no
bring on an action, and the "reconnoiss
zar,. in force " which terminated in the withdr
of our troops might hare had 4 very diHs
ain, | termination, lad the affair been yigorc
prrssed and supported. There, the opp
cant hank Of Bull Run IS lower than 1t the
Bridge. and nelts almost impercep;ibly
the plain Of Manassas the masked bait
,oral side, and the stream, at that season, must
ell. been easily fordable for infantry. OF co
If our leaders at that time believed that ~
successive terraces" beyond the stream Il
che be scaled before reaching the t*high
fae land of Manassas they were right in a
with proper caution. In summer, whe'
Hoo woods, in full leaf, hide much that is
visible, the weak points may have been
oueEly masked. am told, in fact,
:; 3. great deal Of timber has been leTeled
10 D. July; hut I cannot unaerstand why r
.+.s noissanec in iorce, at the end Of Move,
0se=' should not have developed eatisfactor
81. ing Of the. sort was ever made.
ed to From the battlefield of Bull Run the q
the is rnodulating, bnt with q gradual incre:
elevation, to Centreyine, distance o'
Ind. miles. In fact, from the Low hill upon
aChiunss House. stands, saw the Ion
i tiftd ridge towering high above the SUIT
ieate | ing country. and have no doubt but thu