Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1862-09-12
From the correspondence of the y. Y. Tribune
THE CONTEST OF SATURDAY..

the day before, the reserve. At 10, HeintzeIma \
9 sdvsnced skirmishers into the wood on the right
Of the battle field Of the day before, and found it
only held by few troublesome bushwhackers-
2 Driving them back, large numbers Of WOUNDED
were got Of, and passed to the rear.
l rode in with these skrmishers as far as I
deemed prudent. At any rate, 60. upon ground
where the corpses attested the fighting Of the day
before. First I came upon bodies in blue. These
were our fallen. Then there were those in blue
mingled with others in gray and nondescript.-
I hat ground had been fought over. A little fur
ther, they were all gray and nondsscript. And
there the bodies were thiekest. Upon grllzl
that judged to be not over half en- acre, / c1u-t-
ed 70 bodies, dead and wounded.
Advancing further STILL saw Union soIl lier
seized, not ten rods from me, and carried OF BY
bushwhaekers. l retired (in good ordsr) satisfied
that the enemy's loss exceeded our own. At two
o'clock. by the movements 4 troops from right o
left, inferred that the positions Of the enemy had
been found In that direction. By this time our
line was different from that Of the day before Our
right was further advanced, our left withdrawn s0
that we fronted almost t. the South. At Bull Run
year ago, we faced exactly South.
| At o'clock, Gen. stevens attacked az the n cht
| and soon after Gen. Butterfed at the left. The
enemy's shells seemed equally distributed along
the whole line, and at each point Of the attack he
met US with muskstry.
] l was at Gen. Sigeps headquarters. That len
eral certain the enemy intended to turn one or
the other Of our tanks and said we must ascertain
which, or the result at the best doubtful for
bis scouts had Just reported that Lee with the en-
tire remainder Of the rebel army, had come NJ and
assumed command. The scouts were Correct. On
| Saturday we fought the whole rebel army
Posting myselfin the centre, within view O., both
portions Of TIE field where infantry were engaged
l could not determine which had the best Of it
Evidently but few troops were engaged, and sur
missed that We were fighting merely 10 hnd where :
1 lay the enemys main force. At length our force
at the right was driven back and thought Gen. /
Pope had been oUtgeneraled when be moved I
men at an earlier part Of the day from righ; to /
left.
A quarter Of Al hour later, I wished he had 4
moved still greater proportion TO the lea. I /
have heard the musketry Of the best contested bat
ties fought in Virginia, and cay unhesitatinsIy
tnat the IRE which broke out at the LEFT and up 10
the centre, was by far the heaviest Of anv. Talk
Of vollies and rolls and crashes Il was all these
continually aeeumulating, piling upon each other
IN mighty swelling v0lume-the Wrestle Of rush I
ing tornadoes such as chaos may have known
From my position it seemed that artillery PLAYED
from each Of the cardinal points upon the de-
voted centre where / knew men we're stru--
Cling.
could not see them struggling. Tie smoke Of
gunpoWder prevented that, but I knew they were
there, aai tremblei for the result. A few min
utes later Schurz, who in reserve, was oriered
70 the left. Before lie could get fairly into posi-
tiou, Mcdowell and Porter we're irretrievably bro
Ken Their soldiers fought like brave men; il mo-
nents be reckoned BY their intensity, they fought
long, as they surely did fight we'll. doubt no.
they piled the ground with rebel slain, as Hlllcck
sings Of Moslsn slain by BoEzaris band.
z believe there cannot be man who heard Or
participated IN that awful tragedy. bat counts the
hour between and (; o'clock tie severest .ht-
ing ne ever knew. It was all at one point. Along
the night half Of the line the combatants seemed
20 desist IN anazement at the struggle there. Bv
half after i; was apparent that We were beaten
-outnanked by concentration upon the left
Nagoners and s.rlg-lers about the hosuital.
scented the retreat and trains Of the former
and streams Of the latter could be seen making for
the Bull Run bridges and fords. McDowelIis ana q
Porters corps retired in comparative order use :
this term not as a mild or false paranhrass fo-
driven back, but because il covers the actual fac,
IN the case
/ do not think there was brigade that could
not, as 10 came from the feld Show its dfstin-. Q
regiments, or rather nucleus of each regiment 10 C.
whose standard, ere il had marched mile f-s
scattered men gathered. still there were ssrs-4f ,
thousands hurrying pell NELL in advance Of them .
oWard Centreyille, cr0wding the stone bridge and =
Fading the stream. A dozen long wagon t-,iBs q
enterei ;hers, but there was little coufusi3n b
aons them 10 desertiCn Of wagons bus simply %
Jam, where each desired an pushed 20 be fr,;. Z,
hey were thus cool notwithstanding few she'll p.
urst among them. ~
All this time the right vas firm and only AZ ibs y
aim discretion Of its generals naocountabIy 10 u
le AZ inc time, So soon as We fell back from the b.
~ tAe musSetry almos, entirely ceased. We m
ere pursued BY shells only, It is probable that o,
he enemy dared not advance lest Hein.zelnau -
I'd sigei should fall upon bis flank as he should iu
ass oy tnem Sigel had not had his f.h; out, ror
"a Heintzelman, and the enemy was hardly il =.
lnditicn for another battle Immediately Ii i. -
osslole. also, that Banks corps vas nearin- the -
sld-he was known 70 be al Manassas early the re
ly-and they may have seen his advance and he
zen afraid. VI
It was all done in two hours Another e,r,s
pom the field would have frus,ratsd that rush Of
empowering numbers upon one point. Hose %
imoers we're SO overpowerins that they sue Ia1
eded before men could be moved against them I;s
ON any other part Of the field Franklin lay at
entrevllle, Sumner al Arlington Heights Why
Id they not been semitic Pope i've days before. n,
they were ordered, and as he expected =
forded Bull Run in the dusk Of the evening. a. a.
d sat some time looking at the crossing Of men "
d trains. While colversing with zen. Butter VI
Id, who had withdrawn his men only when or SUI
red, although be had made the attack at that
int and was in advance, a shell struck the
ound some twenty feet from u.s. and its rco,het COZ
ssed over our heads. I instinctiveIy lodged | exc
d my horse sprang forward. boI
The General did not move a muscle until he =
lieu as ne remarked trat MS morse was too ac-
stoned to those things to be disturbed By them ~
moment after another shell knocked a wagon TO The
ces close BY The fragments were taken out Of eitl
roads and the train moved on undsturbed / tin
allied the scenes at this crossing Of the same 7
ee year ago, after that battle, and knew this IA,
5 no panic. uaJ
Riding on toward CentreviIle, which Is sig mlI
les from the field, about midway met Frank.
corps, which, having learned the position Of Pro
mrs that the whole army retiring to Centre acc
le-was on the point Of retracing its steps-I OH
rhed with 1t to Centreville. Richardson's di- :; I
lon and kimball brigade Of Summers corps. III
iTed during the night from Alexandra and
; morning Sedgwicks division, being the bal. os.i
e Of the same corps, is coming in from Airing -
Heights. iede
altogether the position appears favorable and
,se two corps comprise not less than 80 900 dam
sran soldiers under the best Of the Peninsula OF
erals. Beside these there is Bankss corps ! hon,
700 strong, which must be somewhere in the -
shborhood for l do not credit the rumor tia, Ai''
cut OF, though be may have been forced 10 aIuu
roy his trains This last conjecture is strength burr
BY heavy explosions having been heard in Pc
direction Of Manassas Junction last night succ
estimated this morning that at least so 900 IN
Of those engaged Friday and Saturday are stssr
in their ranks. ga
id to all these bodies 5000 newly volup- nave
ed men, which have been ordered here from Fran
hington, and there is a total Of over 100, ,OOO
y within tWenty-tOur hours, TO meet the en- Ii
that number exclusive Of Banks. Frid,
be army engaged yesterday is understood 10 tn
here, though mach Of it canped -,
little this side Of Bull Run, and has not vet II
up. I take it there will be no fighting to- Gu 70
the enemy will not attack here. But I SION
Ike it that shall advance before three days beng
gentleman just in from Washington reports red
it is rumored there, that large rebel force is M Al
hing up the valley with the design Of pere- IL !,
ng Maryland. There need be no fears Of any, - =
I Of the sort We have their force in front ounce
and fought Jackson, Ewel, and A. P. Hill. TO lea
sy forenoon, the same, with the addition Of With
street, Friday afternoon, and all these with very
and the entire rebel horde Saturday. Ga
ey p SUI. nsea Ssey WAn sney c&n muster TO got a
efensive BY portion Of their army. I re- -''H
Pope will resume the offensive before they t.
time for any such maneuvers. AH
nong the last episodes on Friday was charge selves
e Harris cavalry Simultaneous with the ad- as the
, Of Hatch and Doubleday, where our left suece'
'eing sharply pressed. two !
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