The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-08-26

/ VeUo3o1 OOUoo a ES881y 00S WtlySet
. long letter from Lynchburg, Va.
to . Baltimore paper IN relation to .
recently revived story to the efec
that at the llrst battle Of Manassas
! when be, (0enesal Early, fnistakinl
the Federal tro1po for ConfodeFate0
| ordered . Captain to cease firing. say.
ing they were friends, the Captain
replied, General, they may be your
friends, bat they are mot mime y
General Early says: 1.-THE facts o.
which the story was based are these;
When / approached the field Of ut.
tie, after hurried march Of several
miles, ! received orders from Geuer.
al Johnston In person to move my
brigade to the extreme LETT of our line
and attack the enemy on his right
flank. As I neared the left . messen-
ger came to me In . gallop from Cen
eral then Colonel) Stuart-who was
on that flank with two companies Of
cavalry and . battery Of artillery,
which latter was firing int , the enc
nays right and holding him In check
with the request that I would hur-
~ up, - he thought the enemy
would soon be In retreat. This waA
the first word Of encouragement
had received after / reached the Vi
cinity Of the battlefield, and l told
the messenger to tell Colonel Stuart
that my men were marching ~ fast
Is 1t was possible for them to move.
He soon returned with the inf0rlna-
ton that Colonel Stuart said he was
mistaken; that the enemy had mere
" moved hack belinda ridge, which
he had pointed out. Tor the purpose Of
maxim. . new flank movement, and
with the caution to be on my guard.
l bad by this time cleared our left
and reached . field confronting the
ridge mentioned, which IL known In
the reports Of the battle ~ the ridge
on which Chinn's house Is situated.
As my brigade moved up, marching
BY flank, l saw the enelny's skirnl-
isbers appear on the ridge in my
front. The regiments were success
sively formed into line 40 they came
up. the Seventh Virginia being in
front and forming my right. As l
came up l had seen one Of Elzey's
regiments, which constituted ourleft
before my arrival, move from
= piece Of woods to the front through
an open space into another piece Of
woods. After the Seventh Virginia
had been formed l RIDE to sliperin-
tend the formation Of the other regl-
ments, and while 30 engaged l dis
covered the Seventh Virginia NOV
ing oblique'y toward the woods in
which Elzey's regiment was, and &r-
ing In that direction Immediately
galloped to the front Of It and ordered
it to halt, at the same time telling
the regiment that those were our
friends who were In the woods, and
that there was the enemy, pointing
to the troops that had appeared on
the ridge In our front. The regiment
did halt and did cease firing In the
Of Elzey's men, and no
or any one else made any
such reply a. reported. My appear
ance In front of the regiment attract
cd upon me the fire Of the enemy,
and as rode from 1t to the other
regiments the fire followed me. L
will observe here that the cneIny's
troops Immediately contributing me !
were armed with lsng-ranged mus !
kets or rifles, while my command
had nothing Int smoOlh-bOre mus !,
sts, which could not reach the enc !
my as We were then situated, 80 that :
he firing on our part, 50 far as my ,
regiment was concerned. was simply :
. waste of ammunition. Both Gen ,
erals Johnston aud Beauregard have .
the turning of the tide Of !
sttle to the u ovelnent Of my brig
lde against the enemy's right; but I
must say that, while the encnly's !,
roops did retire on my advance, 1t /.
vas not the result Of any damage
lone them, but Of panic which
iezel them.-N. J.. Tines,