National Republican., 1883-10-17
RonOwifg Acquaintance Made Twenty Years
Ago at the Cannon'S Mouth.
incidents Of Mondays Visit to the Bull
Run Battle Fields,
Showing Each Other How Some Things Were Done
"While the Fight Was Raging Hot"
"we Tried to Meet Then and I'm Very
Glad 60 Meet You Now"


ground than Monday turned out to be. The
air was cool, crisp and clear, kpe sky cloudy
without being gloomy or snllen, and tho
ground neither dusty nor muddy. The land
schpe was looking its pretticst The forests
were variegatcd the light frosts having i'm.
parted to the foliage n thousand bright hues
without touching the backgroun of solid
~ Tho woodland and open country is
about he same in extent The lay Of tho land is
very irregular There are valleys running
toward every point of the compass, and hills
facing every way, but there is nothing to in
tcrfere with tho free movement of large bodies
of men. Tho slopes are occasionally quite
steep, but tho typographical features of the
country would delight the heart of a military
strategst
Tho visitors found many of the old land
marks of 1861 and 1862 remaining, although
many of them had trouble in getting them
selves located with a proper relation to tho
points of the compass. Everybody recog-
niZcd some of tho most conspicuous points of
historic interest, however, without the slightest
trouble. They found Sudley's mill standing
rs they saw it twenty-ono and twenty-five
| years ago. Tho old church on the hill near
| by, which did service rs n hospital, was
| gone, and in its place stands neat frame
structure, which already shows signs of age.
Several of the younger members of the party
| prOWlCu around IN search OF relics, looking
| anxiously into the cracks and counting the
knot holes in the belief that they had been
put there by bullets. When they learned
that the building had not been put up until
! long after the war u deep melancholy settled
! down upon them.
The Intelligent contrabands" of small size
| do quite a business in finding relics and ped
ding them out to visitors. The ground has
been thoroughly secured and pretty much all
| that lies on tho surface has been carried of.
| The inhabitants have also cut all the hickory
| saplings for miles around and converted them
| into canes, which are sold to strangers with
| tho assurance that the canes grew on spots
where nine thousand dead men lay twelve
deep. These canes are as plentiful as pieces
| of tho holy cross in Jerusalem and about as
| valuable as souvenirs.
| InCol. Berkeleys family wagon were seated
Gems. Rosecrans, Longstreet, Hunt, and the
colonel himself.
"Wore you at Gettysburg, colonel" asked
Gen. Hunt, addressing Col. Berkeley.
"Yes. l was in PicketPs command"
| "Were you in that famous and bloody
charger"
"Yes. 1 led regiment into it. Where
was your position i'll the battle, general"
"I was chief of the artillery of the army,
and was in command of the artillery in that
battle. trained forty guns on your column
in that charge, and would have turned the
whole eighty pieces ON you if there had been
ammunition enough. That was the greatest
charge OF the war, colonel. l knew it was
coming, and was prepared 1t was the
grandest sight / ever witnessed. had my
horse shot from under me at that time, aud
was between the lines for time in position
of the greatest peril" ..ssgA .a.
"Yes, that was wonderful and bloody
assault, and many good man went to hi
death in it, And SO you directed that terri
Bile fire into our lines? Well, general We
, | t,;n 10 tLntl 4 ,,l 1
glad to meet you now, though in different
spirit"
The two gentlemen shook hands heartily.
Gen. Hunt is q firm believer in Fitz-Johr
Portor's innocence, and thinks justice will
be done him some day. He says that Porter
could not have executed the commands that
were given him to move his troops any
quicker than was done, and he is satisfied
that If Porter had attempted to make juno
ture with the army in front of the enemy hi
would have been cut to pieces by Longstreet
Gen. Longstreet, in conversation witt
Maj. Crawford and others, rcalfrmed wha
, he has previously written about his position
on the twenty-ninth. He said his men wer,
, in limo of battle by o'clock on that day, anC
that his heavy guns were trained on ravine
I across which Porter must have moved il
n such a manner that he could have destroyed
a the corps by an enflading rain of shot auC
shell.
the Fitz-John Porter case lie was with Gen
Mcdowell all through tho battles of TIL
q twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, and thrtietll
and rode all over the field many times. Th
= major is recent convert to the theory o
Porter's innocence, aud, like Gen. Hunt, H.
:, is of opinion that it was of no consequence
r | whether the road was blockaded or not, for tn
reason that Porter could not havo moved hi
7 corps, as it was claimed he should have done
in any event. Both men agree upon anothe
point, viz, that Mcdowell was more culpabl
. than Porter, and that he should have stoo,
j upon the same footing with Porter.
+ Tho ma or was with Gen. Mcdowell whel
. he gave his corps the command to pursue tn
G confederates up the hill. Riding down to til
: stream TO meet the column which was ad
n vancing from the direction of Dudley's Mills
| he shouted:
"The enemy is in full retreat. Give pur
suit and capture all the prisoners you can"
"This Order" said the major, was re
q | ceived with cheers and tho boys started u
= the hill after tho few men they could SEQ &c
3 ing for shelter. Tho first thing We kney
u two or three divisions ran into Longstreet'
! center. Tho movement was begun about
u o'clock. Just before dusk u line of fire Ii
: up the woodse on three sides of then
o and, with yells, Longstreets men charged
Three thousand mon were kiile
in fifteen or twenty minutes, an
it was all the result of McDowell's curse
:, carelessness or stupidity. Ho didn't kno,
/ where the enemy was, or anything about il
: strength. He didn't know whether the enen
, was in retreat or not when he gave that fatG
= order. He had no means of knowing. l wa
q by his side all day, and know what informl
tion he had and all about it,"
one of the historic characters who visite
Bull Run on Monday was Gen. Alfred n
Wood lie was terribly wounded in the fir,
battle and taken prisoner. He was held as
y hostage for the safety of the pirates who Wei
in prison in New York awaiting death, an
for three months he was in solitary confnC
ment, expecting every day to be taken ou
.. and shot lie was released aftC
, awhile and Rs he could n
longer ride u horse he had 10 resign. Th
q voters of Brooklyn elected him mayor fC
two or three terms, after which he held in
=, portant government trusts in that city.
n Col. Emil Frey, the Swiss minister, was ais
held as a hostage under circumstances simili
~ to Gen. Wood. He was in Libby and othC
e southern prisons for eighteen months. AftC
4. the war he returned to Switzerland, and h
y government sent him back to America as 1
i representative.
MIR. james II. NichOlson's Funeral.