New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-06-07
A WOMAN'S MEMORIES.
THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN-GENERAL Nc
DOWEII.

On Monday morning, July %, 1851, "a'
awakened in the gray dawn by the heaVy' uu-
wonted rumbling of laden wagons passing ai'hs
the street below. Some underlined Impulse cau'eu
NE 10 rise and go to the window The SKY was
murky and dark. and rain was falling heaViiy'
| remember wondering vaguely what the long,
dark. Qloomy.looking vehicles were, that were
nassina every now and again so slowly Surely
they are not market wagons" / Thought. nor
have ever seen any like them before Sudden
". with rush of feeling, had CONSCIOUSNESS
that they were ambulances. / remembered, oil al
once. quite distinctly the back-curtained' curious
" shaped carriages had seen in the long process
sion of army appurtenances filing over Long Drloge
thc week before, and recollected that some one
had snid Those ambulances look fresh ana ne"
enough to-day but what CHASTITY burdens they may
have 70 bear of suffering and Of death Ana
here they were back again, passing mournfuly ana
slowly under the leaden skies and pelting rain
NOT emptv now. felt with thrill of horror, as
remembered the big army hospital somewhat fur-
Their down the street
We had known the day before that DatUe was
rneinc,-the great encounter which was aiter"aru
remembered as the disaster OF Bull Kun. NO one
droomad however. OF defeat and we heard after
ward how many Congressman and oihcinS iroh'
,be DEPARTMENTS, and even women. went out 70
cpp
came burrying back, panic-strcken, later on, In
the mad rush for safety. Indeed, one gentleman
If our acquaintance never stopped until he reached
NewYork. In the hired barouche in which ne
drove ont 80 gayly TO see the show he ned all
nirbt long back 10 Washington, over the muddy
Virginia roads Drenched with rain, briDing une
driver urQing the horses, wild with Iear' he
stopped only at the railway station nj "asIins
TON. where. finding train bound Tor the Nor'h'
he boarded IL with thankful heart; ana hoV ui-
az no reached his own dear Knickerbocker town
did no fceI himself to be really in safety To SUCH
lenoths can men of fair courage be driven Dy
panic. , ,,.o-
All that sad and rainy day the utterly olsoI-
canized fugitives struggled down the street ny
twos and threes, in squads, and sometimes 'uc
remnant of a company-all inquirlng 1or 'ncn
regiments, no one knowing whelc ~
90 nor where to halt Dut all looosoie
and worry with torn and dsordered gar
ments. Many were without shoes or Stockings
ond a more haggard; woful-looldng lot of men 1t
- ;r,roesihle 10 conceive basement door from
tbc kitchen opened in the street, and here, all
dav long. by Mr.. Chases orders, hot coffee was
sorved 70 the worn-out stragglers Glad enough
they were TO get it, poor fellows! One lrishman,
I remember particularly, haranguing the small
audience that his vehement gestures ana ragged
annoarance collected, as he stood at the door
drinking his coffee. Sure, an it's meselt as
doesn't know Where is my rigimint or my coionel
or nv company; they bes all cut to pieces by the
inimv and sorra a Teller is left but me-" AS the
dov wore on. il was found that the hospital ac-
commodations were inadequate to provide Tor all
the patients Quarters for The wounded were
sought in all directions. Our father offered 10
accommodate in his own house as many as he could
provide room for and so the black carriages which
had filed me with such terror stopped at our
owr door and one after another the poor suiier-
ers were brought into the house until we had
eight or ten men TO nurse back INTO health anu
strength again. Bishop McIlvaine, Of Ohio, was
stopping with at that time. greatly long
for a more graphic pen and stronger recollection,
as I try to recall with loving memory the features
and gracious presence of that good man. l re-
member in my childish way | used to think he
was like ST. John, the beloved deciplc, in his
beautiful old age He was tall and slender, with
snow-white hair and bright-blue eyes, somewhat
bald but with clear, fresh complexion as deli
cate as that of a woman, with bright glow
of color that hardly ever varied His features
were noble and regular, which, combined with the
most gentle and benignant expression | ever saw
made him type of all that dignitary of the
Church should be. lie was greatly overcome that
niobt by the disastrous defeat and the horrors of
war thus brought to our very doors, and prayed
most fervently before we separated for the Union
and the preservation Of our country. But the
next morning the Bishop had regained his serene
and happy composure, and devoted himself with
assiduous care TO the physical and spiritual needs
Of the sufferers.
One young fellow, real rough shocked the
Bishop greatly by his profane language when in
pain. The boy, for he was not more than nine
teen or twenty, begged hard to I've allowed the use
of his favorite vocabulary. just let me swear
bit il helps me stand the hurting" he begged
the kind priest, after he had been with us few
days and his oaths had been brought more or less
under control
Learn TO pray instead" insisted the Bishop
God can help you much more than the devil can"
Both before and after the battle
great deal OF General Mcdowell. There are some
men who, through no fault of their own and no
lack of ability, are condemned to have their
names go down in history through their connec-
ton with defeat instead Of with victory. II
inevitable that the generals who conducted the Viz
GINA campaigns should encounter failure. That
too many cooks spoil the broth" has ever been
one of the best known adages, and when one con-
siders that this unfortunate department was not
really under the control of its legitimate COM
mandeIS puC lhaU eNeIS menlDer OF congress anu OF
the Government considered il his especial preroga-
tive to give advice, criticism and suggestions in
Vulnerable, and that all these men were civilians,
necessarily completely ignorant OF army tactics, it
is small wonder that it should have required n
Mcdowell, a Mcclellan, Pope, Burnside and
a Hooker before IL possible for Grant 20 deal
the final blow Mcdowell was most unlucky In
being first and Grant supremely fortunate in being
last / think the following passage from let
ter written by Secretary Chase TO his old friend,
the venerable William Cullen Bryant, gives as
good an idea of General Mcdowell anything
that has ever been written about him:
Mcdowell has been unfortunate but he is a
brave, loyal, truthful, capable officer. He is a
disciplinarian While he never hesitated TO APP
propriate private property Of the enemies of our
country TO public use, he repressed, as far as
possible private marauding rs incompatbe with