The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-07-27

Organization OF lis Brigade and its Part ut
Bull Run n'lcr Fire for the I'ir~t
Time
-Nc'r York Ercniny I~S,.

!
! ing on the turnpike, we were halted
to support Il battery skrmshcrs were
+ thrown out, and soon We were all en-
easca. We tried hard to hold Pattcr-
son until ten. Johnston could come
NJ from Winchester. but were forced
tacE,. and here We saw Col jackson
under fire for The first time. Stolid,
inpcrturbablc, unii,turbcd, he was
watched by every eye, and !i, cx-
ample was puirting and of decided
moral effect There fer the first time
we saw the long line Of blue with the
niicd states flag in tlic center. and
both sides exchanged Shots. md at Il
small hamlet called Bunker Hill,
some seven miles away, we, iurinr
the whole IF July were in line Of
battle. expecting Patterson hourly
III" next evening wc fell back upon
Winchester a.l after our arrival
.ncr Happened #n episode which
viii relate briefly. a. it was the. first
ana only attempt at a muiiny that
was ever heard of in the Confederate
arMy.
About :; o'clnc, on the afternoon Of
the lI;h Of .july the lnng roll was
beaten and we were marched TO IN
adjoining field, cruShin. under our
feet, ~ We moved along, the stone
fences bounding it, There we found
| our five regiments surrounding Il num-
Der Of tents, and when the "hollow
square was perfect we became aware
that we had enclosed battalion Of
troops who had refused positively to
further obey their commander. Gen.
,Johnston's adjutant, Col. Whiting,
with Col. Jackson and the colonel Of
the refractory troops rode up into the
square; the drums were ordered to
beat the assembly, and, to our infinite
relief, the battalion, under command
of it's several captains, fell into line
at once. Then there was dead
silence; this was nutiny. What
came next? How was it to be punish
cb? Was every tenth man to be shot,
or only the officers? AS rode along |
heard these questions asked by both
rank and file. Col. Whiting rode to
the front with paper in his hand,
and, when he arrived at the hend of
the troops, he read aloud with marked
emphasis, in substance, as follows:
That Gen. Johnston had heard with
regret and surprise that, on the eve
of IN action, both men and officers
had refused to obey the orders of
their commander. lie could only say
that it was the imperative duty Of all
soldiers TO obey orders; that their
grievances would be rcdresscd in time,
but such an example would and should
not go unpunishcd. Hc, therefore,
expected Of them instant obedience of
their coloncl's orders; that Col. Jack
son with five regiments was there to
enforce, if needed, his commands
Their own colonel then put them
through their cvolutions for so many
minutes, and they were ordered back
to their tents, and all was quiet. 1t
seems hardly necessary to state that
those were the last orders ever given
by that colonel, as he was removed
from command.
All of Gen. Johnston's army were
then cncampcd around Winchester,
when, on the 18th Of July, at , clock
in the afternoon, again the long-roll
! WAS sounded. From the number of
mounted officers and men galloping
| furiously oil to every cncampment, it
was evident that there was important
news. Gen. Patterson was known to
be at Charlestown, twenty miles
northeast, but nearer to the passes Of
the Blue Ridge than We were. Gen.
Bcaurcgard was known to be at Ma
nassas Station, far to the east, eighty
miles by direct line, with the Blue
Ridge and the Shenandoah River be-
| tween him and us. Soon the news
came; it was not an order, but simply
q message, from Gen. Johnston to
each brigade, regiment and individual
J soldier, that Gen. Beaurcgard had
| just notified him from Manassas
Junction, on that morning at day
break, he had been attacked by an
overwhelming force Of the enemy
from Centreville. He was holding
his own, but needed help. Gen.
Johnston had started, and would go,
day and night, to his relief; and he
expected that every man vino wanted
to fight the enemy would up and fol-
low. Every man sprang to his place,
and in an incredibly short time we
were rapidly moving through the dusty
streets of old Winchester, there only