The National tribune., 1904-03-17

Dy the uiOFlHiS UI Tue -clu 6tH. opS
had learnt the real position of the adyer-
sary who had hitherto so adroitly eluded
him. but his troops had become so seat
tered by his contradictory orders, that IT
could hardly be said he had an army al
all. Sigel and Reynolds had, however,
turned up near Groyeton; and rope dl-
rected them to develop the position OF the
enemy, ,(21 while he sought to get his re-
manning forces in hand. Renos Corps.
and Heintzelman with his two DIVISIONS
under Hooker and Kearny, were ordered
to cOuntermarch from Centerville; While
Porter, with his corps and Kings Dlvi-
sion of McDowells command, were dl-
rected to advance on Gainesville, posi-
ton it had been more easy to abandon the
day before than to regain now.
Jackson continued to hold his vantage
ground upon the highlands northwest OF
GrOyeton: and as he now commanded the
Warrenton road, by which Lee was moving
to join him, and had intelligence that his
chief was close at hand, he had ceased TO
fear the result of an encounter with Pope
Jackson disposed his troops along the cut OF
an unfinished railroad(22) with his right
left near Sudley Mill. The mass OF his
troops were sheltered in dense woods behind
the railroad cut and embankment, which
formed a ready-made parapet.
Gen. Sigel. as ordered, attacked In the
morning, pushing forward his line under
warm fire, under which he suffered severe
ly; and, toward noon, he was joined by
Reno's command and the divisions Of Hook
er and Kearny. Meanwhile, Porter, In the
morning, moved forward from Manassas
junction to turn JackSOnS right Dy an au-
vance on Gainesville.
Had the position of the COnfederates
been as Pope imagined, the latter move
should have been decisive, and must have
seriously jeopardized JacksOn's safety. But,
while Porter's column was yet in motion,
hofn If IackSnn'S
the van of Lees main body began to reach
the field from Thoroughfare Gap. In fact.
by 10 in the morning, lIongstreet mad come
up, and, taking position on Jacksons right,
drew an extension of the Confederate line
across the Warrenton turnpike and the
Manassas Gap Railroad. thus covering all
the lines of approach by which the column
OF Porter might advance toward Gaines.
vile. Upon finding himself thus estopped
Porter was proceeding to form his line
when he was overtaken by Gen. Mcdowell.
under whose orders the former then came
The precise tenor of the instructions which,
at this moment, Mcdowell gave Porter is
q point in dispute asserting
that he ordered Porter to move against the
enemy. and Porter claiming that Mcdowell
directed him to remain where he was.
However this may be. Mcdowell took
Kings Division, which belonged to his own
corps, from under Porter, and. uniting it
with Ricketts, Division (also of Mellow
ellis Corps), headed his column northward
to the battlefield near Groveton. where he
arrived late in the afternoon. Porter held
his command for the rest of the day in the
position taken up-Morrell's Division be-
Ing deployed and in contact with the enc
my: the other divisions massed.
PoPE's SCATTERED AND LOST DIVISIONS
Thus it was that, by contradictory orders
and the useless marches and counter
marches they involved, Popes opportunity
was thrown away, and instead Of fighting
JacksOns Corps alone, it was the entire
army of Lee with which he had to deal
this. too, with his forces very much out of
position, and he himself ignorant both of
his own situation and that of the enemy.
When, toward noon. Pope. coming from
Centeryille, reached the field near Grove
. ton, he found the situation as follows !:
Heintzelman's two divisions. under Hook
er and Kearny, on the right, in front and
west of the Sudley Springs road Reno and
Sigel holding the center-Sigefs line being
extended short distance south of the
Warrenton turnpike; Reynolds with his
was ignorant of the whereabouts of both
Porter and Mcdowell, and he knew not
that LOngstreet had joined Jackson! The
troops had been considerably cut up by
the brisk skirmishing that had been kept up
all the morning. An artillery duel had ~
been waged all the forenoon between the
opposing lines; but ii was at long range
and of no effect.
The position of the troops in front of
Jackson's intrenehed line was one that
attack. and especially for a partial attack.
Nevertheless, at 8 o'clock, Pope ordered
Hooker to assault. The attempt was so
unpromising that that officer remon-
strated against it; but the order being i'm
perative. he made very determined at
tack with his division. The action was
especially brilliant on the part OF Groyer's
Brigade, which. advancing with the bay
onet, succeeded in penetrating between
the two extreme left brigades of Jack.
sons line,(2 and got possession OF the
railroad embankment which, by a savage
hand-to-hand tight. it held for some time,
till driven back by the arrival of reinforce.
ments to the Confederate left. .(24) Too late
for united action. Kearny was sent to
Hooker's assistance, and he also suffered
repulse.
UNABLE TO HOLD POINTS GAINED.
Meanwhile, Pope had learnt the posi-
tion Of POrter's command, and at &c
In the afternoon sent orders to that Officer
to assail the enemy's right flank and real
q. Gen. Pope, in his Official report %
O), states that the attack by Sigel wa,
for the purpose OF bringing Jackson to :
stand, If it icere possible to do So" thu,
intimating that jackson was moving off
There does not seem to have been an,
occasion for this solieitude.
%. My troops on this day were dis
tributed along and in the vicinity of the Gu
OF an unfinished railroad (intended as
part of the track to connect the Manassa,
road directly with Alexandria,, stretchin,
from the Warrenton turnpike in the direc
tiOn of Sudley Mill. 1t was mainly alon.
the unfinished excavation of this unfinished
road that my line of battle was formed o,
the 18th: Jackson's Division, under Brig.
Cen Starke, on the right; Ewell's Division
under Brig.-Gen. LAwton, in the center
and Hills Division on the left'-Jackson,
Report: Reports OF the Army Of Northern
Virginia. vol ii, p. o.
%. These were the brigades Of Greg
and Thomas-Jackson: Report, D. 95.
"a. Reports OF the Army of Northerl
Virginia, vol. ii, p. 252.
Pope enormously believing the righ
naAk of~Jackson, near Groyeton, to be tn