New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-10-10
THE LESSON OF BULL RUN
edwhhhe
United States the Present

Of artillery whose term Of seryi..
PRED began iheir homeward nareh 80 ~
sound Of the enemy's cannon.,-p.t.nH
Record. Vol. 2. page 8, Doc. ~
"The same day the remainder os,h
launched against the enemy in no.,,,a'
Bull Run. was totally defeated. IN 81. ~"
that ensued discipline and training ss'
gave proof Of IT'S value. The battalion 80
ulars which covered the retreat and rs,
last to leave the field checked the e.. ~
pursuit and retired in perfec, order
Except a battalion Of eight eom,.,...
made up Of the ID. Sd and 8th Inf.,.-~''
battalion Of marines. a small de,scsn...
the LIST and I'd Dragons. end six ba,,.r,.. ',
artillery. aggregating 500 men. h, TO-.
who were expected 70 yanquish opno,i,;..
were composed exclusively Of yoluntser, 80
militia. Some OF the former had. on n. a..
Of the battle, been mustered into the ssrv;,.
less than a month; the term Of service =, n
the regiments of militia vas on the A., -
expiring. These facts viii explain ~ 49,.
military mind the loss OF the battle n.
plan was all that could have been an.iein,,,.
from an able and judic.ous commander -.
when he sought to execute IT, 70 test bis n,
chinery,' he found that disc pline. the a,h
sure bond Of cohesion, was entirely war,,,.
General Heihtzelman, after having !, "a,
sought to rally his broken regiments. spck.. !.
their conduct as follow:
1.-The want Of discipline in these r,v
ments was so great that most Of the M,
would run from fifty TO several hundred ya,s,
70 the rear and continue to hrs fortunate,
for the Drawer ones. very high ia the air
compelling those IN front to retreat
The number Of troops which crossed Bal
Run was: Confederate forces. estimated !,
29.9i9 report Of the Joint Committee on a,
Conduct OF the War; Union forces. $500
The Union loss in killed and wounded vu
1,492 Medical and Surgical History Of IA,
War, Vol. Il, or but 81 per cent Of the .o.
force engaged. The same regiments after I,
years discipline would have scorned TO n.
tire with a loss Of less than 30 to 90 pei e,r,
1.-THE effect of this disastrous battle. whiA
gave the enemy all the advantages Of the N.
itstive, had he chosen TO use il, was to v.r.
alyze military operations FOR more than sS
months.
amazed and Inundated. the people bowed
their heads, and. coniiding everything 70 nil.
itary commanders, patiently awaited the opsr
ing Of another campaign.
"In contrast with the conclusions Of n,
historian, the Joint Committee on the Con.
duct OF the War reported that the principal
cause Of defeat on that day was the failure 0,
General Patterson to hold the forces ..
Johnston in the Shenandoah Valley. Vol 2
page 3. of the report.)"
In view of General uptons summary Of Ii.
events leading up to Bull Run. and in the fac,
of the plain fact that to-day. in 1915, The
United States is just as unprepared for iu
military problems, in proportion to its sir,
and its dangers, As it was in 1861, We nay
we'll think of the remark attributed to Major
Langhorne as he inspected the huge BATH.
field of Tanncnburg recently: I'VE play
baseball; the Germans play war-snd sh.y
know the game AMERICAN CITIZEN.
Annapolis, Md. Sept. Is. 1915.