The Civil War Through the CameraElson, Henry W. (Henry William)
History
The Civil War Through the Camera
Elson, Henry W. (Henry William)
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Pictorial works
In vain McDowell and his officers attempted to rally his panic-stricken
men and re-form his lines. Only the regulars, about sixteen hundred in
number, were subject to the orders of their superiors, and they made a
brave stand against the oncoming foe while they covered the retreat of the
disorganized mass. On the Henry hill were the two powerful batteries of
Griffin and Ricketts. They had done most valiant service while the tide of
battle ebbed and flowed. But at last their hour had come. A Confederate
regiment, dashing from a neighboring hill, poured in a deadly volley, cut
down the cannoneers almost to a man, killed their horses, and captured the
guns. A few minutes later General Beauregard rode up to the spot and
noticed Captain Ricketts lying on the ground, desperately wounded. The two
men had been friends in the years gone by. Beauregard, recognizing his old
friend, asked him if he could be of any service. He then sent his own
surgeons to care for the wounded captain and detailed one of his staff to
make him comfortable when he was carried to Richmond as a prisoner of war.
There is little more to relate of the battle of Bull Run. In his report
McDowell stated that after providing for the protection of the retreat
from the battlefield by Porter's and Blenker's volunteer brigades, he took
command in person of the force previously stationed for holding the road
back to Centreville and made such disposition "as would best serve to
check the enemy," at the Centreville ridge. Some hundreds of civilians,
members of Congress and others, had come out from Washington to witness a
victory for the Grand Army, and they saw that army scattered in wild
flight to escape an imaginary pursuer. The Confederates made no serious
effort to follow after them, for the routed Federals had destroyed the
Stone Bridge as they passed it in their retreat, and had obstructed the
other avenues of pursuit. As darkness settled over the field the
Confederates returned to their camps.
McDowell made a desperate effort to check and reorganize his army at
Centreville, but he was powerless. The troops refused to listen to any
commands; they rushed on and great numbers of them traveled all night,
reaching Washington in the morning.
These raw troops had now received their first baptism of blood and fire.
Nearly five hundred of their number were left dead on the field of battle,
and fourteen hundred were wounded. The captured and missing brought the
Federal loss to nearly three thousand men. The Confederate loss in killed,
wounded, and missing was less than two thousand. The Federal forces
engaged were nearly nineteen thousand, while the Confederates had more
than eighteen thousand men on the field.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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