Manti Messenger | 1936-07-10 | Page 6 | Where They Won a Battle and Lost a War

Where They Won a Battle and Lost a War By ELMO SCOTT WATSON N A blazing July day 75 years ago this month two o armies of Americans one I. I composed of ot men of ot the I fIg 41 North and the other men of the South met In desperate desperate desperate des des- r encounter on the banks of a n little stream in Virginia When it was over the men from the North were in full retreat letrent The men from the South had won the battle but as it later Inter turned out they had lost the war because they would not or could not follow up their tage La Late te in the afternoon one of their commanders seeing the route of his adver adversaries aries exclaimed Give me men and I will be in Washington tonight P Per Perhaps e r h hap a p s speculating on historical Ifs lis is the idlest of all occupations But Butone Butone Butone one cannot help wondering what might have happened if these 10 men had been given to Stonewall Stonewall Stone Stonewall wall Jackson Knowing him as we do in the light of his later career career ca ca- reer we eve can readily believe that he would have made good his promise If he had the Confederacy Confederacy might have ha won Avon the war then and md there At least the course of events during the next four years undoubtedly would have been very different from what it was The story of the battle fought on July 21 1861 the first major engagement engagement engagement en en- of the Civil war is a familiar fa familiar familiar fa- fa one in its general outlines to most Americans But there are areman man many aspects of it not given in the schoolbook histories which make it one of the thc most interesting engagements engagements en en- in fn our history First of all there is the thc matter of ot its name Southerners prefer to call it the Battle of ot Manassas because because because be be- cause the Confederate base was at Manassas Junction where the Manassas Manassas Manassas Ma Ma- Gap Gnp railroad joined the Orange and Alexandria railroad But Northerners prefer to call it the Battle of ot Bull Run from the name of the little stream which runs through the battlefield even though the jesters have implanted in the public public consciousness consciousness the suggestion that there was some connection between the name of that stream and the panic flight which came after the battle But Butin Butin Butin in suggesting that they do a grave injustice to brave though inexperienced inexperienced inexperienced soldiers For the fact is as Glenn I. I Tucker writing in the Washington Post on this battle pointed out The Union army did not run during the battle at all There was running to be sure There was running In copious profusion There was running by soldiers horses mules Infantry artillery cavalry and trains and by terrorized spectators spectators spec spec- out for a gala occasion who with their rich carriages s were giving an opera touch to the greatest spectacle that had yet occurred In North America and there was running that did not end at Centreville FaIrfax Fairfax Fairfax Fair FaIr- fax Court Cour House Washington or Philadelphia Philadelphia Philadelphia Phila Phila- delphia but which extended in some Instances Instances instances In in- stances to New News York New England and the fastness of the Maine forests But it really did not start on the bat bat- It started when the fact was finally Impressed upon the Union regiments that had marched out from Washington Washing Washing- ton that they had irretrievably lost the engagement It gained strength through a recognition that the line of retreat of the disorganized Union column along the Centreville and md Sudley Springs roads exhibited an exposed flank to the victorious enemy army which might even have quicker ingress to Washing Washing- i r F M GEN IRVIN MCDOWELL ton particularly since the Cub Run bridge was Jammed with wrecked Federal Federal Fed Fed- eral wagons and caissons It broke all aU restraints when a small mounted party of that enemy threw a afew afew afew few rounds of rifle fire Into the retie retiring ing fag column In which the different organizations organizations or or- were so confused and intermingled intermingled intermingled inter inter- mingled that the officers out of control control con con- merely added to the pandemonium by useless shouts and orders With raw troops there is a hairline line between a forced retreat a rout and a panic After Bull Run the transition tran tran- transition was accomplished with electrifying electrify electrify- ing suddenness by those few rounds of rifle fire and one or two pieces of artillery artil artil- lery Irvin McDowell had led a formidable for array out from the national capital An unarmed mob returned filling tilling the streets looking for sleeping space and living hying on handouts So much for tor the losers of the Battle of Bull Run As for the winners winners win win- ners of the Battle of Manassas the same historian has pointed out It was WIlS not a battle that reflected the greatest credit upon the victors Even though on the verge of defeat they possessed possessed possessed pos pos- pos pos- the stamina to stay through until until until un un- un- un til the opposition crumbled and fortuitously fortuitously for for- found reinforcements arriving at exactly the right moment With the president resident of the Confederacy en n the battlefield deemed excellently fitted for his post because of his West 1 u i r. r i f i t Zb 7 cp- cp r r. r 1 Tc L I 1 1 y J 1 rr p t j Y rj h. h 1 1 1 W t t L w t L. r 1 RALL RALLYING YING THE TilE TROOPS OF BEE BARTOW V AND EV EVANS S AT THE TIlE BATTLE ATTLE OF BULL RUN Point training with Joheph E E. Johnson Johnson John John- son soldier of high renown In both armies In full fuU command and with Pierre Beauregard sometimes called the Beau of the Confederacy Confederacy In active charge of the battle line It remained for a hitherto rather obscure brigade commander a professor sor SOl of artillery tactics and natural philosophy to perceive that the highway high way to Washington to the capture of the Union capital and possibly recognition of oC the new Confederacy by anxiously anxiously waiting foreign powers and the termination of the war by a single stroke was as wide open as If It had been strewn with wilh welcoming garlands by McDowell's flying But Stonewall Jacksons Jackson's need for fresh men men and and there was ample allowance among those still unengaged found President Davis arranging conferences conferences conferences con con- in the rear of the scene of triumph Johnson satisfied with the already already al al- al ready gathered fruits of victory and Beauregard concerned with rumors of advances on his rear These rumors had phantom Union armies coming from all aU directions and md seem seemed d to cloud the fact that the flesh and blood Union Army was fleeing double dou dou- ble ble quick toward the Potomac followed no longer by even a squadron of caval caval- ry There were questions of supplies behind while flour was rotting in the freight cars and a rich country lay ahead But the elements clements of ot victory which fired Jacksons Jackson's intuitive mind with the zest for further action spoke caution and satisfaction to his superiors superiors superiors supe supe- and the precious wasted hours swept by And the Confederate army settled down for nine months almost on the spot and the defenses of Washington were strengthened and a new Federal army assembled The eagle cagle of victory perched often otten thereafter on the banners banners ban ban- ners of the South but the Northern volunteers volunteers vol vol- vol who had raced from Bull Run hardened Into some of the fighters the world has known And the attrition set in and the w war ar rolled on toward Gettysburg and Appomattox with never another rout for the North so utter and complete nor highway so clear nor the cause of the South so near triumphant And Jackson never had opportunity to prove to history that with fresh men on the night of July 21 1861 he would be in Washington on the mor mor- morrow row This battle was noteworthy for forthe forthe the thc number of officers in it who were marked for later fame By Byone Byone Byone one of those strange quirks of fate the commanders of the opposing armies armies Irvin Irvin McDowell of the Union and Pierre Gustave Gustavo Toutant Beauregard had Beauregard-had had been classmates at West Point in 1838 On the Confederate side there was James E. E Longstreet Lees Lee's war horse to whose slowness is often attributed the loss of ot the Battle Battle Battle Bat Bat- tle of Gettysburg the South's last chance to win the war There were also Joseph E. E Johnston Kirby KirbySmith KirbySmith KirbySmith Smith C C. P. P Ewell and Hugh Fitz-Hugh Lee and those dashing cavalry leaders Jeb Stuart and Jubal A. A Early and Wade Hampton And last but not least was that queer military genius whose imperishable ble nickname was fastened upon him at Bull Run that Run that professor of artillery tactics and natural philosophy Thomas J. J Jackson That was the name with which he went into the battle But he came out of it Stonewall Jackson Jackson Jackson Jack Jack- son because at a critical moment in the battle he deployed his brigade brigade brigade bri bri- gade upon a little ridge and there awaited the onrush of the Union forces which almost had victory in their grasp Look there is Jackson Jackson Jack Jack- son standing like a stone wall Rally behind the Virginians shouted another brigade commander commander comman comman- der Gen Barnard E E. E Bee The Union tide of ot victory was stemmed and Stonewall Jackson and his Stonewall Brigade became an American legend Everyone has heard of Stonewall Stonewall Stone wall Jackson but how many know anything about the man who gave him that name Perhaps if he had been spared to share in the victory victory vic vie tory he might also have shared in his fame tame But Bee while leading a rally of the Confederates tes after Jackson had taken his stone wall stand fell tell mortally wounded Thus ended a brilliant career which had begun with the graduation of ot the young South Carolinian from West WestPoint WestPoint WestPoint Point in 1845 followed by service in the new state of Texas and inthe in inthe inthe the Mexican war where he was severely wounded at Chapultepec and was a captain for gallantry at Cerro Gordo After service against the Indians In the Northwest and with Albert Sidney Johnston in the Mormon troubles in Utah he was promoted to cap cap- tain tamn but upon receiving the news I of the secession of or his native state Bee resigned from the army and returned to South Carolina He entered the Confederate service as asa asa asa a major of infantry and on June 17 1861 was made brigadier general gener gener- al a distinction which he lived to enjoy only a little more than a month Although most historians speak of Bull Run as the first battle between between between be be- tween the Blue and the Gray that statement is more figurative than literal For it was also noteworthy noteworthy noteworthy note note- worthy for tor the variety of uniforms worn by participants on both sides The Federal Blue had not yet been issued and the troops wore either cither the uniforms of their militia organization organization organ organ- iza tion or those furnished by their several states Mingled in this motley array was the striking costume costume costume cos cos- tume of the zouave regiments and there was even one the one the New NewYork York York York-in in Scotch Highlander kilts 4 r rv v iT r C rf 1 I h r r i r f STONEWALL JACKSON The Confederate uniforms showed a similar variety Some of the regiments were still in citizens' citizens dress and several of the general officers who had been in the old service service including including so it is said Generals Johnston Beauregard and Longstreet still Longstreet-still still wore the uniform of the United States army Among the interesting stories connected with Bull Run are those of ot two civilians who were victims of the war var god One of them was Wilbur McLean IcLean who lived near the battlefield in a substantial colonial mansion which Beauregard the Confederate commander made his hish h headquarters Early in the battle a shell plunged into his dining room and broke up the meal The rage of ot battle was too much for McLean and he left this locality and traveled traveled traveled tra tra- to a retired section where he thought he would be secure from wars war's alarms He went by a strange freak frenk of fate to Appomattox Court House a sequestered and secluded hamlet far off the main roads where he bought a good house and he settled down in peace At the closing act of the great drama both armies drew up at his doorstep and he saw the close as he had witnessed the beginning of the great grea t American epic for Lee surrendered to Grant Grantin in his house The heaviest fighting r l' raged a age g e d around the Henry House plateau so named because of the farmhouse farmhouse farmhouse farm farm- house occupied by Mrs Isaac Henry widow of an American naval naval naval na na- na- na val surgeon who had received his commission from President John Adams and had served aboard the Constellation A ridden bed invalid five eighty-five years of age Mrs Henry was killed in her own room by the crossfire fire of the opposing op posing armies which destroyed her home ome She was buried in the family family fam fam- ily plot near the scene of her death beside two of her children Today an American fl flag fig g floats above the grave of this first woman victim of the Civil war war war-a a flag which is symbolic of at the reunited country that was torn by hatred and fratricidal fratricidal fratricidal strife 75 years ago fi f Until this year the battlefield of Bull Run was but little changed from its appearance when the hosts of the North and the South came to dea grips death there three-quarters three of a il 0 century ago True the old Washing- Washing Warrenton ton-Warrenton turnpike down which the Federal troops marched so gaily before the battle and over which they retreated so dejectedly afterward afterward afterward after after- ward is now a modern highway dotted with filling stations signboards signboards sign sign- boards and well kept homes But the rolling plain near Manassas which was stained with the blood of fellow-countrymen fellow on that fateful July day is so much the same that the battle could be fought all over again along its original lines so far faras faras faras as any man made improvements on the terrain are concerned so there is special interest in the recent recent recent re re- re- re cent announcement that it is to become a national shrine The federal government through the Rural Resettlement administration has acquired approximately 1500 acres along Bull Run creek near Manassas and this spring more than men were put to work clearing away the land and determining determining determining deter deter- mining landmarks This area it is expected will become the nucleus for a battlefield park which eventually eventually eventually even- even will contain nearly acres acres or or most of the territory over which the embattled armies fought In 1861 While the scenes of most of the larger Civil war engagements long since have become the property of the nation of states or of ot private associations which have made them into national shrines this area has remained in farm land with practically no control over its development Efforts of patriotic groups in the past to acquire a large part of the tract have not been successful The federal government had its hands tied through the regulation which has prevented purchasing land for park purposes Such land must come as a gift and the government only undertakes the administration and development of it it So Bull Bun Run has remained the largest neglected Civil war shrine The provision by which the Resettlement Resettlement