Parowan Times | 1936-07-10 | Page 3 | Where They Won a Battle and Lost a War

where aca they won a battle and lost a war by ELMO SCOTT WATSON arvn N A blazing july day 75 S years ago this month two i afi armies of americans one afa composed of men of the tw north and the other men of the south met in des encounter on the banks of a little stream in virginia when it was over the men from the north were in full retreat the men from the south had won the battle but as it later turned out they had lost the war because they would not or could not follow up their advantage late in the afternoon one of their commanders seeing the route of his adversaries exclaimed give me men and I 1 will be in washington tonight perhaps speculating on historical its is the idlest of all occupations but one cannot help wondering what might have happened if these men had bad been given to stonewall jackson knowing him as we do in the light of his later career we can readily believe that he would have made good his promise it he had the beracy might have won the war then and there at least the course ot of events during the next four years undoubtedly would have been very different from what it was battle the story of th the battle fought on july 21 1861 the first major engagement ga of the civil war is a familiar one in its general outlines to roost most americans but there are many aspects of it not given in the schoolbook histories which make lt it one of the most interesting engagements gage ments in our history first of all there is the matter of its name southerners prefer to call it the battle of manassas because the confederate base was at manassas junction where the manassas gap railroad joined the orange and alexandria railroad but northerners prefer to call it the battle of bull run from the name of the little stream which runs through the battlefield even though the jesters have implanted in the public consciousness the suggestion that there was some connection between the name of that stream and the panic flight which came after the battle but in suggesting that they do a grave injustice to brave though inexperienced soldiers for the fact Is as glenn 1 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 I 1 infantry artillery cavalry and trains and by terrorized spectators out for a gala occasion who with their rich carriages nere ere living giving an opera boulle touch to the he greatest spectacle that had yet occurred in north america and there was running that did not end at centreville Cen treville fairfax four cour house washington or philadelphia but which extended in some instances to new york new england and the fastness of the maine forests but it really did not start on the battlefield tle field it started when the fact act was finally impressed upon the union regiments that had marched out from washington that they had bad irretrievably lost the engagement it gained strength through a recognition that the line ol of retreat ot of the disorganized union column along the Cen centreville treville and ludicy springs roads exhibited an exposed flank to the victorious enemy army which might even have quicker ingress to washing af 4 apt vie N GEN IRVIN bl Hc DOWELL cDOWELL ton particularly since the cul cub run bridge was jammed with wrecked federal wagons and chaissons caissons cais cals sons it broke all restraints when a small mounted party of that enemy threw a few rounds of rifle fire into the retiring column in which the different organizations were so confused and intermingled that the officers out of control merely added to the pandemonium by useless shouts and orders with raw troops there Is a line between a forced retreat a rout and a panic after bull run the transition was accomplished with electrifying suddenness by those few rounds of rifle fire and one or two pieces of artillery irvin iraln mcdowell had led a formidable rai dable array out from the national capital an unarmed mob returned filling the streets looking for sleeping space and living on handouts for be so much tor the losers of 0 the battle of bull run As tor for the winners of the battle of Mana manassas isas the same historian his has pointed out it was not a battle that reflected the greatest credit upon the victors even though on the verge of defeat they possessed the stamina to stay through until the opposition crumbled and fortuitously tui found reinforcements arriving at exactly the right moment with the president of the confederacy an n the battlefield deemed excellently fitted tor for his post because of his west so aul alvi v va 7 ai I 1 4 IN 4 tz mill owr RALLYING THE TROOPS OF BEE BARTOW AND EVANS AT THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN point training with ith joheph E johnson soldier of 0 high renown in both t armies in full command and with pierre beauregard sometimes called the beau of the confederacy in active charge ot of the battle line lt it remain remained d tor for a hitherto rather abse obscure u re brigade brigade c commander omm ader a protessor professor of 0 artillery tactics and natural philosophy to elve that the th highway to washington to the capture ot of the union capital and possibly recognition ot of the new confederacy by anxiously waiting foreign powers and the termination ot of the war by a single stroke was as wide open as it if it had been strewn with welcoming garlands by Ide Dowells flying zou aves but stonewall jacksons need for or fresh men and there was ample allowance among those still unengaged lound found president davis arranging conferences feren ces in the rear of 0 the scene ot of triumph johnson satisfied with the already gathered fruits of victory and beauregard concerned with rumors of advances on his rear these rumors had phantom union armies coming from all directions and seemed to cloud the tact fact that the flesh and blood union army was fleeing dou ble quick toward the potomac followed no longer by even a squadron of cavalry there were questions of supplies behind while flour was rotting in the freight cars and a rich country lay ahead but the elements ot of victory which fired jacksons intuitive mind with the zest for further action spoke caution and satisfaction to his superiors and the precious wasted hours swept by and the confederate army settled down for nine months almost on the spot and the defenses ot of washington were strengthened and a new federal army assembled the eagle ot of victory perched often thereafter on an the banners banner ot of the south but the northern who had raced from bull run kun hardened into some of the stanch cst fighters the world orld has known and the attrition set in and the war rolled on toward gettysburg and appomattox with never another rout lor for the north so utter and complete nor highway so clear nor the cause ot of the south so near triumphant and jackson never had opportunity to prove to history that with fresh men on the night ot of july 21 1861 he would be in washington on the morrow a a a this battle was noteworthy for the number of officers in it who were marked tor for later tame fame by one oneat of those strange quirks of fate the commanders ot of the opposing armies arales irvin mcdowell ot of the union and pierre gustave toutant beauregard had been classmates at west point in 1838 on the confederate side there was james E longstreet lees war horse to whose slowness is olun often attributed the loss ot of the battle ol of gettysburg the mouths last chance to win the war there were also joseph E johnston kirby smith C P ewell and fitzhugh fitz z hugh ugh lee and those dashing cavalry valry leaders jeb stuart an and ubal jubal A early and wade hampton and last ast but ut not least was that queer military genius whose imperishable nickname was fastened upon him at bull run that professor of artillery tactics and natural philosophy thomas J jackson that was the name with which he went into the battle but he came out of it stonewall jackson because at a critical moment in the battle he deployed his brigade upon a little ridge and there awaited the onrush of the union forces which almost had victory in their grasp look there is jackson standing like a stone wall rally behind the virginians shouted another brigade commander gen barnard E bee the th e union tide of victory was stemmed and stonewall jackson and his ast stonewall brigade became an american legend everyone has heard of stonewall jackson but how many know anything about the man who gave him that name perhaps it if he had been spared to sha share re in the victory he might also have shared in his fame but bee while leading a rally of the confederates after jackson had taken his stone wall stand fell mortally wounded thus ended a brilliant career which had begun with the graduation of the young south carolinian Carolin lan from west point jn in 1845 followed by service in the new state of texas and in the mexican war where he was severely wounded at chapultepec and was brevet ted a captain tor for gallantry at cerro gordo after service against the indians in the northwest and with albert sidne sidney y johnston in the mormon troubles in utah he was promoted to cap tain but upon receiving the news ot of the secession of 0 his native state bee resigned from the army and returned to south carolina he entered the confederate service as a major of 0 infantry and on june 17 1861 was made brigadier general a distinction which he lived to enjoy only a little more than a month a 0 0 although most historians speak of bull run as the first battle between the blue and the gray that statement is more figurative than literal for it was also noteworthy for or the variety of uniforms worn by participants on both sides the federal blue had not yet been issued and the troops wore either the uniforms of their militia organization or those furnished by their several states mingled in this motley array was the striking costume of the zouave regiments and there was even one the new york in scotch highlander kilts 4 ofal X 1 1 A STONEWALL JACKSON the confederate uniforms showed a similar variety some of the regiments were still in citizens dress and several of the general officers who had been in the old service including so it is said generals johnston beauregard and longstreet still wore the uniform ot of the united states army a a among the interesting stories connected with bull run nun are those of two civilians who were victims ot of the war god one of 0 them was wilbur mclean who lived near the battlefield in a substantial colonial mansion which beauregard the confederate commander made his headquarters early in the battle a shell plunged into his dining room and broke up the meal the rage of battle ewas was too much for mclean and he left this locality and traveled to a retired section where he thought he would be secure from wars bars alarms he went by a strange freak 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 ot of the great american epic for lee surrendered to grant in his house the heaviest fighting raged around the henry house plateau so named because of the farmhouse occupied by mrs isaac henry widow of an american naval surgeon who had received his commission from president john adams and had served aboard the constellation A bedridden bed ridden invalid eighty five years of age mrs henry was killed in her own room by the cross fire of the opposing armies which destroyed her home she was buried in the family plot near the scene of her death beside two of her children today an american flag floats above the lie grave ot of this first woman victim of the civil war a flag which is symbolic of the reunited country that was torn by hatred and fratricidal strife 75 years ago a a until this year the battlefield ol of bull run nun was but little changed from its appearance when the hosts of the north and the south came to death grips there three quarters of a century ago true the old washing 9 ton warrenton tur turnpike it pike down which the federal troops marched so gaily before the battle and over which they retreated so dejectedly afterward is now a modern highway dotted with f illing filling stations sign boards and well kept homes but the rolling plain near manassas which was stained with the blood of fellow countrymen on that fateful july day is so much the same that the battle could be fought an all over again along its original lines so far as any man made improvements on the terrain are concerned so there Is special interest in the recent 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 landmarks this area it Is expected will become the nucleus tor for a battlefield park which eventually will contain nearly acres 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 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 so bull run has remained the largest neglected civil war shrine the provision by which the resettlement administration is en w V GEN P G beauregard T abbed to purchase farm arm land offered a loophole some of the land over which the most significant battle movements took place clearly was in the sense that the average farmer could not make a fair air living on it I 1 some was excellent farming land but the land purchase appropriation is available tor for purchasing a limited amount of fertile acreage in order to 9 get et holdings in solid blocks so that it can be cevelo developed ped to the best advantage the best use of the bull run battlefield tle field the resettlement settlement He administration decided was not tor for indifferent farming but for a national shrine when the land is acquired i and the restoration work completed the whole will be handed over to the national park service tor for administration tra tion experts from this branch of the government are superintend ing the work and when tourists visit the battleground this summer they win will find important sites on it well marked with cleared trails which will make them easy of access so that they can get a good idea of how the battle was fought western newspaper New union