At length they were moved to the right and left, and ordered to lie down and await the approach of the enemy, who by this time were closing up in apparently overwhelming numbers. I now directed the gunners to prepare shrapnel and canister-shot, and in case the enemy persisted in his advance, not to lose time in sponging the pieces-for minutes were now of more value than arms-but to aim low, and pour in a rapid fire wherever the men were thickest or were seen advancing. The enemy having by this time completed his preparations, and driven. in our skirmishers, now rushed forward and opened a heavy musketry fire on the battery; but from the shortness of range, or from aiming upwards as they ascended the ravine, their shots mostly passed over us. The command was then given to the battery to fire. Under the directions of Lieutenants Platt and Thompson, Second Artillery, and Edwards, Third Artillery, commanding sections, the most rapid, wellsustained, and destructive fire I have ever witnessed was now opened. The men took full advantage of the permission to omit sponging, yet no accident occurred from it. The guns were all of large calibre, two 20-pounder Parrott rifle guns, and four light 12-pounders, and they swept the field with a perfect storm of canister. No troops could stand it, and the enemy broke and fled in every direction, taking refuge in the woods and ravines, and in less than fifteen minutes not a living man could be seen on the ground, which so recently had swarmed with them. The infantry regiments had not found it necessary to fire a single shot."

The object of the enemy's attack in force at this point was, after crushing General McDowell's reserves, to move on Centreville and intercept the retreat, and effect the capture of the disorganized army. Thus, the battery and brigade of volunteers stationed at Blackburn's Ford, were in reality acting as a rear-guard to our retreating forces,

and had the resistance so gallantly made by Major Hunt's battery been unsuccessful, scarcely a remnant of General McDowell's army would have escaped capture, and the going down of that day's sun would have seen the rebels complete masters of the field, without an obstacle between them and the undefended capital. The lately published report of General Beauregard tells us, that this was their expectation, but no one has yet told the world how and by whom it was foiled.

While the preparations were being made to receive the enemy, and during the few minutes of suspense that preceded their expected onset, the observed demeanor of Lieutenant Craig was in a remarkable degree calm and self-possessed. It was related by an officer of volunteers, who found himself placed near the battery, in speaking of his own emotions during the trying moments that preceded the action, that while inwardly contending against irrepressible sensations of nervous apprehension, his eyes caught sight of a mounted officer close by him, who was watching the approaching masses of the enemy with an expression of the calmest unconcern. The half-smiling face seemed only to bespeak expectation of the coming of a pleasurable event, and involuntarily contrasting his own sensations, with what the serene countenance and undaunted bearing of the unknown artillery officer betokened of undisturbed and even pleasurable emotion, he reflected within himself, how enviable was he who could feel so at such a time.

The exposed position of Lieutenant Craig was observed by more than one officer, who approached him just before the action commenced. and advised dismounting. Within a few minutes after the firing began, and just as he had turned his face towards the enemy, after giving an order about hastening the supplies of ammunition for the gunners, he

was struck in the forehead by a musket-ball, and falling from his horse, was carried, still breathing, to a ten hospital in the rear of the position. In a few minutes more, the soul of one of the bravest, most generous, and tender-hearted of men, had passed from this world.

The report of Major Hunt, before quoted from, concludes: "First Lieutenant Presley O. Craig, Second Artillery, on sick leave, on account of a badly sprained foot, which prevented his marching with his own company, having heard of the sickness of my second lieutenant, volunteered for the performance of the duties, and joined the battery the day before it left Washington. He was constantly and actively employed during the night preceding, and on the day of the battle, and his services were very valuable. When the enemy appeared, he exerted himself in perfecting the preparations to receive him, and conducted himself with the greatest gallantry when the onset was made. He fell early in the action, while in the active discharge of his duty, receiving a shot in his forehead, and dying in a few minutes afterwards. This was the only casualty in the battery."

The care of his commanding officer and the attending surgeons, provided for the carrying his body from the field, and its transportation to Alexandria during the night. Thence it was conveyed to Washington, and from the home he had left so short a time before in the pride of youth and manly beauty, was followed to a last resting-place by kindred and friends. Fortune had bestowed upon him many things that rendered his life pre-eminently a happy one. She also gave him a roble death, and, as if to mark a persistence of her favors, decreed that he alone, of the gallant officers who fell on that memorable field, should be borne from it to receive the last rites of a soldier's burial at friendly hands

CAPTAIN CHARLES M. McCOOK, O. V.

KILLED AT BULL RUN, JULY 21, 1861.

THE future annalist of America will find few names more nobly prominent in the military movements of the American army than that of McCook, whose services are already attested on every well-fought field, from the banks of the Potomac to the upper Missouri. The noble patriotism, the energy, skill, and bravery of the gallant father and his seven sons, will be remembered in many a form, and poetry lend her embalming power to keep them ever fresh in the minds of Americans. None can fail to read unmoved the following simple sketch of

THE BOY HERO, OF BULL RUN.

Charles Morriss McCook, was the eighth son of Hon. Daniel McCook of Illinois. He was born at Carrollton, Ohio, on the 17th day of November, A. D. 1843. While very young, his father moved to Illinois, where he obtained the first principles of an education. To complete it and fit himself for a useful and honorable life, he entered Kenyon College in Ohio, during the summer of 1860, and soon won the esteem alike of his professors and his fellow-pupils. The latter testified this by making him secretary of the Phi Delta Society. When the President issued his

proclamation, calling for volunteers, all of young McCook's elder brothers entered the army, and he could not resist the call his country made for his services. He left college, and joined the Second Regiment of Ohic volunteers, as Captain of Company H., Steubenville Guard. He marched to the battle-field at Bull's Run with the rest of his regiment, the brigade to which he was attached leading the advance.

His brother Alexander was Colonel of the First Ohio regiment, serving in the same brigade. His father, sixty-three years of age, and another brother, now commanding a company at Cairo, accompanied him to the field. Young McCook nobly bore himself during the brunt of the fight, and when it was supposed that the day was ours, his father, who had been busily employed all day carrying the wounded off the field, sent for him to come over to the hospital to partake of a lunch, which had been provided before leaving Washington. Fatigued, and worn out by the terrible experiences of that carnival of blood, he came, having eaten nothing since the evening of the day before.

He had scarcely finished his lunch, when a detachment of rebel cavalry attacked his regiment. He hastened back, but while crossing a field, a large body of cavalry charged upon the officers and soldiers who had collected around the hospital. Seeing his danger, with the clear judgment of a veteran, he rushed forward to a fence, and began falling back. He soon attracted the enemy's attention, and a trooper advanced to make him prisoner, but with true eye, and steady nerve, he shot the rebel through the head. This deadly shot drew upon him the wrath of the leader of the attacking force, who rushed at him with drawn pistol, demanding his surrender. But the brave boy, with flashing eye and undaunted heart, exclaimed, "I will never surrender to a traitor!" and still kept retiring along the fence. At this critical juncture, his