Answer. No, sir; there was earth thrown up, and no doubt they had been used. The next point of interest I came to was a large brick house, owned by a man named Wiar, which was used as the headquarters of General Beauregard. From that house my friend, Mr. Pierce, and myself took quite a number of maps, which gave very accurate outlines of the fortifications in and about Washington, even to the feet and inches between the guns. They seemed to have been drawn with great care, and were left, I should think, very carelessly. We brought those maps away with us. Question. Go on with your narrative. Answer. Before reaching what I took to be Manassas proper, we entered a fort of quite a formidable character, between Beauregard's headquarters and the village of Manassas. We found lumber and rough logs thrown in there. It looked as if they had intended to make platforms; but none had been constructed. The timber had not been put together, but was merely lying there in a pile. There were evidences at Manassas of ordnance having been erected in various places, and the platforms destroyed. I should judge, as far as I am able to do so, that the troops had left there in great haste. Several hundreds of barrels of flour, that they had attempted to destroy by burning, lay there in a pile partly consumed. There was also a part of a train of cars there, partially destroyed. Among other things, I found a very complete printing office, with press, types, forms standing, an imposing stone, army blanks, &c., and I should think a little paper had been printed there. The place was generally in a ruin. The depot was burned, some cars and a locomotive or two destroyed, a bridge blown up, several buildings destroyed, and altogether the most desolate scene, it seemed to me, that the human eye could rest upon. It is so all the way from Centreville to Manassas and beyond there. There is now a putrefaction there that makes it quite unpleasant to go along there, and it will, of course, grow worse every day, unless these dead horses are removed. Upon inquiring the cause of there being so many dead horses there, I was informed by several colored persons and a white person at Manassas that the rebels had been short of forage, and the horses had been starved and worked to death. I should think that might have been so, for I noticed between Centreville and Manassas several horses that had apparently given out and laid right down in the road. By Mr. Chandler: Question. How many troops had there been at Manassas as far as you could ascertain? Answer. The account told there was that for the last six weeks there had not been over 10,000 or 15,000 there at Manassas, probably not so many; I heard no estimate above that, but several below it. There was one colored man who had the care of General Beauregard's headquarters-a very intelligent man. He said he had been hoping something would turn up for his benefit. He seemed to give very intelligent and very careful answers, and I have no doubt what he stated was true. The statements from the other persons cor responded with his. By Mr. Gooch: Question. When did they first begin their movement from Manassas? Answer. The troops that were there began to pack up their things on Sunday morning. Question. When did they first begin to move their guns? Answer. Some six weeks ago they began to take away their heavy guns from Manassas? Question. And have been removing ever since? Answer. Their heavy property from time to time ever since. Answer. No, sir; the only answer I got to that inquiry was that they were "going beyond our lines." Question. Did you learn in what direction the troops moved? Answer.. Towards Winchester I was told. Question. Did you learn whether they had made any halt at any place beyond Manassas? Answer. No, sir; I did not. Question. Did you learn how far this side of Centreville their pickets had been for the last five or six weeks? Answer. I did not make the inquiry. Question. Or, rather, whether they have had any considerable force this side of Centreville? Answer. No, sir; I did not learn that there had been anything more than pickets this side of Centreville; we saw no evidence of any fortifications at all that amounted to anything; there were a few shovelsful of dirt thrown up near Fairfax Court-House, which looked as though they had thought at the time of fortifying, but had abandoned the idea. By Mr. Covode: Question. From your observations, how many troops do you think it likely have been quartered by the enemy at Centreville and Manassas both? Answer. I am by no means a military expert, and can only judge by what I have seen of our accommodations over the river here. I should judge there were not accommodations there, at the utmost, for 75,000 men. I have seen it stated in one of our papers that they had there 150,000 or 160,000 men; if so, then we must have accommodations for at least 500,000 men. Question. From the best information you could collect, how many troops altogether have there been there for the last six weeks? Answer. Perhaps 15,000 at Centreville and somewhat less at Manassas. Upon my return last night I found our army in buoyant spirits encamped on each side of the road, in the woods, for five or six miles, the bands playing, and the woods illuminated by their camp fires. They had seen me as I went out, and very naturally asked me the news; and they could hardly credit the story that Manassas had been evacuated, and when I assured them it was so, I witnessed upon their faces such feelings of shame and disappointment as I have never before seen. By Mr. Wright: Question. Did you form any idea of the number of cannon they have had at Manassas? Answer. I did not ascertain; I think they were all removed. Question. You do not know what number there have been there at any time? Answer. No, sir. I think I am quite safe in saying that some of their works have not been occupied by ordnance. One I know was not, for there were no platforms in it; and in the condition it was in, it was quite impossible for any ordnance to have been mounted in it. By the chairman: Question. Were you there with the cavalry? Answer. A portion of Colonel Averill's cavalry went in just ahead of me. I passed General McDowell's headquarters a little way the other side of Fairfax Court-House. By Mr. Odell: Question. Were their tents left standing? Answer. There were but few tents; mostly huts, and all were left standing. Question. At Manassas and Centreville both? Answer. Yes, sir; I did not see any that had been burned. By Mr. Covode: Question. In the papers you found in Beauregard's headquarters, are there any indications that they ever intended to attack Washington? Answer. I should judge so. The positions of the President's House, the Treasury, and other buildings, are marked and named. But the committee can judge about that a great deal better than I can. By Mr. Julian : Question. You say the soldiers were mortified to learn that Manassas had been evacuated. Answer. Yes, sir; officers and soldiers both. The feeling was not confined to the officers, but was shown also by the soldiers. By Mr. Covode : Question. What is the condition of the roads on the other side of the river? Answer. After you strike the turnpike, going out from Alexandria, the roads are as smooth as a floor. Two miles of the road to Centreville might have been bad, but not impassable, for our artillery was going along very finely. I left quite early in the morning, before the sun had an opportunity to operate upon the roads, and dry them much. I should say the roads to Centreville were such as to enable people to carry on their business very easily; no worse than our country roads usually are in summer, or almost any season of the year, after a little rain. Beyond Centreville the roads were not so good. BAYARD TAYLOR sworn and examined. By Mr. Chandler: WASHINGTON, March 13, 1862. Question. I am informed, Mr. Taylor, that you accompanied the army to Manassas. Answer. I did not accompany the advance. I accompanied General McClellan and his staff on Tuesday. Question. Will you give, as briefly as may be, an account of your journey, and what you saw upon the route, especially directed to the operations at Centreville and Manassas, and what you saw at Centreville and Manassas ? Answer. I reached Centreville between 10 and 11 o'clock on Tuesday, in advance of General McClellan. He was at Fairfax on Monday night. We approached Centreville across a broad hollow, scarcely to be called a valley, about a mile across, probably Centreville lies on the western side of a sharp ridge, running north and south. Along the crest of this ridge is a series of small earthworks, forts of different sizes, commencing about half a mile north of Centreville, where the ridge begins to fall off, and running nearly on a level for about a mile, I should say, then gradually falling towards Bull Run for, perhaps, another mile, or thereabouts. These fortifications seem to have been thrown up in a hurry, and nothing to have been done to them for a long time. The banks, the escarpments of these forts, are all washed down by the rains, and have filled up the ditches, so that a man could nearly jump across. Some of them, on the north of the turnpike, as you approach, have maple logs in the embrasures, the ends painted black, to resemble cannon. In those that I visited I saw no signs of heavy guns ever having been in position. The information of the officers I saw was that they had had field artillery there. They had them in the forts, but no heavy siege guns. This line is along the crest of this sharp ridge. It is a single line. It is not a circle or an arc of fortifications, but a single line running along this ridge-a straight line. Beyond it the ground falls off, and slopes towards the west. The village of Centreville is a little further down on that side. There are no other fortifications at all, except along this ridge, that I saw, none on the flank or rear. These different forts, I should have said, are connected by covered ways, a sort of stockade running along, with dirt thrown up, and a ditch on each side; the inside wide enough for the men to march along, and outside there is a sort of moat against attack. Question. Can you state the number of wooden guns you saw there in position? Answer. No. I did not count them. I only saw two or three. I do not know the exact number of them. Question. But you understand there were no siege guns there, except these wooden ones? Answer. There were no heavy siege guns there; at least, the officers who examined the forts also told me they had seen no foundation for heavy guns. Question. Did you ascertain anything about the force, or the estimated force, of the enemy at Centreville prior to its evacuation? Answer. Immediately prior-for some weeks previous-they were very few. On this ridge, a little south of the village of Centreville, there were some barracks, log huts; and about a mile and a half further to the east, just before reaching Bull Run, there was another camp of very substantially built log huts, which was deserted about three weeks ago, a family living near told me. The term of the enlistment of the soldiers had expired, and they left or were sent home. Question. Did you hear any estimate of the force for a few weeks prior to the evacuation? Answer. I tried to make an estimate, or get an estimate of it. The accounts varied, but the average was from fifty to sixty thousand, as near as I could ascertain. Question. The whole force? Answer. Yes, sir; that is, according to the estimates made to me by persons living there; but they are generally ignorant persons, and they got their estimates from the rebel soldiers. But my own estimate of the number of men in all the camps that I saw at Centreville and along Bull Run, and at Manassas Junction, would be, if they were all occupied at the same time, perhaps about 75,000. That would be a liberal estimate if all the camps were occupied at the same time. Evidently the forts at Centreville had not been occupied for some time, because they were in such a dilapidated condition, the walls-the sides had been so completely washed down by rains, and with no attempt made to repair them. Afterwards, while I was there on the ridge, General McClellan and staff came up, and Colonel Davies, of the Ira Harris cavalry, was sent on as an escort, and I went down over the battle-ground of Blackburn's Ford where the first fight, on the 18th of July, took place. There we forded Bull Run. The banks are low-probably not more than forty feet high. On the opposite side there are two small batteries; at least, two straight lines thrown up, on which cannon were probably planted during that fight. They were the masked batteries which opened on our troops. That was on the left. On the right I believe there are some small rifle-pits. After passing these, the ground rises gradually for about a quarter of a mile, a rise of a little less than a hundred feet in all from the level of Bull Run; and then it is perfectly level from there to Manassas, a distance of some four or five miles. There were no signs of any fortifications, or earthworks of any sort, until we were within a mile of the Junction. There was a small earthen fort on the right that would mount some six or eight guns. That was off the road, and the fields were very muddy, and I did not ride up to it. At a distance of from a mile to a mile and a quarter from the other fort was another on the left, east of the Junction, in an easterly direction, apparently a little larger; and about a mile and a half further east there were signs of earth having been thrown up. It appeared to be an intrenchment, but I could not judge of the character of it. After passing between these two forts there was nothing whatever until we reached the Junction. There was an intrenched camp at the junction of the two lines of railroad. The ground was nearly level, a slight rise towards the east with a ditch around it, and about a quarter of a mile west of the Junction, on the Manassas Gap road, a small redan circular earthwork, about fifty feet high, that mounted about three or four guns probably, though I should think not more than three guns. It was partly torn down on one side. It was a work of from sixty to eighty feet in diameter. I understood from officers who visited one or both of these two detached forts on the plain, that there were signs of siege guns having been in position there. By Mr. Wade: Question. How long is it since they commenced leaving there, as near as you could ascertain? Answer. I inquired of several, of a white man and some very intelligent "contrabands," and I got accounts from several that agreed and that I think are tolerably reliable, that first the cattle were sent off on the Friday before last week, which would be the 28th of February. A very intelligent mulatto told me they were sent to Culpeper Court-House by rail. A day or two afterwards a brigade was sent to take care of them and to remain until further orders. Then, about the following Tuesday, which would be the 4th of March, the heavy guns were sent off. It was generally understood among the rebels that they were sent to Gordonsville, and the other stores were sent, and the troops day by day from that time, from the commencement of last week. Some were sent by rail, and a few marched down the turnpike in the direction of Warrenton and Gordonsville. On Sunday morning the last left Centreville; there were a few left at Manassas Junction on Monday; they left at two o'clock on Monday afternoon, setting fire to everything. By Mr. Wright: Question. From the best information you could gather, what has been the greatest extent of force they have had there during the last six months, or since last July? Answer. I could not learn that; the statements I got differed a great deal, and were obtained, also, from the rebel soldiers; some said sixty thousand, some one hundred and fifty-thousand, some fifty thousand. By Mr. Chandler: Question. Did you inquire of any intelligent person as to the force for the last two months at Centreville? Answer. For the last few weeks, without specifying the number of weeks, |