enemy. With a single volley they swept the | which, seeing themselves under the guns of guns of men and horses. The infantry sustain- an enemy, they promptly did. It improves our ing them gave way before the charge of bay- feelings towards them to fight them, so it is onets, and raising their colors over one, and said, at least, and so it seemed to be in this not knowing in exactly what form to assert a case. At the crisis of the fight, when it was priority of claim to the other, Capt. Gary got doubtful if we would not be whipped, and astride of it, and thus, for the first time, the when men, sinking from their wounds, wero line of battle of the enemy was broken. The coming from a fight in which their friends and fighting was not ended. It raged with unabat- relations had been cut to pieces, some three or ed fury on either side, and great destruction four prisoners brought in were rather in the of life. The guard that undertook to defend way of being roughly treated. The proposi Rickett's battery were at last driven off by tion was made and responded to, to shoot them. the regiments of Kershaw and Cash; and thus I passed them on the way when the fight was in the hands of these Carolinians the possession going on, and greatly feared that something of this battery permanently rested; and then, might be done to shame us, but a few words turned upon the flying enemy, it contributed, in brought the sufferers to their senses, and the no slight degree, to swell the current of mor- prisoners were spared. In every other intality that flowed upon them. stance, however, after the act of battle was At the crisis of this contest, it happened also over, the feeling was kinder than it could have to Gen. Bee to have contributed, in a special been before the fight began. I saw the soldiers way, to the result, which it were but just to share their water with them, which they could his memory to mention. He it was who had hardly spare themselves. Many of them were the office of assigning positions to the batteries taken and cared for by the very men who shot which were first in position after those sustain- them, and a friend, passing through the field ing Gen. Evans, and upon a field so swept by when the fight was over, passed two wounded musketry and ordnance he had little leisure for men, the one from Georgia, the other from selection. Dashing over the field with Imbo- New York. The New York man asked for waden, he gave him in an instant a position, ter, and the wounded Georgian begged my friend which was the very best that could have been for God's sake to give it to him; for that he selected. The slight elevation just before and himself had called upon a soldier from New on either side of him gave many of the advan-York for water when his column was in retages of an embrasure, while his position commanded the entire field of operations of the enemy. When forced to retire, the same advantages facilitated his escape. The next position on the eminence, to the rear, upon which other batteries had been placed, and to which Imboden was also ordered, was equally as fortunate. Without these positions it might have been impossible to have kept the enemy in check while our shattered regiments were reforming and the conquering reinforcements arrived; without these advantages it would have been impossible to hold them. The least mistake might have been fatal; and the promptness of his action, under such particularly trying circumstances, was more like the inspiration of genius than the ordinary exercise of skill and ment.

treat, and, though it was at the risk of his life, he ran to the trench and brought it.

It was in search of water that Adjutant S. M. Wilkes, of the Fourth regiment, lost his life. He had escaped the perils of the fight, and rode to the camp for a drink of water; when starting back, he met a party of the flying enemy, who shot him. Col. Johnson fell the instant he entered into battle. They marched down to take position in the Warrenton turnpike, and before the legion had fired a gun, he was struck by a ball in the forehead, and fell without a word.

When the fire so raged around the house of Henry in the effort to take the batteries, the family were in it; they were utterly unconjudg-scious it was to be the theatre of battle, and made no effort to escape until it was too late to do so. Among them was an aged mother, whom the son and daughter carried to a gully, and for the first charge kept her out of the way of balls; but when the fight pressed on, they brought her in again; and when it returned they could not move her again. She lay in bed, therefore, until the batteries were taken. The house was literally riddled with balls, and when the old lady was looked for, she had been sent to her long account. Many balls passed through her, and she was perfectly at rest.

I spoke of the efficiency of Capt. Kemper's action on the flying enemy, but I did not mention that the captain was himself taken prisoner. Early in the day, when the fight was fiercest, and matters were so mixed that it was difficult to distinguish enemies from friends, Capt. Kemper was surrounded by about twenty Zouaves, and his sword was demanded. He asked for an officer, declaring that he would only surrender to an officer. They told him to follow, and they would take him to one; he saw a column moving near them, whom Of individual experience, there were scarcely he recognized as friends; pointing to these room to speak. One lad, Oakley, from Alahe said, "There is one of your regiments, bama, taken prisoner, was tied; but, when the take me to it." They started, and approach-enemy was fighting, he cut the cords, found a ing a few steps nearer, he told them they were musket, plunged it in a Zouave endeavoring to mistaken, and it was for them to surrender, detain him, and started to his friends on the

way. On an officer's prospecting, he went up | all the movements. To have risked a battle by towards him, and when near enough, he or- attacking superior numbers, entailing defeat dered him to surrender; the officer did so, and upon us, would doubtless have crushed our young Oakley bore him in triumph in to head- proud republic in its inception. When General quarters. He proved to be Col. Corcoran. Johnston (who has always been in correspondOne of the most obvious features of the battle-ence with General Beauregard in regard to field is a group of horses, and the men beside them. The caisson had exploded. Men and horses were all killed, apparently near the close of the engagement, and now lie all together bloated in the sun. The mortality among horses was large; as many as one hundred, at least, may be seen upon the field, and it is of regret for their loss that they were particularly fine ones.

In the percussion shells, with which the enemy so liberally bespattered the country, the enemy have left their sting behind them. Few explode in falling. Of twenty fired into the hill on which we first stood, not one exploded, but they do explode easily when struck upon the right point; and these handled by the diers, and dropped carelessly, are liable to do great injury. Two in this way have been exploded, and one killed one man in Col. Preston's regiment, and badly wounded two others. L. W. S. -Charleston Mercury, July 29.

LETTER TO THE RICHMOND DISPATCH.

the junction of the armies, and who, for weeks, has also pointed out to the President the absolute necessity of such a movement) received orders to form the junction, it came at a fortunate moment, when Patterson had moved to Charleston, twenty-four miles distant, and had placed it out of his power to attack us in the rear. Only ten thousand of our column arrived in time for the battle, but they were enough.

To return, however, to the battle. Our line was extended over a distance of eight miles, in a position nearly assimilating to a semicircle. On Saturday night General Johnston assumed command, and nearly the entire night was consol-sumed by the staff of both generals in writing orders to the different brigades to prepare for a forward movement in the morning. General Beauregard's plans were to be carried out in a great measure, and the rout of the enemy would have been more signal, and doubtless Washington would now be in our possession, if our attack had not been converted into a defence by the movements of the enemy. We intended to move about eight o'clock, and they commenced their attack before our movement could be made. From a letter written by one of the enemy, dated July 20, nine P. M., and afterwards found by the writer, their position was taken, and movements commenced at that hour.

The following statement was prepared by an officer in the rebel army, who is said to have borne a conspicuous part on the field of battle RICHMOND, July 27, 1861. It may not be unacceptable to your readers to learn something of the battle of Manassas from an eye-witness, who had better opportu- To understand the battle, you must know nities of observation, perhaps, than any one that our line was faced towards Bull Run, and else. The first gun fired by the enemy was at immediately back of it, defending the various five minutes past six o'clock in the morning, fords. By turning our flank, the line of battle batteries opening against our centre as a feint was changed to a direction perpendicular to to conceal the movement against our left. A the one which we had assumed, and commencshort time afterwards General Johnston and ing at our left extended back for a mile and a General Beauregard, with their staff, rode off quarter. When the musketry betrayed the to the nearest point of elevation and observa- "cat in the meal-tub," away went the generals tion convenient to the centre, and there awaited and their staff, flying upon the wings of the developments whilst the iron hail whistled wind to reach the scene of action, distant three around and over them. A singular misconcep- miles. The country was a rolling one, thickly tion seems to pervade the public mind, which interspersed with pine thickets, and the battlehas not yet been corrected, that General Beaure-ground was an open valley, with a hill upon each gard fought the battle, and that General Johnston yielded to preconceived plans. Whilst, according to General Beauregard, all the merit to which he is entitled-and there does not live a more gallant gentleman and officer, nor one for whom I have a higher admiration as a General-it is due to General Johnston to say, that he planned the battle. Essentially a man of judgment, General Johnston has never risked during the campaign any battle where our chances were not good. Though our men murmured vastly when ordered to go backward from Harper's Ferry, from Bunker's Hill, from Darksville, and from Winchester, no one can now dare to dispute the sagacity which planned

side, rising some 100 feet above the low ground, and distant from each other about 600 yards. The struggle was an alternate movement of regiments. When the head of McDowell's column reached Sudley's Spring, a ford much higher than it was anticipated they would cross, as the Stone Bridge was the point we were defending upon our extreme left, quietly they sneaked along, getting in behind us, until discovered, I believe, by General Evans's brigade, who opened fire upon them.

Then in quick succession the enemy's regiments deployed in line to their right, whilst ours came up on our left. The engagement grew hot and heavy; their column numbering

25,000, while we could only oppose them at the beginning with about 8,000. Slowly but surely the heavy column kept on its march, pressing our line back by the weight of numbers, and moving on in the settled purpose of turning our flank, and attacking us in the rear. Gallantly, however, did our army struggle for the right, and, despite of odds, regiment after regiment threw itself in the way, disputing the ground inch by inch, regardless of the fact that its predecessors had been cut to pieces or dispersed. A battery harassing our lines, the Eighth Georgia regiment was ordered to take it, and right well did they do so; but a myriad of Yankees seemed to rise up, who had hitherto been concealed, and pouring in their fire upon our column, it seemed to melt away like snow beneath a summer's sun. Colonel Gardner was here shot down and taken prisoner, but afterwards retaken by our men later in the day.

way, but, incited to fresh deeds of heroism by the appearance in their midst of our generals, apparently bringing up reinforcements, they pitched into the fray with redoubled ardor, and from that time yielded not an inch of ground. General Beauregard, riding over to the left, took charge of operations there, displaying his reckless bravery by riding everywhere in the face of the enemy's fire, and having his horse killed beneath him, fortunately escaping uninjured himself. The tide of battle thus checked, away went General Johnston's staff to hurry up the reserves, and assign them to proper positions. They first were met two miles back, covered with dust, and coming at double-quick. On they went, plunging into the midst of the fray, and the sunshine of certainty did not gleam from beneath the murky clouds until General Kirby Smith arrived with a portion of his division upon the ground. Coming from Winchester, he heard the roar of the battle, and without waiting for orders he at once disembarked his men, Colonel Elzey's brigade, and marched hurriedly to our assistance. Colonel Kershaw's and Colonel Cash's regiments arrived upon the ground at the same moment, and with these, 4,000 men, General Smith promptly took the extreme left and turned the tide of battle.

The Eighth, compelled to retreat with nearly half its number wounded or killed, the attack of the enemy was met by the brigade of General Bee, composed of Mississippians and Alabamians, and one regiment, I think, of Tennesseeans. Later in the day Colonel Bartow was shot near this spot, while leading the Seventh Georgia regiment, commanded by Colonel Gartrell. General Bee's brigade could not with- The enemy had so far turned our flank as to stand the fierce tornado of shot and shell have gotten entirely behind us, and nearly sweeping through its ranks, and slowly retired, 4,000 were marching up to attack us in the fighting bravely all the time. The Fourth Ala-rear; seeing this, General Smith determined to bama regiment suffered terribly, all of its field officers being shot down, and two (Colonel Jones and Major Scott) left upon the field. Colonel Jones was captured, but afterwards retaken during the rout. Falling back upon the position taken by Hampton's Legion, whose prowess can clearly be shown by the heaps of dead in front of their line, a momentary check was thrown on the enemy's approach.

They had now retreated to the brow of the hill, where the brigade of General Jackson was lying perdu, and this was the most critical point of the day. Fighting for hours under a hot sun, without a drop of water near, the conduct of our men could not be excelled; but human endurance has its bounds, and all seemed about to be lost. Our reserve was yet miles distant from the scene of action, whilst the enemy's reserve kept pressing on. From the knoll near the Lewis House, the two generals had remained anxious spectators of the conflict; but the time had come for action, and plunging their spurs into the quick-footed steeds, away went the generals and their staff into the thickest of the fight. Coming up first to the Alabamians, who were without a fieldofficer, General Johnston placed the color-bearer by his horse's side and moved on-each and all of the staff, with the generals, vieing with each other in words of encouragement to the men to come on. And well-timed was this

cut them off, and would have done so but for his misfortune in being shot through the neck with a grape-shot just as Colonel Kershaw was within twenty yards of him for the purpose of receiving orders. His plan of cutting them off was, consequently, not carried out, and they were enabled to join the main body, hotly pursued by our men. General Jackson's brigade had been lying for hours sustaining with unflinching courage a most terrific fire. The general had his horse shot under him, and a finger of the left hand shot off, but, cool as a cucumber, he still urged his " boys" to be steady, and steady they were, when they charged and butchered the Fire Zouaves and other regiments right and left. The general has a way of holding his head up very straight, and his almost invariable response to any remark, is "Very well," whilst his chin seems trying to get up towards the top of his head. The writer remembers, in the midst of the fight, to have seen the general rallying his men, while his chin seemed to stick out further, and his "Very wells" seemed to sound more euphoniously than ever; and when the writer wished to pour a little whiskey upon the shattered finger, he was told that it was "of no consequence," and away went the general, with a battery following him, to take position in some advantageous spot. If any one was ever entitled to a sobriquet, the general certainly deserved that of cool.

It is worthy of mention, that in all the vicis

situdes of the battle, the enemy at no time dreds of our brave boys now sport splendid took one of our pieces of artillery, and they blue overcoats, the owners of which did not thundered away all the time, doing great exe-have time to call for them. cution, and carrying dismay into the hearts of the Yankees.

The mortality was immense on both sides. Upon ours the returns will show about six hundred killed and twenty-five hundred wounded. Upon theirs about fifteen hundred fell dead, and forty-five hundred wounded. We could have had as many prisoners as ten thousand, but what good would it have done to take them and feed them?

-Richmond Dispatch, July 29.

VISIT TO THE BATTLE-FIELD.

A correspondent of the Richmond Enquirer says: The writer of this, on Monday last, 29th ult., passed over the scene of the battle of the 21st, near Bull Run. It was gratifying to find, contrary to rumors which have gained some circulation, that the dead, not only of our own army, but also of the enemy, have all been decently buried. In the whole area of that terrible onset, no human corpse, and not even a mangled limb, was to be seen. The earth had received them all, and, so far as the human combatants were concerned, nothing remained to tell of those who had fallen victims of the shock of battle, save the mounds of fresh earth which showed where they had been laid away in their last sleep.

Many of these mounds gave evidence of the pious care of surviving comrades. Enclosures were built around the graves, and branches of evergreens cover the spot. Sometimes boards mark the head and foot, on which were carved or painted the name and fellowship of the ceased. Sometimes boards nailed to a neighboring tree told that the ground adjacent contained the fallen of a certain regiment or com

pany.

Numerous dead horses, scattered over the area, show where the batteries of flying artillery were captured or disabled, or where some officer was dismounted. The prostrate fences, too, served to mark the track of the battle. Where the infantry crossed they were broken down so that a man might step over, and wide gaps showed where the artillery carriages had thundered along. The ground, too, tramped by the feet of rushing men and horses, evidenced where the struggle had been fiercest.

In this area are included five dwelling-houses; all of which we visited bore evidences of the storm which raged about them. Many were killed in the yard of the house of Mr. J. De Dogan. A bullet-hole in a chamber door remains a memento of the battle. His family escaped just as the battle joined.

But it was on the hill south of the turnpike road, where the enemy's farthest advance was checked, and where the final issue was fought, that the inwrapped dwellings showed most plainly the fury of the fight.

A house here, late the abode of a widow lady-Mrs. Judith Henry-was riddled with cannon and musket shot. Hissing projectiles from the cannon of our enemies had passed through the walls and roof, until the dwelling was a wreck. It is a sad story that we tell. This estimable lady, who had spent here a long life, illustrated by the graces that adorn the meek Christian, was now bed-ridden. There she lay amid the horrid din, and no less than three of the missiles of death that scoured through her chamber inflicted their wounds upon her. It seems a strange dispensation of Providence, that one whose life had been so gentle and secluded, should have found her end amid such a storm of human passions, and that the humble abode which had witnessed her quiet pilgrimage should have been shattered over her dying bed.

Yet, even amid such terrors, Heaven vindide-cated its laws. When the combatants had retired, the aged sufferer was still alive, and she lived long enough to say that her mind was tranquil, and that she died in peace-a peace that the roar of battle and the presence of death, panoplied in all his terrors, had not disturbed. Noble matron! The daughters of the South will emulate your virtues, and the sons of the South will avenge your sufferings! The heaps on heaps of the enemy that were piled around your doors when you died, are but the earnest. A hundred yards to the right of the house of Mrs. Henry lay five horses in a heap, and near by another heap of as many more. Here a portion of Sherman's battery made its last advance; just as it reached the top of the hill, our riflemen, approaching it in another direction, reached it too. At once they poured in a fire which cut down horses and men, and made the pieces unmanageable. The gallant boys followed the fire with a bayonet charge, and the guns were taken. It was here that Lieut. Ward fell. The cannon were taken and retaken several times in the furious fight; but the horses had been killed, and they could not be removed or used.

Of relics of the battle, already but few remain. The field has been searched and gleaned by daily crowds of visitors seeking for mementoes. A few bullets that had run their errand, some fragments of exploded bombs, a haversack and a few other things, were all that an extensive ramble brought under our view. Canes cut from the battle-field are also considerably in demand.

The enemy's column of advance, as shown by the battle-ground, presented a front of about one mile. Their onward march from the point where they encountered our advance bodies to the limit where they met our full line, and the full battle was joined, and the fate of the day decided, was about a mile and a half. A parallelogram of about a mile by a mile and a half, therefore, covers the scene of the great conflict.

On the left of Mrs. Henry's, distant about a fourth of a mile, is a neat house belonging to a colored man named Robinson. A cannon-ball drove through this also. Between these two is an orchard of small trees, where Hampton's Legion fought and suffered so severely. Their graves are here. One of them, which covers the remains of a near relative of Hon. J. L.