MCDOWELL’S ADVANCE TO BULL RUN.

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invaded the State of Kentucky in opposition to her apparent purpose ofarmed neutrality. That made Kentucky a field of early hostilities and helpedto anchor her to the Union. Missouri was rescued from secession through theenergy of General F. P. Blair and her other Union men, and by the indomi-table will of Captain Lyon of the regular army, whose great work was accom-plished under many disadvantages. I 11 illustration of the difficulty with whichthe new condition of affairs penetrated the case-hardened bureauism of longpeace, it may he mentioned that the venerable adjutant-general of the army,when a crisis was at hand in Missouri , came from a consultation with thePresident and Secretary Cameron, and with a sorry expres-sion of countenance and an ominous shake of the headexclaimed, “It’s bad, very bad; we’re giving that youngman Lyon a great deal too much power in Missouri .”

Early in the contest another young Union officer cameto the front. Major Irvin McDowell was appointed briga-dier-general May 14th. He was forty-three years of age,of unexceptionable habits and great physical powers. Hiseducation, begun in France , was continued at the UnitedStates Military Academy, from which he was graduated in1838. Always a close student, he was well informed out-side as well as inside his profession. Distinguished in theMexican war, intensely Union in his sentiments, full ofenergy and patriotism, outspoken in his opinions, highlyesteemed by General Scott, on whose staff he had served,he at once secured the confidence of the President and theSecretary of War, under whose observation he was serv-ing in Washington. Without political antecedents oracquaintances, he was chosen for advancement on account of his record,his ability, and his vigor.

Northern forces had hastened to Washington upon the call of PresidentLincoln, but prior to May 24th they had been held rigidly on the north side ofthe Potomac. On the night of May 23d-24th, the Confederate pickets beingthen in sight of the Capitol, three columns were thrown across the river byGeneral J. K. F. Mansfield, then commanding the Department of Washing-ton, and a line from Alexandria below to chain-bridge above Washingtonwas intrenched under guidance of able engineers. On the 27th Brigadier-General Irvin McDowell was placed in command south of the Potomac. J,

By the 1st of June the Southern Government had been transferred fromMontgomery to Richmond , and the capitals of the Union and of the Confed-eracy stood defiantly confronting each other. General Scott was in chief com-mand of the Union forces, with McDowell south of the Potomac, confrontedby his old classmate, Beauregard, hot from the capture of Fort Sumter.

$ The aspect of affairs was so threatening after and without waiting for the meeting of Congress,President Lincoln’s call of April 15th for 75,000 the President entered upon the creation of anthree-months militia, and General Scott was so additional volunteer army to be composed ofaverse to undertaking any active operations with 42,034 three-years men, together with an increasesuch short-term troops, that, as early as May 3d, of 22,714 regulars and 18,000 seamen.—J. B. F.

UNIFORM OF THE 2D OHIOAT BULL RUN.

FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.