MCDOWELL’S ADVANCE TO BULL RUN.
185
tions to guide Mm in the emergency that had arisen. Bnt he did not hesitate.Reporting his information and purpose to the adjoining commander, Cocke,and leaving 4 companies of infantry to deceive and hold Tyler at the bridge,Evans before 9 o’clock turned his back upon the point he was set to guard,marched a mile away, and, seizing the high ground to the north of Young’sBranch of Bull Run, formed line of battle at right angles to his former line,his left resting near the Sudley Springs road, by which Burnside with thehead of the turning column was approaching, thus covering the WarrentonTurnpike and opposing a determined front to the Federal advance upon theConfederate left and rear.\ In his rear to the south lay the valley ofYoung’s Branch, and rising from that was the higher ridge or plateau onwhich the Robinson house and the Henry house were situated, and on whichthe main action took place in the afternoon. Burnside, finding Evans acrosshis path, promptly formed line of battle and attacked about 9:45 A. M.Hunter, the division commander, who was at the head of Burnside’s brigadedirecting the formation of the first skirmish line, was severely wounded andtaken to the rear at the opening of the action. Evans not only repulsed butpursued the troops that made the attack upon him. Andrew Porter’s brigadeof Hunter’s division followed Burnside closely and cameto his support. In the mean time Bee had formed aConfederate line of battle with his and Bartow’s bri-gades of Johnston’s army on the Henry house plateau,a stronger position than the one held by Evans, anddesired Evans to fall back to that line; but Evans,probably feeling bound to cover the Warrenton Turn-pike and hold it against Tyler as well as against theflanking column, insisted that Bee should move acrossthe valley to his support, which was done.
After Bee joined Evans, the preliminary battle con-tinued to rage upon the ground chosen by the latter.
The opposing forces were Burnside’s and Porter’s bri-gades, with one regiment of Heintzelman’s division onthe Federal side, and Evans’s, Bee’s, and Bartow’sbrigades on the Confederate side. The Confederateswere dislodged and driven back to the Henry houseplateau, where Bee had previously formed line and where what Beauregardcalled “the mingled remnants of Bee’s, Bartow’s, and Evans’s commands” werere-formed under cover of Stonewall Jackson ’s brigade of Johnston’s army.
FATIGUE UNIFORM AND KILTSOF THE 79TH NEW YORK.^
\ Evans’s action was probably one of the bestpieces of soldiership on either side during thecampaign, but it seems to have received no specialcommendation from his superiors.—J. B. F.
•fo William Todd, of Company B, 79th NewYork (Highlanders), writing to correct a statementto the effect “ that the 79th New York wore theHighland dress at the battle of Bull Run,” says:“ If by that is meant the ‘ kilts,’ it is an error. Itis true that all the officers and many of the mendid wear that uniform when we left the city in
June, 1861, and on dress-parade occasions inWashington, but when we went into Virginia itwas laid aside, together with the plaid trousersworn by all the men on ordinary occasions, and we
donned the ordinary blue. Captain- was the
only one who insisted on wearing the kilts on themarch to Bull Run, but the day before we reachedCentreville the kilts were the cause of his drawingupon himself much ridicule, and when we startedfor the battle-field on that Sunday morning he, also,appeared in ordinary blue uniform.”— Editors.