THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

199

inevitable immediate result that Johnston would he forced to leave Pattersonin possession of the Lower Shenandoah Valley, abandoning to the enemy so

large a part of the most resourcefulsections of Virginia , and to retreatsouthward by way of the Luray Val-ley, pass across the Blue Ridge atThornton’s Gap and unite with meafter all, but at Fredericksburg ,much nearer Richmond than Manas-sas . These views, however, were notmade known to me at the time, andhappily my mind was left free to thegrave problem imposed upon me bythe rejection of my plan for the im-mediate concentration of a materiallylarger force,— i. e., the problem ofplacing and using my resources fora successful encounter behind Bull.Run with the Federal army, which Iwas not permitted to doubt was aboutto take the field against me.

It is almost needless to say that Ihad caused to be made a thoroughreconnoissance of all the ground inmy front and flanks, and had mademyself personally acquainted with themost material points, including theregion of Sudley’s Church on my left,where a small detachment was posted in observation. Left now to my ownresources, of course the contingency of defeat had to be considered and pro-vided for. Among the measures of precaution for such a result, I orderedthe destruction of the railroad bridge across Bull Run at Union Mills, on myright, in order that the enemy, in the event of my defeat, should not have theimmediate use of the railroad in following up their movement against Rich-mond— a railroad which could have had no corresponding value to useastward beyond Manassas in any operations on our side with "Washingtonas the objective, inasmuch as any such operations must have been made bythe way of the Upper Potomac and upon the rear of that city.

Just before Colonel Chesnut was dispatched on the mission of which I havespoken, a former clerk in one of the departments at Washington, well knownto him, had volunteered to return thither and bring back the latest informa-tion of the military and political situation from our most trusted friends.His loyalty to our cause, his intelligence, and his desire to be of service beingvouched for, he was at once sent across the Potomac below Alexandria, merelyaccredited by a small scrap of paper bearing in Colonel Jordan’s cipher thetwo words, “ Trust bearer,” with which he was to call at a certain house in

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MAP OF THE BULL RUN CAMPAIGN.