THE NEW HENRY HOUSE AND THE MONUMENT OF THE FIRST BATTLE. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN 1884.
INCIDENTS OF THE FIRST BULL RUN.
ROM the day of his arrival at Winchester [see page 124], General John-
J- ston was ceaseless in his labors to improve the efficiency of his littlearmy, in which he was greatly assisted by several staff-officers who afterwardrose to high distinction. The two most active of these subordinates wereMajors W. H. C. Whiting and E. Kirby Smith, the former of whom as amajor-general fell mortally wounded at the capture of Fort Fisher in NorthCarolina , and the latter as a lieutenant-general commanded the Trans-Mississippi army when the final collapse came. During our withdrawal fromHarper’s Ferry , on June 16th, we were deflected from our direct line ofmarch, and held in line of battle a day at Bunker Hill, a few miles northof Winchester, to receive an expected assault from General Patterson, whohad crossed the Potomac, but went back without attacking us. Again onJuly 2d we were marched to Darksville, about midway to Martinsburg, tomeet Patterson, where we lay in line of battle till the 5th, when GeneralPatterson, after a slight “ brush ” with Jackson, again recrossed the Potomac.We returned to Winchester, and to our arduous drilling.
After midnight of July 17th, General Bee, my brigade commander, sent forme to go with him to headquarters, whither he had been summoned. Severalbrigade commanders were assembled in a room with General Johnston, and aconference of one or two hours was held. When General Bee joined me on theporch to return to our quarters, I saw he was excited, and I asked him, “ Whatis up ? ” He took my arm, and, as we walked away, told me we would marchnext day to the support of General Beauregard. He repeated a telegramGeneral Johnston had received from Adjutant-General Cooper about mid-night. This was the famous dispatch that has led to so much controversybetween Mr. Davis and General Johnston, as to whether it was a peremptoryorder, or simply permission to Johnston to go to Beauregard’s support. Iquote it, and leave the reader to his own construction:
“ General Beauregard is attacked ; to strike the enemy a decisive blow, a junction of all youreffective force will be needed. If practicable, make the movement, sending your sick andbaggage to Culpeper Court House, either by railroad or by Warrenton. In all the arrange-ments exercise your discretion.”
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