INCIDENTS OF THE FIRST BULL RUN.

2 33

house on our side of the Sudley road, and about fifteen hundred yards to ourfront. I wanted to open on him while he was unlimbering, but General Beeobjected till we had received a fire, and had thus ascertained the characterand caliber of the enemy’s guns. Mine, four in number, were all brass smooth-bore 6-pounders. The first round or two from the enemy went high overus. Seeing this, GeneralBee directed us to firelow and ricochet ourshot and shrapnel onthe hard, smooth, openfield that sloped towardthe Warrenton turnpikein the valley betweenus. We did this, and theeffect was very destruc-tive to the enemy.

The rapid massing ofFederal troops in ourfront soon led to veryheavy fighting. My lit-tle battery was under apitiless fire for a longtime. Two guns froman Alexandria battery—

Latham’s, I think —took part in the conflicton the north side ofYoung’s Branch to ourright and across theturnpike, so long as Bee, Bartow, Evans, and Wheat were on that side, wefiring over their heads; and about 11 o’clock two brass 12-pounder Napoleonsfrom the New Orleans Washington Artillery unlimbered on our right, retiring,however, after a few rounds.

We were hardly more than fairly engaged with Ricketts when Griffin’s splen-did battery came to his aid, and took position full five hundred yards nearerto us, in a field on the left of the Sudley road. Ricketts had 6 Parrott guns, andGriffin had as many more, and, I think, 2 12-pounder howitzers besides.These last hurt us more than all the rifles of both batteries, since the shotand shell of the rifles, striking the ground at any angle over 15 or 20degrees, almost without exception bored their way in several feet and did noharm. It is no exaggeration to say that hundreds of shells from these finerifle-guns exploded in front of and around my battery on that day, but sodeep in the ground that the fragments never came out. After the action theground looked as though it had been rooted up by hogs.

Scale of 1000 feet \

PRINCIPAL POAOS

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PLAN OF THE BULL RUN BATTLE-FIELD.

Imboden’s second position is on the line of the Confederate front as formedby Jackson. Finally the Confederate line reached from behind theRobinson house to the left along the edge of the pines, and (as reen-forcements came up) made a concave arc to a point behind the Chinnhouse. General Imboden counted twenty-six Confederate gunsin the semicircle east of the Sudley road, when Griffin andRicketts had taken position near the Henry house.— Editors.

I venture the opinion, after a good deal ofobservation during the war, that in open ground,at 1000 yards, a 6-pounder "battery of smooth guns,

or, at 1500 to 1800 yards, a similar battery of 12-pounder Napoleons, well handled, will in one hourdiscomfit double the number of the best rifles ever