THE SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUNJ

BY JOHN POPE, MAJOK-GENEBAL, U. S. A.

E ARLY in June, 1862, I was in command of the armycorps known as the “Army of the Mississippi,”which formed the left wing of the army engaged inoperations against Corinth, Miss., commanded byGeneral Halleck. A few days after Corinth was evac-uated I went to St. Louis on a short leave of absencefrom my command, and while there I received a tele-gram from Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, request-ing me to come to Washington immediately. I atonce communicated the fact to General Halleck bytelegraph, and received a reply from him stronglyobjecting to my leaving the army which was underhis command. I quite concurred with him both as to his objections to mygoing to Washington for public reasons and as to the unadvisability of sucha step on personal considerations. I was obliged, however, to go, and I wentaccordingly, but with great reluctance and against the urgent protests of myfriends in St. Lonis, and subsequently of many friends in the Army of the West.

When I reached Washington the President was absent at West Point, butI reported in person to Secretary Stanton. I had never seen him before, andhis peculiar appearance and manners made a vivid impression on me. Hewas short and stout. His long beard, which hung over his breast, wasslightly tinged with gray even at that time, and he had the appearance of aman who had lost much sleep and was tired both in body and mind. Certainly,with his large eye-glasses and rather disheveled appearance, his presence wasnot imposing. Although he was very kind and civil to me, his manner wasabrupt and his speech short and rather dictatorial. He entered at once onthe business in hand, seemingly without the least idea that any one shouldobject to, or be reluctant to agree to, his views and purposes. He wassurprised, and, it seemed to me, not well pleased, that I did not assent to hisplans with effusion; but went on to unfold them in the seeming certainty thatthey must be submitted to. He informed me that the purpose was to unite thearmies under McDowell, Fremont, and Banks , all three of whom were my sen-iors in rank, and to place me in general command. These armies were scatteredover the northern part of Virginia , with little or no communication or concertof action with one another; Fremont and Banks being at Middletown, in theShenandoah Valley, and McDowell’s corps widely separated, King’s divisionat Fredericksburg , and Ricketts’s at and beyond Manassas Junction.

The general purpose at that time was to demonstrate with the army towardGordonsville and Charlottesville and draw off as much as possible of the force

) Accompanying General Beauregard’s paper on the First Battle of Bull Run (Vol. I., pp. 196-227)are maps and many pictures of interest with reference to the second battle.— Editors.

PICKETING THE RAPII

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