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From tlie 18th until the night of the 26th of August the troops had beenmarching and fighting almost continuously. As was to be expected undersuch circumstances, the effective force had been greatly diminished by death,by wounds, by sickness, and by fatigue. |
Heintzelman’s corps, which had come up from Alexandria, was at "VVarren-ton Junction, and numbered, as he reported to me, less than eight thousandmen, | but it was without wagons, without artillery, without horses even
for the field-officers, and with only fortyrounds of ammunition to the man. Thecorps of General F. J. Porter consistedof about ten thousand men, and was byfar the freshest if not the best in thearmy. He had made very short and de-liberate marches from Fredericksburg,and his advance division, mainly troopsof the regular army under Sykes, hadarrived at Warrenton Junction by eleveno’clock on the morning of the 27th,Morell’s division of the same corps ar-riving later in the same day.
I saw General F. J. Porter at War-renton Junction about 11 o’clock on themorning of the 27th. Sykes’s division ofhis corps was encamped near; Morell’swas expected in a few hours. I had seenGeneral Porter at West Point while wewere both cadets, but I think I neverhad an acquaintance with him there,nor do I think I ever met him afterward in the service except for about fiveminutes in Philadelphia in 1861, when I called at his office for a pass, whichwas then required to go to Washington via Annapolis . This, I think, was thefirst and only time I ever met him previous to the meeting at Warrenton Junc-tion. He had so high a reputation in the army and for services since the out-break of the war, that I was not only curious to see him, but was exceedinglyglad that he had joined the army under my command with a corps which Iknew to be one of the most effective in the service. This feeling was so strongthat I expressed it warmly and on several occasions. He appeared to me a mostgentlemanlike man, of a soldierly and striking appearance. I had but little
August 18th, skirmishes at Rapidan Station actions at Sulphur (or Warrenton) Springs; 24tliand on Clark’s Mountain, near Orange Court and 25th, actions at Waterloo Bridge; 25th,House; 20th, skirmishes at Raccoon Ford, Ste- skirmish at Sulphur Springs; 26th, skirmishesvensburg, Brandy Station, Rappahannock Station, at Bristoe Station, Bull Run Bridge, Gainesville ,and near Kelly’s Ford; 21st, skirmishes along the Havmarket, Manassas Junction, and SulphurRappahannock, at Kelly’s, Beverly (or Cunning- Springs.— Editors.
ham’s), and Freeman’s Fords; 22d, actions at 4-Heintzelman’s infantry (effectives) numberedFreeman’s Ford and Hazel River, and skirmishes 15,011 on the 10th of August, and the fullalong the Rappahannock; 23d, engagement at corps, replenished by six new regiments, reportedRappahannock Station, action at Beverly Ford, 16,000 for duty September 10th. There are noand skirmish at Fant’s Ford, 23d and 24th, intermediate reports.— Editors.