BY WILLIAM B. FRANKLIN, MAJOR-GENERAL , II. S. V.
T HE Sixth Corps left Harrison’s Landing on the James River on August16th, 1862, and arrived at Newport News on August 21st. On the 22dand 23d it embarked on transports for Aquia Creek. My impression is thatBurnside’s corps started first, landing at Aquia Creek; Porter's disembarkedat Aquia Creek; Heintzelman’s followed, landing at Alexandria; and theSixth Corps followed Heintzelman’s. As soon as I saw the infantry of thecorps embarked at Newport News, leaving the chiefs of the quartermaster andsubsistence departments and the chief of artillery to superintend the embar-kation of the property for which they were responsible, with orders to hastentheir departure to the utmost, I preceded the transports, and on Sunday,August 24th, about 2 o’clock, arrived at Aquia Creek, at which point I hadorders to disembark and report to General McClellan . The wharves here wereso encumbered with the artillery and stores that were already landed for thecorps of Burnside and Porter, that McClellan directed me to have my corpslanded at Alexandria, and to report upon my arrival to General Halleck. Stillpreceding the corps, I reported to General Halleck at Washington, arrivingthere about 4 o’clock p. m. The city was as quiet as though profound peacereigned; no one was at General Halleck’s office to whom I could report, and Ifound him at his house. He told me that he felt under no apprehension aboutPope ’s position, and that he doubted whether it would be necessary for me togo to the front at all; that in any event I could be of no use until myartillery and horses arrived—instancing the fact that Burnside had been muchcrippled, and had done little good so far, on account of the absence of hisartillery. He directed me to go into camp in front of Alexandria, andreoi'ganize the corps as the artillery and transportation reached the camp.The infantry arrived on Monday and Tuesday, the 25th and 26th, but noartillery horses, except sixteen, had arrived on Wednesday night.
The two division commanders and myself were constantly at work duringthis time, endeavoring to get horses. But we had no success, the answer toour demands always being that the teams then present were absolutely neces-sary to feed the troops in the forts from day to day, and that this duty wasmore important under the circumstances than that of providing transporta-tion for artillery. Without transportation the artillery could not be used.
On Wednesday, the 27th, news having arrived that the enemy was atCentreville, Taylor’s brigade of Slocum’s division was sent there on the carsof the Orange and Alexandria Railroad to reconnoiter. It was received at therailroad bridge over Bull Run by a force of the enemy’s artillery and infan-try, and lost its gallant commander and many men. The brigade was with-drawm in safety in the face of a large force, four brigades of A. P. Hill ’sdivision, Jackson’s corps. The order for this movement came from GeneralHalleck. Thursday, the 28th, was employed in organizing such batteriesas had arrived, with the horses, which now began to arrive slowly, and in
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