While walking the fields of the Brawner Farm at the Manassas Battlefield, I came upon a narrow woodland trail, soggy with the recent heavy autumn rains. In the summer of 1862, just yards from this place, Union men marched east searching for the elusive Stonewall Jackson and his Corps of veterans. Jackson would remain out of site along the cut of an unfinished rail road, awaiting the opportunity to pounce on the prey that erroneously believed that they hunted him. As the blue coats passed along the road in his front, Jackson opened fire. Act one of the sanguinary drama had begun.
Looking to the wood line north of the road, Union Brigadier General John Gibbon ordered the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry forward to scatter what he mistakenly identified as Confederate horse artillery. Instead, he soon discovered his single regiment challenged Stonewall Jackson's entire command. Gibbon quickly ordered his brigade forward while the Virginians held firm, striving to obliterate their Federal foes.
Both sides shunned maneuver. Neither stood more than 80 yards apart, firing directly into each others' lines. Both endured incredible casualties. After several hours, the slug-fest ended with darkness appropriating the grimly contested ground. The men in blue withdrew to safer quarters and awaited tomorrow's fight.
In his official report, General Jackson would say only, "The loss on both sides was heavy..." John Gibbon's report more thoroughly underscored the reaper's ghastly harvest. "The total loss of the brigade is, killed, 133; wounded, 539; missing, 79. Total, 751." In just a few hours, he lost over one-third of his entire command.
Along the path on which I walked I found a small marker, faded, cracking, and seemingly forgotten. The lettering, light but readable, spoke to anyone who would hear of deeds some fourteen decades past. As the whispers of horror and heroism fade with time, this tiny sentinel cracks open a window into a time that violently forged our country's identity. The faded facade still bears the words of a nameless soldier, long since dead, who once more speaks of the events of that day.
"We soon found that we had to deal with General Ewell's whole division of picked men. We advanced within hailing distance of each other, then halted and laid down, and my God, what a slaughter! No one appeared to know the object of the fight, and there we stood one hour, the men falling all around; but we got no orders to fall back, and Wisconsin men would rather die than fall back without orders."
Many on both sides did.
Sincerely,
Randy
Please visit my primary site at www.brotherswar.com
All original material Copyright © 2006. All Rights Reserved
Showing posts with label Bull Run. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bull Run. Show all posts
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Sunday, March 05, 2006
The Bare Necessities
Early in 1861, Confederate Brigadier General Joseph Eggleston Johnston had overall command of the newly assembled southern force in the Shenandoah Valley. Days before the first major battle of the Civil War, Johnston’s troops successfully eluded Union Major General Robert Patterson’s forces to join Brigadier General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard near Manassas Virginia. Lt. General Winfield Scott had ordered Patterson to keep Johnston away from Beauregard so that Union Brigadier General Irvin McDowell’s green and as yet undisciplined troops could attack Beauregard’s unsupported, equally green men.
The Confederates earned a hard fought victory that day which saw casualties which would shock the citizens of both nations. On those fields, five regiments from Virginia and their commander would earn their immortal name as, after the victory, many recalled Confederate General Barnard Bee saying, "Yonder stands Jackson like a stone wall. Rally behind the Virginians".
Even the newest of Civil War enthusiasts finds familiar the stories of the valorous efforts of the Virginians on those fields. Jackson’s timely arrival, marching his troops to the battlefield over an old farmer’s lane, formally christened the bloodiest war in United States history. But days earlier, less dramatic factors played a small role in allowing Jackson’s men to join their comrades on the fields near Bull Run.
Many of General Patterson’s men had enlisted for only 3 months. All but a few believed 90 days a sufficient amount of time for the powerful North to subdue the pesky southern rebels. Despite resources that would eventually prove overwhelming, this early in the conflict, organizational and logistical concerns proved fatal as the Northern government had no efficient system for linking the men who fought with the crucial supplies they needed.
In his book entitled "Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War" Lieutenant Colonel G.F.R. Henderson writes about the impact of such seemingly minor problems. Although General Patterson tended towards more cautious approach to war, some of his men had ideas of their own. Henderson notes, as Johnston slipped away, "Even in that day of raw soldiers and inexperienced leaders his (Patterson’s) troops had an unenviable reputation. They enlisted for three months, and their term of service was nearly up. Their commander had no influence with them; and, turning a deaf ear to his appeals, they stubbornly refused to remain with the colours even for a few days over their term of service."
Up until this point, nothing of this story stands as remarkable. The new soldiers hardly had acclimated themselves to the discipline and expectations of an army fighting brutal war. But Henderson continued by offering some of the factors contributing to the men’s dissatisfaction. "They were possibly disgusted with the treatment they had received from the Government. The men had received no pay. Many were without shoes, and others, according to their general, were ‘without pants!’ ‘They cannot march,’ he adds, ‘and, unless a paymaster goes with them, they will be indecently clad and have just cause of complaint.’
Had he known, perhaps General Bee would have altered his famous declaration, "There stands Jackson like a stonewall! And there stand Patterson’s men, hiding behind one."
Respectfully,
Randy
Please visit my primary site at www.brotherswar.com.
All original material Copyright © 2006. All Rights Reserved
The Confederates earned a hard fought victory that day which saw casualties which would shock the citizens of both nations. On those fields, five regiments from Virginia and their commander would earn their immortal name as, after the victory, many recalled Confederate General Barnard Bee saying, "Yonder stands Jackson like a stone wall. Rally behind the Virginians". Even the newest of Civil War enthusiasts finds familiar the stories of the valorous efforts of the Virginians on those fields. Jackson’s timely arrival, marching his troops to the battlefield over an old farmer’s lane, formally christened the bloodiest war in United States history. But days earlier, less dramatic factors played a small role in allowing Jackson’s men to join their comrades on the fields near Bull Run.
Many of General Patterson’s men had enlisted for only 3 months. All but a few believed 90 days a sufficient amount of time for the powerful North to subdue the pesky southern rebels. Despite resources that would eventually prove overwhelming, this early in the conflict, organizational and logistical concerns proved fatal as the Northern government had no efficient system for linking the men who fought with the crucial supplies they needed.
In his book entitled "Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War" Lieutenant Colonel G.F.R. Henderson writes about the impact of such seemingly minor problems. Although General Patterson tended towards more cautious approach to war, some of his men had ideas of their own. Henderson notes, as Johnston slipped away, "Even in that day of raw soldiers and inexperienced leaders his (Patterson’s) troops had an unenviable reputation. They enlisted for three months, and their term of service was nearly up. Their commander had no influence with them; and, turning a deaf ear to his appeals, they stubbornly refused to remain with the colours even for a few days over their term of service."
Up until this point, nothing of this story stands as remarkable. The new soldiers hardly had acclimated themselves to the discipline and expectations of an army fighting brutal war. But Henderson continued by offering some of the factors contributing to the men’s dissatisfaction. "They were possibly disgusted with the treatment they had received from the Government. The men had received no pay. Many were without shoes, and others, according to their general, were ‘without pants!’ ‘They cannot march,’ he adds, ‘and, unless a paymaster goes with them, they will be indecently clad and have just cause of complaint.’
Had he known, perhaps General Bee would have altered his famous declaration, "There stands Jackson like a stonewall! And there stand Patterson’s men, hiding behind one."
Respectfully,
Randy
Please visit my primary site at www.brotherswar.com.
All original material Copyright © 2006. All Rights Reserved
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