BATTLE OF BLACKBURN'S FORD—THE BATTLE
BEGINS—THE ENEMY DRIVEN BACK—INCIDENTS
OF THE BATTLE
There were frequent rumors while in camp at Manassas that the Yankees
were advancing. On the 17th of July the report proved true; the Yankees
were coming sure enough this time. Longstreet's Brigade marched down to
Blackburn's Ford on Bull Run some mile and a half or two miles north of
Manassas. The regiments, except the Eleventh, were formed in line of
battle above and below the ford, along the south bank of the creek, or
run, as it is called, a small wooded stream with the ground rising on
the north side to quite a bluff, heavily timbered, the road from the
ford leading up through a narrow ravine. Other brigades were posted
along Bull Run above and below Blackburn's Ford.
The men on the line of battle made temporary breastworks along the bank
of the run, with old logs, driftwood, and fence rails, and awaited the
coming of the enemy—skirmishers having been thrown well forward on the
high ground beyond the stream and woods.
The Eleventh Regiment, held in reserve, was placed behind a small bluff,
a short distance south of the stream and above the ford. This bluff was
pretty good protection except from fragments of shells bursting
overhead.
The enemy did not appear until the next day in the afternoon, when the
attack was made on the position at the ford about three o'clock. Company
A of the Eleventh Regiment was on picket, or skirmish line, across the
run, when a Yankee quartermaster captain rode down the road, and
enquired of one of the company if he knew where General McDowell's (the
Yankee commander's) headquarters were. The man replied, "No, I don't
know where General McDowell's headquarters are, but I can show you to
General Beauregard's very quick." The captain seeing his mistake wheeled
his horse and dashed away.
Several of the pickets fired on him, when he tumbled from his horse
dead, shot through the body. The captain had on a pair of spurs, which
one of the men took off, and when the company returned to the regiment
after the Yankees advanced in force, gave the spurs to Major Harrison,
who put them on and in a short time thereafter received his death wound.
Unlucky spurs these! My recollection is, as I heard it after the battle,
that when the Yankee fell from his horse, Henry Beckwith said, as they
approached him, "If he is shot through the belt, I killed him. I aimed
at his belt"; and that the ball had entered the body at or near the
belt. Tom Davis, Leslie Price, and Jim Foulks, I think, were the other
men who fired. Who really fired the fatal shot was not known.
THE BATTLE BEGINS
Pretty soon after the captain was shot, the Yankees advanced in line of
battle, the skirmishers in front engaging in a lively fight over on the
hill beyond the run, the Confederates retiring as the main body of the
enemy advanced. All knew then that the fight was beginning and would
soon be on in earnest. After the Confederate skirmishers returned to the
south side of the run everything was quiet—a deathlike stillness
prevailed for some time, which was intense and oppressive. All nerves
were strung to a high tension. We were on the eve of a battle, a sure
enough battle in which men would be wounded and killed, and who would be
the victims no one knew.
Perhaps not a single man in the brigade, with the exception of General
Longstreet, had ever heard the sound of a hostile gun before that day.
It was not long, however, until this silence was broken by the big boom
of a Yankee cannon away over on the hill, and simultaneously, a long
shell came shrieking through the air, making a noise that can not be
described; it was more like the neigh of an excited or frightened horse
than anything I can compare it to; a kind of "whicker, whicker, whicker"
sound as it swapped ends in the air. This shell passed over high above
all heads, striking the ground on the hill in the rear, making the dirt
fly, and tearing a hole in the ground, as some of the boys said, "Big
enough to bury a horse in."
I have said that all nerves were highly strung while waiting for the
battle to begin. This shot and shell not only broke the silence and
relaxed the nerve tension, but severely tried not a few nerves, caused
many a heart to stand still, and face to blanch. I saw many pale faces;
don't know how I looked, but felt rather pale.
This shell struck near a Confederate battery, which immediately limbered
up and went to the rear at a gallop—why, I never knew; the supposition
was that the battery withdrew in order to draw the Yankees on; if so, it
had the desired effect, for in a few minutes the musketry firing began
down at the ford. At first it was pop—pop—pop, then pop, pop, pop—and
then a continuous roar in which no single shot could be distinguished;
it was like a loud, continuing peal of heavy thunder. The roar was
punctuated by frequent cannon shot and bursting shells, which sounded
louder than the musketry. The noise was frightful, almost deafening, and
such as we never heard before, but knew full well it was the "noise and
din of battle," about which we had heard and read, but never
experienced. I must say it was more terrific and awe-inspiring than I
expected. Many of the balls and shells passed a few feet above us;
shells and grapeshot struck among the trees and bushes that crowned the
small bluff behind which the regiment was posted, with the rushing,
swishing, fear-creating noise heard many times afterwards, but which I
never learned to like or admire.
History records that General Washington, in his youthful days, in
writing to a friend describing a battle with the Indians, said, "The
sound of the bullets was music to mine ear." Now, I never had much ear
for music, though I like good music, and can distinguish between good
and bad music. I here and now record that the sound of shell, solid
shot, grapeshot, shrapnel, minie ball, or any other kind of battle
noise, was never "music to mine ear"; therefore, I conclude that any and
all of these sounds, if music at all, is very poor music.
During the battle, Company G, of the Eleventh Regiment, was deployed as
skirmishers along the run on the left flank of the Confederate line of
battle, not far from the position occupied by the regiment, the men all
lying down behind a fence that ran along the bank of Bull Run, in plain
view of the other companies of the Eleventh Regiment; no Yankees
appeared on this part of the line. And, I think, Company F was also
deployed below Company G near the run.
The heavy firing in this battle did not last long, not over half an hour
perhaps, but it seemed a long time.
In the midst of the heaviest firing, one of General Longstreet's staff
officers galloped up to the Eleventh Regiment and called for two
companies to go down to the ford. When asked how the battle was going,
he said, "They have the advantage of us just now, but we will drive them
back with these two companies." Some of the Yankees had charged across
the creek, or run, at the ford. Colonel Garland called out at the top of
his voice, "Major Harrison, take Company E and Company H down to the
ford." These two companies, with Major Harrison leading them on
horseback, rushed off through the bushes in double-quick time and into
the fight they went.
THE YANKEES DRIVEN BACK
The Yankees were quickly driven back. Dr. G. W. Thornhill, surgeon of
the Eleventh Regiment, who went along to look after the wounded,
captured a Yankee who had crossed over the run and was hiding in the
bushes. Very soon, Major Harrison was borne back from the line of battle
on a stretcher, or litter, as it was called, shot through the body, and
as before said, mortally wounded. Major Harrison was a good officer and
a splendid man, very popular in the regiment, and his untimely death was
deeply lamented by all. It was rumored through the brigade that Colonel
Garland had been mortally wounded. When he heard this rumor, he said,
"It was a better man." A fine tribute this, to Major Harrison.
Soon after the two companies went into the fight, the Twenty-fourth
Virginia Regiment, led by Col. Peter Hairston on horseback, came
double-quicking down the road leading to the ford.
Company A of the Twenty-fourth was the leading company and was commanded
by Capt. C. M. Stigleman, and Dr. B. P. Elliott was orderly sergeant.
This company was from Floyd County. I did not know any of the officers
or men; but since I came to Floyd, have been well acquainted with nearly
all of them, and have often talked about the incidents of this day. I
have heard Dr. Elliott relate that, as they started into the fight they
passed by General Beauregard standing by the roadside, and that the
General spoke to each company as it passed saying, "Aim low, men."
The doctor, in telling it, would laugh and say, "These words sent a
chill down my spinal column," and that when they emerged from the pines
into the open field, and saw the men of Company G lying down in skirmish
line, they thought these men had been killed and laid out there in a
row, and some one exclaimed, "Good God, look at the dead men!"
Dr. Elliott also related, as they passed by Major Harrison, being borne
to the rear on the stretcher, the Major said, "Hurry up, men, or you
will be too late"; and that Colonel Early said to them as they started,
"Now, boys, if you don't run, the Yankees will." And when the command
was given the regiment to load, one of the captains stepped out in front
of his company and gave the command, "Load in nine times—load!" Then
"old Jube" in his piping voice at a high pitch, exclaimed, "Load in nine
times? Hell and damnation! Load in the most expeditious manner
possible."
The Twenty-fourth was the leading regiment of a brigade commanded by
Col. Jubal A. Early. About the time the front files of the regiment was
half-way across the field between the pines and the run, Colonel Early
came riding along down by the line, his black horse in a long trot,
calling out, "Halt in front!" Colonel Hairston could not hear him on
account of the noise of the battle. Finally, Colonel Early reined in his
horse so hard that the war steed was thrown well back on his haunches,
and called out in a loud and emphatic tone, "Tell Colonel Hairston to
halt." From the position occupied by the Eleventh Regiment, we could see
and hear all these incidents.
The word "halt" was passed rapidly along to the front of the regiment,
and just before the head of the column (the troops were marching by the
flank) reached the bushes bordering the run, they came to a halt, and
Colonel Early went forward to find General Longstreet and ascertain
where to place his brigade in line of battle. Just then the firing
slackened and in a few moments the musketry firing ceased altogether.
The Yankees had been driven back, retiring out of sight over the hill;
the artillery fire was kept up for some time, however.
Up to this time the Confederates had no artillery engaged in the fight,
though a few shots were fired at the right flank of the enemy from
Mitchell's Ford, where General Bonham of South Carolina commanded.
Soon after the musketry firing ceased, and while the Yankees were still
throwing shot and shell from their guns on the hill, scaring many but
hurting few, a battery of the New Orleans Washington Artillery came in a
gallop into the open field, and wheeling to the right into battery,
about midway between the pines and the run, unlimbered and opened up a
lively fire at the Yankee battery over on the hill beyond the run. These
batteries were not in sight the one of the other, the woods on and
beyond the run intervening to obstruct the view, the gunners firing at
the puffs of smoke from their opponents' guns.
This was a lively and spirited artillery duel for a while, but the
plucky Louisianians proved too much for their opponents. When the Yankee
gunners got the range on them, they moved their guns by hand to the
right or left and poured shot and shell into the enemy thick and fast,
soon knocking their opponents out of action, disabling one or more of
their guns, and causing them to get out of range in great haste. The
Washington Artillery won laurels in this their first fight, which they
wore proudly and deservedly through the whole war, being conspicuous in
all the great battles in which the army of Northern Virginia engaged,
and always performing their part bravely and well.
INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE
In the midst of the battle General Longstreet's big bay horse came
galloping out from the bushes along the run, riderless, and wild with
the noise and excitement of battle, dashing across the field with head
high in air, swaying from right to left, with bridle reins and stirrups
flying over his neck and back. We thought sure our General was either
killed or badly wounded, but it turned out that General Longstreet had
thrown himself off his horse to the ground to escape the fire of some of
his own men. The general was unhurt, and was soon again mounted on his
horse, though there was dirt on his clothes from the fall to the ground.
The smoke of the battle, which was thick and heavy along the run, soon
cleared away, the wounded were all carried to the field hospital in the
rear, the dead were laid away, and ere the shades of night set in, all
was peaceful and quiet along Bull Run, except that now and then the
words, "Friends on the other side, pass it down the line," were passed
from company to company along the line, our scouts, at intervals,
crossing over the run to watch the Yankees, lest, peradventure, they
might make another attack. But no other efforts were made to dislodge
the Confederates at Blackburn's Ford.
The Yankees were very much surprised at the stubborn resistance they met
here. Their newspapers, and other writers since, gave conflicting
statements of the affair, some making light of it as a battle, claiming
that it was only a reconnoissance in force, a mere skirmish. Others
attributed it to the "rash enthusiasm" of Gen. E. B. Tyler, who thought
he could easily brush aside the rebels and march on to Manassas. General
McDowell, the commander-in-chief, who had established his headquarters
at Centreville, contemplated, it was said, turning the Confederates'
left flank when all his troops were up and everything ready for the
attack. General Tyler had in the fight, Richardson's and Sherman's
Brigades of Infantry, and Ayres's Battery. These were met and
successfully resisted by Longstreet with his brigade, with eight
companies of one of the regiments, the Eleventh, in reserve.
The loss in this engagement was small for the amount of shooting done.
The Confederates' loss was about twenty and the Yankees' about one
hundred. This engagement on the 18th made General McDowell stop and
ponder until the 21st of July, when the battle of Manassas was fought,
and won by the Confederates.
About sundown on the 18th the Eleventh Regiment and Early's Brigade
relieved the troops who had been engaged, taking position along the run
above and below the ford, where they remained on the _qui vive_ all
night and the next day, without seeing or hearing of a single Yankee.
The trees and bushes along and in the rear of the line of battle were
scarred by big and little shot. The Yankees, being above on the bluff,
overshot the Confederates.
Up on the bluff we saw the first dead Yankee—he lay stark and cold in
death upon the hillside among the trees in the gloom of the gathering
twilight: the pale face turned towards us, upon which we looked with
feelings mingled with awe and dread. We had heard and seen many new and
strange things that day. Later on in the war, we could look upon the
slain on the battlefield with little less feeling than upon the carcass
of an animal. Such are some of the hardening effects of war. I don't
think we were again as badly scared as on that day; I was not, I am
sure.
Longstreet's Brigade remained at and near Blackburn's Ford all through
the 19th and 20th of July, waiting for and expecting another attack,
discussing the events of the battle, and conjecturing as to what would
be the next move in the game of war. I remember talking with Lieut. Jim
Hord of Company H along this line, when he remarked, "There will be a
big battle Sunday—most all of the big fights come off on Sunday." This
prophecy came true. The brigade had received its baptism of fire, the
nerves and mettle of the men had been tried, and while it was a
nerve-racking ordeal, yet all had stood the test, so far as I remember,
except one officer in command of a company in the Eleventh Regiment,
whose nerve seemed to fail him. He was taken sick and collapsed; was
taken to the rear and never returned to his company.
I think if it had not been for pride and regard for reputation, a good
many of us would have been like a negro cook in Company C: George, who
belonged to my brother-in-law, Robert Cocke, and had been with the
company as one of the cooks, brought down from the camp at Manassas
about noon on the 18th some cooked rations, and when the battle
commenced, was back in the rear near the hospital. When the Yankee
shells began to fall and burst in his vicinity, George broke and ran for
dear life back to camp, stopping only long enough to say, "Dem big balls
come flying over me saying, 'Whar is you? whar is you?' an' I lit out
from dar in a hurry," and away he went up the railroad track four miles
to Bristow Station. The boys laughed at George a great many times about
his ignominious flight; George, however, never expressed a regret that
he took to his heels and made good time out of danger.
The Confederate lines extended along the south side of Bull Run about
eight miles, that small and insignificant stream having been chosen by
General Beauregard as his line of defense, instead of waiting, as was
expected by the inexperienced, for the enemy to come on to Manassas,
which position had been fortified and the forts mounted with big guns.
Of course, the enemy would have never attacked this place, but flanked
it, viz., marched around the place and forced the Confederates to
evacuate. On Bull Run the right of the Confederate lines was at Union
Mills, with General Ewell in command. Next up the run was McLean's Ford,
where General Jones and his brigade were posted. Next came Blackburn's
Ford, where, as before said, was posted Longstreet's Brigade; then came
General Bonham at Mitchell's Ford with his brigade; next above this was
Ball's Ford, with Gen. Phillip St. George Cocke in command of a brigade,
and lastly the Stone Bridge, the extreme Confederate left, in charge of
General Evans with his brigade. The general direction of Bull Run is
from west to east, or rather, from northwest to southeast.
General Holmes with his brigade and Colonel Early with his brigade, and
maybe others, were back in reserve, and when Generals Jackson, Bee, and
Bartow arrived with their brigades, they were also held in reserve.
There were also batteries of artillery along the lines near the several
fords, with cavalry on the flanks, and at intervals back from the run.
Along Bull Run, nearly all the way, grew trees and bushes, and much of
the ground back of the stream on either side was covered with
second-growth pines and scrub-oaks, the ground being rolling, though
tolerably level.
McDowell's command was concentrated at and near Centreville, about a
mile north of Bull Run, and consisted of thirty-five or forty thousand
men. Beauregard had twelve or fifteen thousand men; Gen. Jos. E.
Johnston brought to his relief in the very nick of time on the 21st some
ten or twelve thousand men.