On the 27th a force came from the direction of Washington, hoping to
regain the captured stores and prisoners, and made a vigorous attack
and contested the field with much vigor for some hours, but were in
the end defeated, routed, and disappeared, leaving their dead and
wounded on the field. In the afternoon of the same day, the Federals
in full force attacked the Confederates at Bristoe Station from the
direction of Warrenton. The battle raged fierce and furious. The
Federals were repulsed. The Confederates were now withdrawn to the
army at Manassas. The following day, the 28th, the Confederates took
position toward Groveton on the Warrenton and Alexandria Turnpike.
The Federals in full force were now moving on the Confederates from
the direction of Warrenton, hoping to crush them before Lee, with the
main army, could reach the field. An effort to move a large part of
this force to the east of the Confederates, and thus intervene between
them and Washington, exposed his left flank, upon which Jackson with
his comparatively small army, without the slightest hesitation, made a
vigorous assault, which continued with great spirit until about nine
o'clock at night, the Federals being pushed back from the field. By the
following morning, the 29th, it was found that the enemy had moved his
position further to our left with the evident purpose of covering the
way to the Federal Capital, and about ten a. m. opened with artillery a
vigorous attack upon our right, which was repulsed by the Confederate
batteries at the end of about two hours. A lull now followed,
interrupted only by an occasional artillery shot, until about 2 p. m.
The Federal infantry in heavy force now made a vigorous attack on the
Confederate left. This was beaten back, as were successive attacks
by fresh relays of troops, until the Confederates, exhausted and out
of ammunition, were forced back three or four hundred yards, their
line broken and a part of the force cut off. At this supreme moment
reinforcements from the right arrived and engaged the victorious enemy
with grim determination. The battle, now more furious than before,
swayed to and fro; and for sometime doubtful conclusions hung in the
balance. The enemy continued to pour in his fresh relays, which were
met by the same grim veterans of many battles. The contest constantly
grew fiercer and more bloody. Often the combatants delivered their fire
against each other within ten or a dozen paces. This awful carnage
could not continue long. The slaughter was too horrible and sickening.
The tide must turn, and it did. At the supreme moment in battle a word,
a slight act, may, and often does, decide the fate of the day. At this
supreme moment an officer, or private, as has been claimed, in the very
forefront of the closest quarters, called out in a lusty voice, "Charge
'em, boys, charge 'em." This was the needed stimulant. It nerved the
heart and hand of the weary Confederates and was responded to by the
whole line with such unanimous vigor and force that the enemy was swept
from the field with great loss. The Confederate loss was also heavy.
"The Regiment" and the Confederates reoccupied the stronger line held
by them at the beginning.
On the following day, the 30th, cannonading and some skirmishing
occurred until about 4 o'clock. The enemy began to advance in a number
of successive lines. Soon the battle became sanguinary and determined
and extended along the entire front. The Confederates on the left
occupied a favorable position and repulsed the onslaught made upon
them. As one line was repulsed a fresh one took its place, and thus the
battle raged over the dead and wounded Federals who fell on this oft'
traversed field. The main Confederate army, which had now reached the
field, and Jackson's worn and decimated corps were now contesting the
field with a brave army of superior numbers; but a change of conditions
must come, and again the psychological moment arrived and was availed
of by the Confederates, pressed to the last inch of endurance. Our
right now held by Longstreet pressed the enemy back, this invigorated
the whole Confederate line, which now with eager and invincible will
simultaneously joined in the forward movement and pressed upon the
still stubborn and equally determined foe, resisting with bayonet
the onward rush; but the tide turned against the Federals and they
fled precipitately, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. The
Confederates now opened upon the fleeing Federals and their loss at
this time, as during the day, was very heavy. The Confederate loss was
also heavy. A number of pieces of artillery and many stands of small
arms fell into the hands of the Confederates. The enemy continued his
retreat.
Pursuit was taken up by Jackson's corps in the lead and, on the first
of September, the enemy in force was again encountered at Ox Hill.
Here a sanguinary battle of much fury occurred, lasting for some time,
when a heavy storm brought a cessation of the contest for a time,
during which the enemy retired about night and by the next morning had
disappeared. On the following day, the 3d, Jackson's corps moved toward
Loudoun county and on the 4th went into bivouac near Leesburg.
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