... late on the afternoon of August
28, Jackson came out from hiding and attacked an unsuspecting Union column
marching to join Pope's main body. Pope, now certain that he had Jackson
in the bag, moved up the remainder of his army the following day and launched
a series of uncoordinated attacks, including the two divisions of Heintzelman's
corps. Little did he know that Lee had brought up the rest of his army
and had taken a position squarely on the Union left flank. Sneden would
soon find himself in the midst of the largest battle of his wartime experience.
His account picks up a day before the Second Battle of Bull Run or Manassas.
August 28, 1862, near Bristoe Station
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.
. . Before leaving Warrenton Junction [yesterday] our headquarters
and General Pope's were together in a clump of heavy pines. The
wagons of each general were drawn up in two half circles, mules
unhitched to the rear. One or two flies were spread among the trees
for use of generals and staffs. General Pope sat in a large whicker
arm chair smoking. His staff were in groups discussing the affair
at Catlett's Station, and bewailing the loss of their personal baggage
now being put in practical use by Jackson and Stuart. Pope's staff
officers were gorgeously arrayed in different styles of uniform
with all the gold lace and buttons which could be possibly be put
on them. Pope himself had on a fine new major general's uniform
the lapels being quilted inside with white satin!
Before leaving Bristoe Station, I
went over most of the battlefield. I made two or three sketches,
and went into an old stone house near the railroad which had been
occupied by the enemy during the battle. There was no furniture
in it but two or three broken chairs and stools with a very rickety
pine table. The rooms were fitted up in bunks all around the rooms.
On the first floor in one of these laid a Rebel soldier with a musket
between his knees. He was dead enough - had been struck in the forehead
with a bullet which had come out at the back of the scull leaving
a hole as large as a grape shot. He had been shot while in the act
of loading. The bunk was full of dirty straw and covered with blood.
The stench of blood and dirt made it unhealthy to stay long. Another
dead Rebel was on the floor upstairs. The house had evidently been
used for hospital purposes, the floor and yard was strewn with dirty
and bloody gray clothing, torn blankets, hard looking shoes, old
battered felt hats, [and] canteens, while the floor and walls was
smeared all over with blood. The stench was terrible. I went up
the track where another house stood on a high bank. This had no
occupants. . . . A picket fence surrounded the lot and on it were
hundreds of Rebel blankets torn and burnt. While on the ground were
two or three hundred rebel knapsacks, which were made of ox hide
with the hair outside. Our men were rummaging them, getting letters,
and tobacco, but nothing of any value. The Rebels had thrown off
knapsacks and blankets to make a charge and never had the chance
to get back to them again.
After much delay in waiting for ammunition
trains and batteries we came up to Manassas during a shower of rain
and waited three hours there [for] further orders from General Heintzelman,
who with Hooker and Pope, were far ahead of most of the wagon trains.
At about 5 p.m., we were ordered on to Bull Run [Creek] by the way
of the lower fords. . . . We were soon off when the rain came down
hard making our progress very slow. We were stalled several times
but the guard, throwing their muskets into the wagons, laid hold
of the wagons and spokes of the wheels, and by much exertion pushed
them up the hills, the roads over which were of quicksand. We had
no time to halt for wagons were behind us, and before us, while
at times the trains were on a full run, all trying as usual to get
ahead of one another. Then wagons would lock wheels and the mules
come to dead halt, which took a large amount of patience, and much
swearing from teamsters to get once more started. . . . [We finally]
turned towards Bull Run and arrived about 7 p.m. The sound of battle
was heard by us during the whole time and up to 9 p.m. We put up
one fly tent and then camped down for the night. . . . The width
of Bull Run here was about 150 feet. Two or three small islands
were here. . . . We felled a tree to get on the nearest one, [then]
we built a large fire and cooked our suppers. I pitched my rubber
tent on it and had water rushing on all sides during our stay. A
trestle bridge had been thrown over the run near us by our engineers
and the artillery trains rumbled over it constantly all night. We
heard nothing of General Heintzelman or staff during the day. We
made ourselves as comfortable as we could.
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August 29, 1862
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The
battle reopened this morning at daylight with artillery . . . on
our extreme right. We had several large camp fires going by 5 a.m.,
and after a good breakfast, most of us went bathing in the run.
Columns of troops were passing . . . over the trestle bridge, followed
by the artillery. These passed up and over the opposite hill out
of sight. At 7 [a.m.], lines of battle were formed on the crest
of hills on [the] other side of Bull Run, while the roar of artillery
and steady rolling of musketry showed that the battle was being
continued with fury on both sides. Our camp was between high banks
on either side of the run and off the road so we were not interrupted
by wagon trains or any stragglers.
So we smoked our pipes and watched
the sky full of bursting shells over the hill top, while infantry
were deploying along the ridges. Most of these were soon ordered
to move forward while artillery alone were stationed in their places.
The gurgling waters of Bull Run had a very pleasant effect on our
tired nerves. And while everything was hot and dusty on the hills,
we were in a shady, cool spot and enjoyed our situation until we
had orders to move to Ball's house, which we were very loath to
do. The wagon guard improved the time to clean all the muskets and
accouterments which they needed badly while the cook overhauled
the scanty amount of food left us . . . I had sent off several maps
to General Heintzelman by the orderly, which I knew would be most
wanted, so I was now free to go anywhere, having left the map box
in charge of Lieutenant Gray of our wagon guard.
About 3 p.m., I was crossing a rough
stubble field which bordered on the Sudley Springs Road on the right
of our battle line when [our] troops . . . overtook me and passed
rapidly on the double quick into a thin strip of woods about the
center of the enemy's line. These were of [Rufus] King's division.
. . . Hooker's command was just beyond Dogan's house, while several
of our batteries were taking position along a rocky ridge facing
the enemy. Soon they unlimbered and opened a rapid fire, throwing
their shells over the woods so as to reach the Rebels behind the
embankment on the other side and into Jackson's headquarters, which
were on another ridge beyond this.
The enemy replied with their artillery,
and the air was soon filled with screeching shells and the thud
of solid shot striking the ground and rebounding in all directions.
I did not stay here longer than ten minutes as the missiles were
too uncomfortably near. "It was not healthy" to stay over two minutes
in any one place. I followed a ditch and lay down on the safe side
of it, while I saw the desperate fighting at the edge of the woods
and open ground on the left and up to the railroad embankment.
The Rebels had two or more pieces
of Whitworth guns. The peculiar screech of their missiles were heard
above the whizzing of other projectiles. The Rebel artillery was
fired at a high elevation and their shells burst mostly in rear
of our lines for a long while. But they rectified this when our
men were ordered to lie down. Still many were killed in this position
while our artillery horses were cut up badly. For an hour the Rebels,
being out of ammunition, fired pieces of railroad iron at us. Two
pieces bound with telegraph wire, these would stick in the tree
tops and slide down on our men's heads. This confused and mystified
the troops who scattered and broke ranks continually. [They] thought
it a new explosive until after it had been solved. . . .
I saw the head of one of our artillerymen
taken off, shot within fifty feet of my position. His blood spattered
his gun. He was pulled up by his arms a few paces away, the blood
gushing in streams from his neck. . . . The other artillerymen kept
on loading and firing without giving him further notice. All the
guns of the battery were worked with great rapidity. The men were
loading and firing like madmen. The wounded were crawling around
on their hands and knees. Others were tearing up their shirts to
make bandages for their bloody wounds . . . while from a low strip
of bushes the Rebels were firing on our wounded in front who were
crawling to our lines. The wounded and dying Rebels along our front
in the open ground held up their hands in token of surrender, while
piercing shrieks, yells, cheers, and oaths filled the air, heard
above the deafening reports of the artillery and crash of musketry.
. . . Having seen enough of the terrible fighting, I returned to
our headquarters. . . .
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