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memoir · by a contemporary
Four years of fighting
Charles Carleton Coffin (1823–1896), 1866
Named on the pages for First Battle of Bull Run, Second Battle of Bull Run, Battle of Fredericksburg.
machine-read Machine-read (OCR) from a scanned book at the Internet Archive: expect misread words and names. The scan itself is at the library.
draft Matched to the battles automatically; not yet reviewed.
Passages that name the battles; the whole book is at Internet Archive.
21 July 1861
First Battle of Bull Run
INVASION OF MARYLAND.
Battle of Manassas. — Colonel Broadhead. — Confidence of the Rebels. — Uprising in Pennsylvania. — Surrender of Harper's Ferry. — Escape of the Union Cavalry. — Negro Teamsters. — Excitement of the Citizens. — Hagerstown. — Antietam. — Visit to the Right Wing. — Poffenberg's House. — Sumner's Movement. — The Corn-Field. — Burnside's Attack. — The Fight at the Bridge 110
BULL KUN.
Richardson's brigade turned towards Blackburn's ford. Suddenly there was a booming of artillery, followed by a sharp skirmish, which Beauregard in his Report calls the first battle of Manassas. This was in distinction from that fought on the 21st, which is generally known as the battle of Bull Run.
INVASION OF MARYLAND.
Great events were transpiring in Virginia. The magnifi- cent army which passed down the Potomac in March, which had thrown up the tremendous fortifications at Yorktown, which had fought at Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Gaines's Mills, Savage Station, Glendale, and Malvern, was once more at Washington. Manassas was a bloody plain. Pope had been defeated, sacrificed by Fitz John Porter. Day after day the booming of cannon had been heard in Washington, borne by the breezes along the wooded valley of the Potomac ; far away at first, then nearer at Chantilly and Fairfax Court-House. Then came the stream of fugitives, and broken, disheartened ranks back to Arlington. The streets of Washington were thick with hungry, war-worn men. Long lines of ambulances wended into the city, with wounded for the hospitals, already overcrowded. The soldiers had pitiful tales to tell of the scenes of the Peninsula, and of the gory field of Manassas, — how near they came to victory, — how Hooker and Heintzel- man rolled back the lines of Stonewall Jackson, — how Fitz John Porter lingered within an hour's march of the conflict, tardily coming into line, and moving away when lightly pressed by the enemy. There were curses loud and deep breathed against Porter, Pope, and McClellan. The partisans of Porter and McClellan called Pope a braggadocio, while the soldiers who had fought with obstinacy, who had doubled up Jackson in the first day's battle, retorted that McClellan was a coward, who, through all the engagements on the Peninsula took good care to be out of the reach of hostile bullets or cannon shot. The cause of the Union was gloomy. Burnside had been hurried up from North Carolina to aid in repelling the invad- er. The sun shone peacefully through the August days, — summer passed into autumn,
INVASION OF MARYLAND.
Colonel Broadhead, of Michigan, lying upon the battle-field of Manassas, with the shadow of death stealing over him, wrote a most touching farewell letter to his wife, in which he ex- pressed his convictions as to who was responsible for the defeat.
28–30 August 1862
Second Battle of Bull Run
INVASION OF MARYLAND.
Battle of Manassas. — Colonel Broadhead. — Confidence of the Rebels. — Uprising in Pennsylvania. — Surrender of Harper's Ferry. — Escape of the Union Cavalry. — Negro Teamsters. — Excitement of the Citizens. — Hagerstown. — Antietam. — Visit to the Right Wing. — Poffenberg's House. — Sumner's Movement. — The Corn-Field. — Burnside's Attack. — The Fight at the Bridge 110
BULL KUN.
Richardson's brigade turned towards Blackburn's ford. Suddenly there was a booming of artillery, followed by a sharp skirmish, which Beauregard in his Report calls the first battle of Manassas. This was in distinction from that fought on the 21st, which is generally known as the battle of Bull Run.
INVASION OF MARYLAND.
Great events were transpiring in Virginia. The magnifi- cent army which passed down the Potomac in March, which had thrown up the tremendous fortifications at Yorktown, which had fought at Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Gaines's Mills, Savage Station, Glendale, and Malvern, was once more at Washington. Manassas was a bloody plain. Pope had been defeated, sacrificed by Fitz John Porter. Day after day the booming of cannon had been heard in Washington, borne by the breezes along the wooded valley of the Potomac ; far away at first, then nearer at Chantilly and Fairfax Court-House. Then came the stream of fugitives, and broken, disheartened ranks back to Arlington. The streets of Washington were thick with hungry, war-worn men. Long lines of ambulances wended into the city, with wounded for the hospitals, already overcrowded. The soldiers had pitiful tales to tell of the scenes of the Peninsula, and of the gory field of Manassas, — how near they came to victory, — how Hooker and Heintzel- man rolled back the lines of Stonewall Jackson, — how Fitz John Porter lingered within an hour's march of the conflict, tardily coming into line, and moving away when lightly pressed by the enemy. There were curses loud and deep breathed against Porter, Pope, and McClellan. The partisans of Porter and McClellan called Pope a braggadocio, while the soldiers who had fought with obstinacy, who had doubled up Jackson in the first day's battle, retorted that McClellan was a coward, who, through all the engagements on the Peninsula took good care to be out of the reach of hostile bullets or cannon shot. The cause of the Union was gloomy. Burnside had been hurried up from North Carolina to aid in repelling the invad- er. The sun shone peacefully through the August days, — summer passed into autumn,
INVASION OF MARYLAND.
Colonel Broadhead, of Michigan, lying upon the battle-field of Manassas, with the shadow of death stealing over him, wrote a most touching farewell letter to his wife, in which he ex- pressed his convictions as to who was responsible for the defeat.
11–15 December 1862
Battle of Fredericksburg
BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG.
BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG.
CHANCELLORSVILLE.
— Hooker's last Position. — Second Battle of Fredericksburg. — Sedg- wick's Attack. — Maryee's Hill. — Barksdale's Retreat. — Battle of Sa- lem Church.. — Lost Opportunity ....... 179
FEOM HARPER'S FERRY TO FREDERICKSBURG.
It was an unreasonable demand which the public made upon Burnside. He had been just one month in command of the army. His first plan had failed through the remissness of others ; his second effort to move had been made abortive by the storm. He could not attempt again the movement with any hope of success, for Lee had taken precautions against an attack upon his flank. Neither the public, the politician, nor the War Department would consent to his going into winter quarters. He had no alternative other than to devise a new plan. These considerations are to be kept in remembrance in reviewing the battle of Fredericksburg.
BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG.
BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG.
Public domain. Text from Internet Archive.