From a prisoner we learn that 20,000 from Johnston joined last night, and they will march on us to-night." And in his report, written at Arlington, on August 4th, two weeks after the battle, he says: "From the late reports it will be seen that our killed amounted to 19 officers and 462 non-commissioned officers and men, and our wounded to 64 officers and 947 non-commissioned officers and privates. The returns of the missing are very inaccurate, the men supposed to be missing having fallen into other regiments and gone to Washington-many of the Zouaves to New York." General Johnston, in his report of the battle, says: 66 Our victory was as complete as one gained by infantry and artillery can be. An adequate force of cavalry would have made it decisive. It is due, under Almighty God, to the skill and resolution of General Beauregard, the admirable conduct of Generals Bee, E. K. Smith, and Jackson, and of Colonels (commanding brigades) Evans, Cocke, Early, and Elzey, and the courage and unyielding firmness of our patriotic volunteers. The admirable character of our troops is incontestably proved by the results of this battle, especially when it is remembered that little more than 6,000 men of the Army of the Shenandoah with 16 guns, and less than 2,000 of that of the Potomac with six guns, for fully five hours successfully resisted 35,000 United States troops with powerful artillery and a superior force of regular cavalry. The loss of the Army of the Potomac was 108 killed, 510 wounded, and 12 missing. That of the Army of the Shenandoah was 270 killed, 979 wounded, and 18 missing. Twentyeight pieces of artillery, about 5,000 muskets, and nearly 500,000 cartridges, a garrison flag and ten colors, were captured on the field or in the pursuit. Besides these, we captured 64 artillery horses with their harness, 26 wagons and much camp equipage, clothing and other property abandoned in their flight. We captured also about 1,600 prisoners.” As will appear from the foregoing reports, the rout was complete, and only a small portion of our forces was actually engaged. The brunt of the day was borne by the Seventh and Eighth Georgia, the Fourth Alabama, the Second and Eleventh Mississippi, the Sixth North Carolina, Hampton's Legion, and Jackson's Brigade-about three-fourths of the total loss on our side being suffered by these commands. Though the rout of the Federal army was complete, the fruits of the victory were lost by poor generalship. With fully 10,000 men who had not been engaged favorably located on our right, where the distance to Centreville was less than it was from the battle-field, no effort was made to intercept the flying foe. It was reported and currently believed that Jackson had been refused permission to pursue with his brigade. With President Davis, Generals Johnston and Beauregard on the field, eye-witnesses of the enemy's discomfiture and utter demoralization, their strange conduct cannot be explained or their sin of omission condoned. It has been truly said that the Army of Northern Virginia possessed only one general who reaped the proper fruits of victory-his name was Stonewall Jackson. Having routed the enemy, our army quietly rested on its arms and patiently waited until our opponent, fully rallied from discomfiture, recruited and organized a larger and better-equipped force, and again advanced to give us battle. Such folly on our part seems almost criminal. With an Alexander, a Napoleon, or a Von Moltke for a leader, the war would have been of short duration, and the success of our arms assured. Company G, Botts Greys, lost in this battle, Butler, Page, and Briscoe killed, and Lieutenant English and Privates Aisquith, W. P. Manning, Seth and Joe Timberlake, Wiltshire, Painter, Wright, and Middlecoff wounded. CHAPTER II. 'All quiet along the Potomac," they say, Except now and then a stray picket Is shot, as he walks on his beat, to and fro, 'Tis nothing; a private or two, now and then, Thaddeus Oliver. The day after the Manassas fight, our brigade went into camp just east of Centreville (known as "Camp Harman "). where it remained for several months, now and then varying the monotony of camp life by picket duty in the vicinity of Falls Church and Munson's Hill. It was on one of these occasions, September 21st, that our comrade, Lawrence Lee Berry, was killed, on picket post. The situation the night preceding his death is vividly impressed on my mind. Our line of pickets and the enemy's were in close proximity, and firing between them was frequent. Two of my comrades and myself were assigned a post at the edge of a woods, about three hundred yards from the enemy's line, and a shot at each other was freely indulged, without much effect, as we had tree fortifications for shelter. So accurate, however, was the enemy's aim, that they barked the trees that protected us. There was a lul in the firing at nightfall, but our eyes and ears were both vigilant and our imaginations at high tension. In media nocte, as Julius Caesar would say, strange noises were heard around our position, resembling footsteps of men in the leaves, and well remembered is the comforting picture presented by the senior of our post to our excited minds of our next day's march to the old Capitol prison-the greatest of horrors to the soldiers at that period of the war. Just as day broke, however, the enemy's attack was made on the post to our left, held by Judge Green, Lawrence Berry, and Joe Sherrard. In the attack Berry was killed, but Green and Sherrard escaped unhurt. Green and Sherrard were accused of enabling the enemy to locate their station by a loud political discussion on the right of secession had by them during the night, but both indignantly denied the grave accusation. The post was soon retaken by our reserve and the line re-established. General Jackson, whose star was now in the ascendant, was made a major-general in the latter part of October and assigned to duty in the Shenandoah Valley Department, with headquarters at Winchester. A few days thereafter he took leave of his old brigade, in the following touching and thrilling words: "I am not here to make a speech, but simply to say farewell. I first met you at Harper's Ferry in the commencement of this war, and I cannot take leave of you without giving expression to my admiration of your conduct from that day to this-whether on the march, in the bivouac, in the tented field, or on the bloody plains of Manassas, where you gained the well-deserved reputation of having decided the fate of the battle. Throughout the broad extent of country over which you have marched, by your respect for the rights and the property of citizens, you have shown that you were soldiers-not only to defend, but able and willing both to defend and protect. You have already gained a brilliant and deservedly high reputation throughout the army of the whole Confederacy, and I trust in the future, by your deeds on the field, and by the assistance of the same kind Providence who has heretofore favored our cause, you will gain more victories, and add additional luster to the reputation you now enjoy. You have already gained a proud position in the future history of this our Second War for Independence. I shall look with great anxiety to your future movements, and I trust whenever I shall hear of the First Brigade on the field of battle, it will be of still nobler deeds. achieved and higher reputation won." Then, overcome with emotion, he paused as if to conquer his own feelings, and after a few moments' silence, which in itself was eloquence, he concluded with much warmth and feeling: "In the Army of the Shenandoah you were the First Brigade! In the Army of the Potomac you were the First Brigade! In the Second corps of the army you are the First Brigade! You are the First Brigade in the affections of your General! And I hope, by your future deeds and bearing, you will be handed down to posterity as the First Brigade in this our Second War for Independence. Farewell!" The applause that greeted these words evinced the hold the General had already obtained in the affections of his brigade, and the tears that streamed down the sunburnt cheeks of that hardy soldiery were more eloquent than a thousand tongues in assuring him of its depth and sincerity. Our brigade parted with its General in sorrow, but the separation was happily not of long duration. About the middle of November we were ordered to Winchester to report to General Jackson, and the announcement was received with great joy and delight. As the homes of our men were in the Valley, the expectation and anticipated pleasure of meeting the loved ones added zeal to our joy. We took cars at Manassas and were conveyed to Strasburg, from which place the brigade footed it through a drenching rain to Kernstown and was ordered into camp there. Many of us having a longing desire to enter Winchester and greet our many friends and acquaintances, struck out for that destination, but were halted by the militia, who had a circle of pickets around the town, with strict orders not to allow the regulars to pass. The regulars held the militia in great contempt, and were little disposed to acquiesce in |