Sir William Howard Russell reports on the War
The Times correspondent of London describes the scene of McDowell’s army preparing to advance, July 19, 1861.
Source: The Rebellion Record by Frank Moore, V. 2, p. 51 - 52. (1863)
“What will take place at the close of a hardly contested action in front of populous towns and villages? ”
Washington, D.C. July 19, 1861 The army of the North is fairly moving at last, and all the contending voices of lawyers and disputants will speedily be silenced by the noise of the cannon. Let no one suppose that the war will be decided in one or two battles or conclude from any present successes of the Federalists that they will not meet with stern opposition as they advance. The Confederates uniformly declared to me after their failure to take either Faneuil Hall or the Capitol they would wait in Virginia and " entice " the Federalists into certain mysterious traps, where they Could be " destroyed to a man." There is great reliance placed on " masked batteries " in this war, and the country is favorable to their employment, but nothing can prove more completely the unsteady character of the troops than the reliance, which is placed on the effects of such work, and, indeed, there is reason to think that there have been panics on both sides — at Great Bethel as well as at Laurel Hill. The telegraph is faster than the post, and all the lucubration of today may be falsified by the deeds of tomorrow. The Senate and Congress are sitting in the Capitol within the very hearing of the gun, and the sight of the smoke of the conflict which is now raging in Virginia.
Senators and Congressmen are engaged in disputations and speeches, while soldiers are working out the problem in their own way, and it is within the range of possibility that a disastrous battle may place the capital in the hands of the Confederates; and the news which has just come in .that the latter have passed Bull Run, a small river which flows into the Potomac, below Alexandria, crossing the railroad from that place, is proof that Fairfax Court House was abandoned for a reason. It is stated that the Confederates have been repulsed by the 69th (Irish) Regiment and the 79th (Scotch) New York Volunteers, and as soon as this letter has been posted, I shall proceed to the field (for the campaign has now fairly commenced) and ascertain the facts. If the Confederates force the left of McDowell's army, they will obtain possession of the line to Alexandria and may endanger Washington itself. The design of Beauregard may have been to effect this very object while he engaged the bulk of the Federalists at Manassas Junction, which you must not confound with Manassas Gap. The reports of guns were heard this morning in the direction of the Junction, and it is probable that McDowell, advancing from Centreville, has met the enemy, prepared to dispute his passage.
There are some stories in town to the effect that Gen. Tyler has met with a severe check on the right, but the advance of McDowell was very cautious, and he would not let his troops fall into the ambuscades against which they have been especially forewarned. Let speculation, which tomorrow's news must outstrip, cease here, and let us examine the composition of the forces actually engaged with the Confederates. The head of the naval and military forces of the United States is the President, in theory and in the practice of appointments, but Lieut.-Gen. "Winfield Scott is "Commander-in-Chief" of the United States Army. His staff consists of Lieut.-Col. E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant-General, Chief of the Staff; Col. H. Van Renssellaer, A. D. C. (Volunteer;) Lieut.-Col. George W. Cullum, United States Engineer, A. D. C.; Lieut.-Col. Edward Wright, United States Cavalry, A. D. C. ; Lieut.-Col. Schuyler Hamilton, Military Secretary.
The subjoined general order gives the organization of the standard of the several divisions of the army under Brig.-Gen. McDowell, now advancing into Virginia from the lines opposite Washington.
Some changes have been made since this order was published, and the corps has been strengthened by the accession of two regular field batteries. The effective strength of the infantry under McDowell may be taken at 30,000, and there are about sixty field pieces at his disposal and a force of about ten squadrons of cavalry.
The division under Gen. Patterson is about 22,000 strong and has three batteries of artillery attached to it; and Gen. Mansfield, who commands the army of Washington and the reserve watching the Capitol, has under him a corps of 16,000 men almost exclusively volunteers; Gen. McDowell has also left a strong guard in his entrenchments along the right bank of the Potomac, guarding the bridges and covering the roads to Alexandria, Fairfax, and Falls Church. The division in military occupation of Maryland under Gen. Banks, most of which is concentrated in and around Baltimore, consists of 7,400 men, with some field guns. The corps at Fortress Monroe and Hampton, under Gen. Butler, is 11,000 strong, with two field batteries, some guns of position, and the fortress itself in hand. Gen. Lyon, who is operating in Missouri with marked success, has about 6,500 men. Gen. Prentiss at Cairo commands a division of 6,000 men and two field batteries. There are, besides these forces, many regiments organized and actually in the field. The army under the command of Gen. Beauregard at Manassas Junction is estimated at 60,000, but that must include the reserves and a portion of the force in the entrenchments along the road to Richmond, in the immediate neighborhood of which there is a corps of 15,000 men. At Norfolk, there are 18,000 or 20,000; at Acquia Creek, 8,000 to 9,000, and Johnston's corps is estimated at 10,000, swollen by the debris of the defeated column.
The railways from the South are open to the Confederates, and they can collect their troops rapidly so that it is not at all beyond the reach of probability that they can collect 150,000 or 160,000 men in Virginia if that number is not now actually in the State. In cavalry, they have a superiority, but the country is not favorable for their operations till the armies approach Richmond. In field artillery, they are not so well provided as the Federalists. They have, however, a great number of heavy batteries and guns of position at their disposal. Food is plentiful in their camps; the harvest is coming in. In general equipment and ammunition, the Federalists have a considerable advantage. In discipline, there is not much difference, perhaps, in the bulk of the volunteers on both sides, but the United States forces have the benefit of the example and presence of the regular army, the privates of which have remained faithful to the Government. If we are to judge from what may be seen in Washington, there are mauvais svjets in abundance among the United States troops.
The various foreign ministers have been so much persecuted by soldiers coming to their houses and asking for help that sentries were ordered to be put at their doors. Lord Lyons, however, did not acquiesce in the propriety of the step, and in lieu of that means of defense against demands for money, a document called "a safeguard" has been furnished to the domestics at the various legations, in which applicants are informed that they are liable to the penalty of death for making such solicitations. Gen. McDowell writes in his dispatch from Fairfax Court-House: "I am distressed to have to report excesses by our troops. The excitement of the men found vent in burning and pillaging, which, however, soon checked, distressed us all greatly." What will take place at the close of a hardly contested action in front of populous towns and villages? The vast majority of the soldiers are very well-behaved, but it will require severe punishment to deter the evil-disposed from indulging in all the license of war.
The energy displayed in furnishing the great army in the field with transport and ambulances is very great, and I have been surprised to see the rapidity with which wagons and excellent field hospitals, and sick carts have been constructed and forwarded by the contractors. The corps in Virginia under McDowell may be considered fit to make a campaign in all respects so far as those essentials are concerned, and the Government is rapidly purchasing horses and mules which are not inferior to those used in any army in the world. These few lines must suffice till the despatch of the mail on Wednesday.