bs or heights that environ the
village, but it is nearer than any other, and should have been occupied
by Pope, simultaneously with his arrival. It is scarcely a mountain in
elevation, but so high that the clouds often envelope its crest, and it
commands a view of all the surrounding country. There are cleared
patches up its sides, and the highest of these constitutes the farm of a
clergyman, after whom the eminence is sometimes called "Slaughter's
Mountain." At its base lie a few pleasant farms; and a shallow rivulet
or creek, called Cedar Run, crosses the road between the mountain and
Culpepper. Upon the mountain side Jackson had placed his batteries, and
his infantry lay in dense thickets and belts of woods before the hill
and on each side of it. The position was a powerful, though not an
impregnable one; for batteries might readily be pushed up the slope, and
our infantry had often ascended steeper eminences. But an opposing army
scattered about the meadow lands below, would find its several
components exposed to shot and shell, thrown from points three or four
hundred feet above them.

When it had been discovered that the enemy had anticipated us in seizing
this strong position, word was at once despatched to Banks and Siegel to
bring up their columns without delay. The brigade of General Crawford
was marched through Culpepper at noon on Friday; and that afternoon,
foot-sore, but enthusiastic, regiments began to arrive in rapid
succession.

I had been passing the morning of Friday with Colonel Bowman, a modest
and capable gentleman, when the serenity of our converse was disturbed
by a sergeant, who rode into camp with orders for a prompt advance in
light marching order. In a twinkling all the camps in the vicinity were
deserted, and the roads were so blocked with soldiers on my return, that
I was obliged to ride through fields.

I trotted rapidly into the village, and witnessed a scene exciting and
martial beyond anything which I had remarked with the Army of Virginia.
Regiments were pouring by all the roads and lanes into the main street,
and the spectacle of thousands of bayonets, extending as far as the eye
could reach, was enhanced by the music of a score of bands, throbbing
all at the same moment with wild music. The orders of officers rang out
fitfully in the din, and when the steel shifted from shoulder to
shoulder, it was like looking down a long sparkling wave. Above the
confusion of the time, the vario