ry obedience and command then
taken both by officers and men confined their duties and obligations
almost exclusively to the drill-ground and guards. In camps and
marches they were scarcely known. Consequently, frequent and
unreasonable delays caused so slow a rate of marching as to make me
despair of joining General Beauregard in time to aid him." Johnston's
Narrative.) They were already sleeping, when an officer reminded
Jackson that there were no pickets round the bivouac. "Let the poor
fellows sleep," was the reply; "I will guard the camp myself." And
so, through the watches of the summer night, the general himself
stood sentry over his unconscious troops.* (* Letter to Mrs. Jackson,
Memoirs page 176.)

(MAP. SITUATION NIGHT OF JULY 17TH, 1861. Showing West: Winchester,
North: Harper's Ferry, South: Warrenton and East: Washington.)

CHAPTER 1.6. THE FIRST BATTLE OF MANASSAS OR BULL RUN.

July 19.

At the first streak of dawn, Jackson aroused his men and resumed the
march. Before the column gained the plain, Stuart's cavalry clattered
past, leaving Patterson at Charlestown, in ignorance of his
adversary's escape, and congratulating himself on the success of his
cautious strategy. At Piedmont, a station at the foot of the Blue
Ridge, trains were waiting for the conveyance of the troops; and at
four o'clock in the afternoon Jackson and his brigade had reached
Manassas Junction. The cavalry, artillery, and waggons moved by road;
and the remainder of Johnston's infantry was expected to follow the
First Brigade without delay. But in war, unless there has been ample
time for preparation, railways are not always an expeditious means of
travel. The line was single; so short notice had been given that it
was impossible to collect enough rolling-stock; the officials were
inexperienced; there was much mismanagement; and on the morning of
Sunday, July 21, only three brigades of the Army of the
Shenandoah--Jackson's, Bee's, and Bartow's--together with the cavalry
and artillery, had joined Beauregard. Kirby Smith's brigade, about
1900 strong, was still upon the railway.

The delay might easily have been disastrous. Happily, the Federal
movements were even more tardy. Had the invading army been well
organised, Beauregard would probably have been defeated before
Johnston could have reached him. McDowell had advanced from
Washington on the afternoon of the 16th with 35,000 men. On the
morning of the 18th, the greater part of