Suddenly his hopes fell. Porter's masses,
stretching far to right and left, had already passed the Dogan House;
Hatch was entering the Groveton wood; Ricketts was moving forward
along Bull Run, and the way seemed clear before them; when loud and
clear above the roar of the artillery rang out the Confederate
bugles, and along the whole length of the ridge beyond the railroad
long lines of infantry, streaming forward from the woods, ran down to
the embankment. "The effect," said an officer who witnessed this
unexpected apparition, "was not unlike flushing a covey of quails."
Instead of the small rear-guard which Pope had thought to crush by
sheer force of overwhelming numbers, the whole of the Stonewall
division, with Lawton on the left, stood across Porter's path.
Reynolds, south of the turnpike, and confronting Longstreet, was
immediately ordered to fall back and support the attack, and two
small brigades, Warren's and Alexander's, were left alone on the
Federal left. Pope had committed his last and his worst blunder.
Sigel with two divisions was in rear of Porter, and for Sigel's
assistance Porter had already asked. But Pope, still under the
delusion that Longstreet was not yet up, preferred rather to weaken
his left than grant the request of a subordinate.
Pages:
1048
1049
1050
1051
1052
1053
1054
1055
1056
1057
1058
1059
1060
1061
1062
1063
1064
1065
1066
1067
1068
1069
1070
1071
1072