Had the hill
been lost, nothing could have saved Pope's army. The crest commanded
the crossings of Bull Run. The Stone Bridge, the main point of
passage, was not more than a mile northward, within the range of
artillery, and Jackson was already in possession of the Matthew Hill,
not fourteen hundred yards from the road by which the troops must
pass in their retreat.
7.30 P.M.
The night, however, put an end to the battle. Even the Valley
soldiers were constrained to halt. It was impossible in the obscurity
to distinguish friend from foe. The Confederate lines presented a
broken front, here pushed forward, and here drawn back; divisions,
brigades, and regiments had intermingled; and the thick woods,
intervening at frequent intervals, rendered combination
impracticable. During the darkness, which was accompanied by heavy
rain, the Federals quietly withdrew, leaving thousands of wounded on
the field, and morning found them in position on the heights of
Centreville, four miles beyond Bull Run.
Pope, with an audacity which disaster was powerless to tame, reported
to Halleck that, on the whole, the results of the battle were
favourable to the Federal army. "The enemy," he wrote, "largely
reinforced, assailed our position early to-day.
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