Dear Sir: Permit me to ask you to recall the conference held between
General Johnston, yourself, and myself, on the night after the close of the
battle of Manassas; and to give me, if you can, a copy of the order which I dictated, and which your
Adjutant-General,
T. J. Jordan, wrote at my dictation, directing
Brigadier-General Bonham to follow the retreating enemy.
If you cannot furnish a copy of the order, please give me your recollection of its substance.
Yours respectfully,
Jefferson Davis.
my dear General: In answer to your note, I hasten to say that, properly,
Mr. Davis is not to be held accountable for our failure to pursue
McDowell from the field of
Manassas on the night of July 21, 1861.
As to the order, to which I presume
Mr. Davis refers in his note to you, I recollect the incident very distinctly.
The night of the battle, as I was about to ascend to your quarters over my office,
Captain E. P. Alexander, of your staff, informed me that
Captain--, attached to
General Johnston's army of the Shenandoah, reported that he had been as far forward as
Centreville, where he had seen the
Federal army completely routed, and in full flight toward
Washington.
This statement I at once repeated to
Mr. Davis,
General Johnston, and yourself, whom I found seated around your table-
Mr. Davis at the moment writing a despatch to
General Cooper.
As soon as I made my report,
Mr. Davis, with much animation, asserted the necessity for an urgent pursuit that night by
Bonham, who, with his own brigade and that of
Longstreet,
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was in close proximity to
Centreville at the moment.
So I took my seat at the same table with you, and wrote the order for pursuit, substantially at the dictation of
Mr. Davis.
But while writing, either I happened to remember, or
Captain Alexander himself — as I am inclined to believe---called me aside to remind me, that his informant was known among us of the old army as because of eccentricities, and in contradistinction with others of the same name.
When I repeated this reminder,
Mr. Davis recalled the sobriquet, as he had a precise personal knowledge of the officers of the old army.
He laughed heartily, as did all present.
The question of throwing
General Bonham forward that night, upon the unverified report of
Captain -- , was now briefly discussed, with a unanimous decision against it; therefore, the order was not despatched.
It is proper to add in this connection that, so far as I am aware-and I had the opportunity of knowing what occurred-this was the only instance during
Mr. Davis's stay at
Manassas in which he exercised any voice as to the movement of the troops.
Profoundly pleased by the junction of the two Confederate armies upon the very field of battle, his bearing toward the generals who commanded them was eminently proper, as I have testifled
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on a former occasion; and, I repeat, he certainly expressed or manifested no opposition to a forward movement, nor did he display the least disposition to interfere by opinion or authority touching what the Confederate forces should or should not do.
You having, at the close of the day, surrendered the command, which had been left in your hands, over both Confederate armies during the engagement,
General Johnston was that night in chief command. He was decidedly averse to an immediate offensive, and emphatically discountenanced it as impracticable.
Very truly your friend,
(special order, no. 140.)
headquarters of the army of the Potomac,
Manassas, July 21, 1861.
I.
General Bonham will send, as early as practicable in the morning, a command of two of his regiments of infantry, a strong force of cavalry, and one field battery, to scour the country and roads to his front, toward
Centreville.
He will carry with him abundant means of transportation for the collection of our wounded, all the arms, ammunition, and abandoned hospital stores, subsistence, and baggage, which will be sent immediately to these headquarters.
General Bonham will advance with caution, throwing out an advanced guard and skirmishers on his right and left, and the utmost caution must be taken to prevent firing into our own men.
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Should it appear, while this command is occupied as directed, that it is insufficient for the purposes indicated,
General Bonham will call on the nearest brigade commander for support.
II.
Colonel P. St. George Cooke, commanding, will despatch at the same time, for similar purposes, a command of the same size and proportions of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, on the road via
Stone Bridge; and another command of two companies of infantry and one of cavalry on the road by which the enemy retreated, toward and via Sudley's Mills.
By command of
Brigadier-General Beauregard.