Bristow Station, battle of.
In the third race of the
National and Confederate armies for
Washington, the struggle to first pass Bristow Station, on the Central Virginia Railroad, was very hot.
Lee pushed
Hill and
Ewell forward to gain that point before the Nationals should
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reach it. When they approached it the entire Army of the Potomac had passed it, excepting
Gen. G. K. Warren's corps, which was then not in sight of the
Confederates.
Hill was about to attack the 3d Corps, when, at about noon (Oct. 15), he was startled by the appearance of
Warren's troops approaching his rear.
They had outstripped
Ewell's, and were expecting to meet
Sykes's at Bristow Station.
Hill instantly turned and opened his batteries upon
Warren, who was surprised for a moment; but in the space of ten minutes the batteries of
Arnold and
Brown, assisted by the infantry divisions of
Haves and
Webb, drove back the
Confederates and captured six of their guns.
These were instantly turned upon the fugitives.
A flank attack by the
Confederates was repulsed with a loss to them of 450 men made prisoners.
This was an effectual check upon
Hill's march.
Just at sunset
Ewell came up, and
Warren's corps (5th) was confronted by a greater portion of
Lee's army.
Seeing his peril, War ren skilfully withdrew under cover of the approaching darkness, and joined the main army in the morning on the heights of
Centreville.
Warren's loss in the battle was about 200 in killed and wounded.
