Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 1.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

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[238] his army seemed to have drawn upon it. He had posted the first division, consisting of Holmes's and Ewell's brigades, on his extreme right at Union Mills; the second, comprising those of Jones and Early, a little above, at the difficult ford called McLean's Ford; the brigades of Jackson, Bartow, and Elzey, brought over by Johnston, were to join those of Longstreet, Bonham, and Cocke, to form the third, fourth, and fifth divisions; Evans's brigade remained alone at the stone bridge, which it had occupied for some days. The brigades of Bee and Wilcox, with Stuart's cavalry, the greatest portion of which was only expected to arrive during the 21st, were to be held in reserve. The fourth and fifth divisions, commanded by Johnston himself, were to cross Bull Run between Mitchell's Ford and the stone bridge, and masking their movements behind a dense forest, were to attack Centreville, while the right, by a flank movement, would come to their assistance or strike the enemy in the rear on the Fairfax road. It will be seen that Beauregard, being exclusively preoccupied with his plans for offensive operations, had made no arrangements for covering his left flank, which was, however, the most exposed.

The Federals had commenced their march before daylight; but Tyler, although he had an excellent road to follow, did not reach the stone bridge until half-past 6, where he found Evans in position with 12,000 or 13,000 men. The exchange of a few cannon-shots across the river announced the commencement of the battle. This, however, was only a demonstration, its object being to conceal the flank movement of the main column formed by Hunter's and Heintzelman's forces, and intended for the principal attack. After having marched for some time in the rear of Tyler, these two generals struck into the narrow roads leading from Centreville to Sudeley Ford, which being much longer than they had anticipated, it was half-past 9 when Hunter's division reached the ford it was to cross. Heintzelman had been ordered to cross the river a little below, at a point guarded by a detachment of the enemy, as soon as. Hunter, taking the latter in flank, should have dislodged it.

Precious time had already been wasted, and McDowell must have bitterly regretted having yielded to the advice of some