22

the last of the column had reached the banks of the Shenandoah, where a halt
was made to enable the wearied men to refresh themselves with breakfast. Ford-
ing the river at Berry's Ferry, the march was resumed at 8 o'clock, and all
through that hot midsummer day the troops pressed eagerly forward. The sun
beat down pitilessly, the crickets chirped in the grass, the katydid made her
monotonous confession, birds sang in the trees, cattle were lowing in the fields,
from the doors of cabins wondering children looked out on the long line of gray
and butternut that seemed to dwindle to a thread in the distance; hills were
climbed, song and jest were passed around, and still the steady rhythm of
tramping thousands beat the air. On and on they marched, through Ashby's
Gap, through Upperville, the shadows lengthening and evening spreading her
mantle on the mountains, until long after dark, and pelted by a pouring rain,
footsore and weary they came to Piedmont, on the Manassas Gap Railroad,
where they looked for transportation to the scene of conflict.

Previous to the departure of the army from Winchester the different regi-
ments had been formed into brigades, although brigadier-generals had not been
assigned to all of them. The First Maryland, Thirteenth Virginia, Tenth
Virginia and Third Teunessee were formed into a brigade, known as the Fourth,
to be attached to another brigade to form a division, and to be commanded bV
General E. Kirby Smith. In the absence of a brigadier-general, Colonel Arnold
Elzey, of the First Maryland, and the senior Colonel, assumed command, and it
was known as Elzey's Brigade.

The sun rose brightly on the morning of the 2Oth, and soon everything was
bustle and confusion. Cars were filled with troops as rapidly as possible, and by
noon General Johnston, with Jackson's Brigade (afterward the immortal "Stone-
wall") and some Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama troops
had reached Manassas. General Johnston had felt certain that he would have
his whole command at Manassas by nightfall of that day, but the means of trans-
portation was inadequate, and this condition of things was made worse by a
collision between two trains, in which, although no person was hurt, an engine
and several cars were wrecked.

All day long and during the night following, the troops that had been left
behind at Piedmont chafed and fretted under the delay, but it was not until the
morning of the 21st that Elzey's Brigade, one of the very last to leave, boarded
the train for Manassas. Their progress was slow, and still further delay was
occasioned by the breaking down of an engine, and it seemed almost an age
before they reached Manassas. The battle had then been raging for hours, and
the rapid discharge of artillery could be distinctly heard five or six miles away.

General E. Kirby Smith was awaiting the arrival of Elzey's Brigade, which
he was entitled to command. Knapsacks were quickly thrown aside, and, under