'A great battle has been fought–Jeff Davis lead the center,* Joe Johnston the right wing, Beauregard the left wing of the army. Your husband is all right. Wade Hampton is wounded. Colonel Johnson of the Legion is killed–so are Colonel Bee and Colonel Bartow. Kirby Smith is wounded or killed.'
I had no heart to speak. She went on in that desperate calm way to which people betake themselves when under greatest excitement. 'Bartow was rallying his men, leading them into the hottest of the fight–died gallantly, at the head of his regiment.
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| The Battle of First Bull Run, fought near Manassas, Virginia, 21 July 1861, the first major battle of the American Civil War |
'The president telegraphs me only that "it is a great victory." General Cooper has all the other telegrams.' Still I said nothing. I was stunned. Then I was so grateful those nearest and dearest to me were safe still.
Then she began in the same concentrated voice to read from a paper she held in her hand.
'Dead and dying cover the field. Sherman's battery taken, Lynchburg regiment cut to pieces. Three hundred of the Legion wounded.'
They got me up. Times were too wild with excitement to stay in bed."
*On 24 July 1861 Mary Chesnut noted, regarding First Bull Run:
"The president took all the credit to himself for the victory—said the wounded roused and shouted for Jeff Davis and the men rallied at the sight of him and rushed on and routed the enemy. The truth is, Jeff Davis was not two miles from the battlefield, but he is greedy for military fame."
