As it was, we were afterward greatly inconvenienced by its
destruction." ...
The attack made on the 18th is described as directed against our right
center, and as having been met and repulsed in a manner quite creditable
to our raw troops, of whom he writes:
"On the 19th they were occupied in the effort to strengthen
their position by throwing up the best defenses they could with
the implements at hand, which consisted of a very few picks and
spades, some rough bowie-knives, and the bayonets of the
muskets.... The position was a very weak one, as the banks on
the opposite side of Bull Run overlooked and commanded those on
the south side, which were but a few feet above the water's
edge, and there was an open field in rear of the strip of woods
on our side of the stream, for a considerable distance up and
down it, which exposed all of our movements on that side to
observation from the opposite one, as the strip of woods
afforded but a thin veil which could be seen through....
"About dusk on the 19th, brigade commanders were summoned to a
conference at McLean's house by General Beauregard, and he then
informed us of the fact that General Johnston had been ordered,
at his instance, from the Valley, and was marching to cooeperate
with us. He stated that Johnston would march directly across the
Blue Ridge toward the enemy's right flank, and would probably
attack on that flank at dawn the next morning.
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