from Washington as soon as the news of his presence was known, and Pope
might turn and crush him before Lee could arrive to his assistance.

Worn out as the troops were, it was necessary at once to gain possession
of Manassas, and the 21st North Carolina and 21st Georgia volunteered
for the service, and joined by Stuart with a portion of his cavalry,
marched against it. After a brief contest the place was taken, the enemy
stationed there being all taken prisoners. The amount of arms and stores
captured was prodigious. Eight pieces of artillery, 250 horses, 3
locomotives, and tens of thousands of barrels of beef, pork, and flour,
with an enormous quantity of public stores and the contents of
innumerable sutlers' shops.

The sight of this vast abundance to starving men was tantalizing in the
extreme. It was impossible to carry any of it away, and all that could
be done was to have at least one good meal. The troops therefore were
marched in, and each helped himself to as much as he could consume, and
the ragged and barefooted men feasted upon canned salmon and lobsters,
champagne, and dainties of every description forwarded for the use of
officers. Then they set to work to pile the enormous mass of stores
together and to set it on fire. While they were engaged at this a
brigade of New Jersey troops, which had come out from Washington to save
Manassas, was attacked and utterly routed. Ewell's division had remained
at Bristoe, while those of Hill and Jackson moved to Manassas, and in
the course of the afternoon Ewell saw the whole of Pope's army marching
against him.

He held them in check for some hours, and thus gave the troops at
Manassas time to destroy completely the vast accumulation of stores, and
when Stuart's cavalry, covering the retreat, fell back at nightfall
through Manassas, nothing but blackened cinders remained where the
Federal depots had been situated. The blow to the Northerners was as
heavy as it was unexpected. Pope had no longer either provisions for his
men or forage for his cattle, and there was nothing left for him but to
force his way past Jackson and retire upon Washington.

[Illustration: Map--THE SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN.]

Jackson had now the option of falling back and allowing the enemy to
pass, or of withstanding the whole Federal army with his own little
force until Lee came up to the rescue. He chose the latter course, and
took up a strong position. The sound of firing at Thoroughfar