A coolish, cloudy day. Wrote letters to Mother and Lucy.
Nothing definite from the battlefield. Rumors of good and bad. Many complaints
of McDowell; that he let Jackson slip off by withdrawing a division from an
important point. On the whole, the result seems to be a draw yet. Our army in
great strength, rumor says two hundred thousand, is on this side of the old
Bull Run battlefield; the enemy one hundred and eighty thousand strong on the
identical ground. No firing today until about 5:30 or 6 o'clock when there was
a grand uproar until after dark near the old place, possibly further
north; rumored or conjectured to be an attempt to our right. A thunderstorm
came on about the same time when there was a fierce rivalry between the
artillery of earth and heaven, the former having a decided advantage. A fierce
storm of wind and rain all night, blowing down some tents and shaking all in a
threatening way. About 9 P. M. received orders from brigade headquarters to be
especially vigilant and to have the men ready to form line of battle without
confusion. All which was done.
SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and
Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 335
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