| Headquarters Army of the Potomac |
| Fairfax Court House |
| October 14, 1861 |
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| Secretary of War |
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| Sir,
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| I have the
honor to submit to the honorable Secretary of War a report of the
operations of the troops under my command, which terminated in the
battle of Manassas.
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| I assumed command at Harper's Ferry on
the 23d of May. *****
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| On the morning of the
13th of June information was received from Winchester that Romney
was occupied by two thousand Federal troops, supposed to be the
vanguard of McClellan's army. Col. A. P. Hill, with his own
(Thirteenth) and Colonel Gibbons' (Tenth) Virginia Regiments, was
dispatched by railway to Winchester. He was directed to move thence
towards Romney, to take the best position and best measures to check
the advance of the enemy. He was to add to his command
the
Third Tennessee Regiment, which had just arrived at Winchester.
During that day and the next the heavy baggage and remaining public
property were sent to Winchester by the railway {Winchester
& Potomac RR}, and the bridges on the Potomac destroyed.
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On the morning of the 15th the Army left Harper's Ferry
for Winchester. *****
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| On the morning of the
16th intelligence was received that General Patterson's army had
crossed the Potomac at Williamsport; also, that the United States
force at Romney had fallen back. ***** The Army was ordered to gain
the Martinsburg turnpike by a flank movement to Bunker Hill, in
order to place itself between Winchester and the expected advance of
Patterson. On hearing of this, the enemy recrossed the river
precipitately.
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Resuming my first
direction and plan, I proceeded to Winchester. There the Army was in
position to oppose either McClellan from the west or Patterson from
the northeast, and to form a junction with General Beauregard when
necessary. *****
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| Intelligence from
Maryland indicating another movement by Patterson, Colonel Jackson,
with his brigade, was sent to the neighborhood of Martinsburg to
support Colonel Stuart. ***** Colonel Jackson was instructed to
destroy such of the rolling stock of the Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad as could not be brought off, and to have so much of it as
could be made available to our service brought to Winchester.
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| ***** On the 2d of
July General Patterson again crossed the Potomac. Colonel Jackson,
pursuant to instructions, fell back before him. *****
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| Upon this
intelligence the Army, strengthened by the arrival of General Bee
and Colonel Elzey and the Ninth Georgia Regiment, was ordered
forward to the support of Jackson. It met him at Darkesville, six
miles from Martinsburg, where it took up a position for action, as
General Patterson, it was supposed, was closely following Colonel
Jackson. We waited for him in this position four days, hoping to be
attacked by an adversary at least double our numbers, but unwilling
to attack him in a town so defensible as Martinsburg, with its solid
buildings and inclosures of masonry. Convinced at length that he
would not approach
us
I returned to Winchester, *****
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| On the 15th of July
Colonel Stuart reported the advance of General Patterson from
Martinsburg. He halted, however, at Bunker Hill, nine miles from
Winchester, where he remained on the 16th. On the 17th he moved to
his left to Smithfield. This created the impression that he intended
to attack us on the south, or was merely holding us in check while
General Beauregard should be attacked at Manassas by General Scott.
About I o'clock on the morning of July 18 I received from the
Government a telegraphic dispatch informing me that the Northern
Army was advancing upon Manassas, then held by General Beauregard,
and directing me, if practicable, to go to that officer's
assistance. ***** I at once determined to march to join General
Beauregard. ***** Evading him by the dispositions made of the
advance-guard, under Colonel Stuart, the Army moved through Ashby's
Gap to Piedmont, a station of the Manassas Gap Railroad. Hence the
infantry were to be transported by the railway, while the cavalry
and artillery were ordered to continue their march.
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| I reached Manassas
about noon on the 20th, preceded by the Seventh and Eighth Georgia
Regiments and by Jackson's brigade, consisting of the Second,
Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-seventh, and Thirty-third Virginia Regiments.
I was accompanied by General Bee, with the Fourth Alabama, the
Second, and two companies of the Eleventh Mississippi. The president
of the railroad company {Manassas Gap RR} had
assured me that the remaining troops should arrive during the day.
*****
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| Most
respectfully, your obedient servant,
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| J. E. Johnston
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| General
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