SECOND BATTLE OF MANASSAS.
After the battle of Cedar Mountain, the Federals returned to the
Potomac river, and Jackson took position on the already historic plains
of Manassas, where, on the 27th of August, 1862, the soil was a
second time bathed in the best blood of the nation. On the morning of
that day, General Taylor's brigade of Major-General Slocum's division
of the Army of the Potomac, composed of the 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th New
Jersey regiments, proceeded by rail from Camp Ellsworth, near Alexandria,
and reached Manassas about 11 o'clock A. M. Upon arriving,
General Taylor marched his men to the summit of the hill above the
valley of Bull Run, when he encountered a skirmish line, which fell
back before him. He continued onward until near the Junction, where
his command was met by a heavy enfilading fire of artillery. Unable
to withstand it, he fell back and took shelter behind the crest of a
ridge, but from which he was soon driven, and forced to a precipitate
flight in the direction of Fairfax. The Confederates followed in hot
pursuit, which was kept up until the fugitive army was beyond Centreville.
General Taylor himself, his son, of his staff, and his nephew,
were all severely wounded. Thus ended the second battle of Manassas
—not on such a gigantic scale, but in as complete a rout as the first.
