Averell, William W., 1832-1900 [Recount of Battle of Bull Run]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09268 Author/Creator: Averell, William W., 1832-1900 Place Written: s.l. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 31 October 1887 Pagination: 3 p. Order a Copy
Union general vividly recounts his first battle, at Bull Run in 1861: "My feeling on entering the battle was, as I saw the enemy hastening to their positions, that there was a great and useless Crime about to be Committed; - the second as I can remember the whizzing and hurtling of the first solid shot from the enemy through the trees and tearing along the ground was of the fierce and terrible force of a cannon ball… and to skip to the last uncontrollable indignation and mortification at the failure of our army to win the battle as with the rear we withdrew from the field. I trust you will never be called upon to undergo such trying Sensations."
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