Abraham Lincoln, Part 5

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VOICE 1:

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.

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The storm of battle spread across the United States in the summer
of eighteen-sixty-one. For several months, small fights had flashed
like lightning around the edge of this great storm.

Soldiers fought pro-southern rioters in the streets of Baltimore
and Saint Louis. A Confederate supporter shot and killed a famous
young officer from the north. Untrained soldiers of both sides
fought in the mountains of western Virginia.

So far, the fighting had not claimed many lives. But very soon,
the storm would break in all its fury.

VOICE TWO:

The old general who commanded the Union forces, Winfield Scott,
did not want to rush his men into battle.

Scott believed it would be a long war. He planned to spend the
first year of it getting ready to fight. He had an army of thousands
of men, and it would get much larger in coming months. But this army
was not trained. His soldiers were civilians who knew nothing about
fighting a war. General Scott needed time to make soldiers of these
men.

He also needed time to organize a supply system to get to his
forces the guns, bullets, food, and clothing they would need.
Without supplies, his army could not fight very long.

VOICE ONE:

There were many in the north, however, who thought Scott was too
careful. It was true, they said, that Union forces were untrained.
But so were those of the south. And the Confederacy's supply
problems were even greater than those of the Union. The south had
much less industry and fewer railroads. It could not produce as much
military equipment, and it could not transport supplies as easily as
the north could.

In the early months of the war, Jefferson Davis, the Confederate
President, did not even have guns enough for the men in his army.

Those who demanded immediate action expected a short war. They
said Scott should take the army and March to Richmond. They were
sure that if Union forces seized the Confederate capital, the
southern rebellion would end.

Northern newspapers took up the cry, "On to Richmond!" Political
leaders began pressing for a quick northern victory. Public pressure
forced the army to act.

VOICE TWO:

For more than a month, General Irvin NcDowell had been building a
Union army in northern Virginia, just across the Potomac River from
Washington. He had more than thirty-thousand men at bases in
Arlington and Alexandria. Late in June, McSowell received orders:
"March against the Confederate Army of General Pierre Beauregard. "

Beauregard had twenty-thousand
soldiers at Manassas Junction, a railroad village in Virginia less
than fifty kilometers from Washington. McDowell planned to move on
Manassas Junction July ninth, but was delayed for more than a week.

He planned the attack carefully. McDowell was worried that
another large Confederate force west of Manassas Junction might join
Beauregard's army.

This force, led by General Joe Johnston, was in the Shenandoah
Valley near Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Across from Harpers Ferry, in
Maryland, was a Union army almost twice the size of Johnston's. It
was ordered to put pressure on Johnston's force to prevent it from
helping Beauregard.

VOICE ONE:

General Beauregard received early warning from Confederate spies
that McDowell would attack. Much of his information came from a
woman, Misses Rose O'Neal Greenhow. Misses Greenhow, a widow, was an
important woman in Washington. She knew almost all the top
government officials. And she had friends in almost every department
of the government.

The beautiful Misses Greenhow also had some very special friends.
One was Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts. He was chairman of
the Senate Committee on Military Affairs. Another special friend was
Thomas Jordan, a Confederate colonel in Beauregard's army.

VOICE TWO:

Jordan asked Misses Greenhow, soon after the war started, to be a
spy for the south. She agreed and sent much valuable information
about Union military plans.

Early in July, she sent word to Beauregard that he would be
attacked soon. She also sent a map used by the Senate Military
Affairs Committee showing how the Union army would reach Manassas
Junction.

Then, on the morning of July sixteenth, Misses Greenhow wrote a
nine-word message. She gave it to a man to carry to Beauregard. The
Confederate General received it that evening. It said: "Order given
for McDowell to march upon Manassas tonight."

VOICE ONE

Beauregard sent a telegram to Richmond. He told the Confederate
government that McDowell was on the way. He asked that Johnston's
ten thousand-man force in the Shenandoah Valley join him for battle.
He was told to expect Johnston's help.

But Johnston's army was threatened by a large Union force that
entered Virginia from Maryland. Led by General Robert Patterson, the
Union troops moved toward the smaller Confederate force. They were
not really interested in fighting Johnston. But they did want to
prevent him from reaching Beauregard.

Johnston knew he could not defeat Patterson. So he decided to
trick him.

While most of his army withdrew and prepared to join Beauregard,
Johnston sent a small force to attack Patterson's army. Patterson
believed Johnston was attacking with all his troops. He stopped
moving forward and prepared to defend against what seemed to be a
strong Confederate attack.

By the time the trick was discovered, Johnston and most of his
troops were at Manassas.

VOICE TWO

General McDowell's huge Union army left Arlington on the
afternoon of July sixteenth. It was a hot day, and the road was
dusty. The march was not well organized, and the men traveled
slowly. They stopped at every stream to drink and wash the dust from
their faces. Some of the soldiers left the road to pick fruits and
berries from bushes along the way.

To some of those who watched this army pass, the lines of
soldiers in bright clothes looked like a long circus parade.

Most of these men had not been soldiers long. Their bodies were
soft, and they tired quickly. It took them four days to travel the
forty-five kilometers to Centreville, the final town before Bull
Run. The battle would start the next morning -- Sunday, July
twenty-first.

VOICE ONE

The road from Washington was crowded early Sunday morning with
horses and wagons bringing people to watch the great battle.

Hundreds of men and women watched the fight from a hill near
Centreville. Below them was Bull Run. But the battleground was
covered so thickly with trees that the crowds saw little of the
fighting. They could, however, see the smoke of battle. And they
could hear the sounds of shots and exploding shells.

From time to time, Union officers would ride up the hill to
report what a great victory their troops were winning.

VOICE TWO

In the first few hours of the battle, Union forces were winning.
McDowell had moved most of his men to the left side of Beauregard's
army. They attacked with artillery and pushed the Confederate forces
back. It seemed that the Confederate defense would break. Some of
the southern soldiers began to run. But others stood and fought.

One Confederate officer, trying to prevent his troops from moving
back, pointed to a group led by General T. J. Jackson of Virginia.
"Look!" He shouted. "There is Jackson...standing like a stone wall!
Fight like the Virginians!"

The Confederate troops refused to break.

The fighting was fierce. The air was full of flying bullets. A
newsman wrote that the whole valley was boiling with dust and smoke.
A Confederate soldier told his friend, "Them Yankees are just
marching up and being shot to hell."

Neither side would give up. Then, a large group of Johnston's
troops arrived by train and joined in the fight. Suddenly, Union
soldiers stopped fighting and began pulling back. General McDowell
and his officers tried to stop the retreat, but failed. Their men
wanted no more fighting.

VOICE ONE:

The fleeing Union soldiers threw down their guns and equipment,
thinking only of escape. Many did not stop until they reached
Washington.

It was a bitter defeat. But it made the north recognize the need
for a real army -- one trained and equipped for war. President
Abraham Lincoln gave the job of building such an army to General
George McClellan.

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VOICE TWO:

You have been listening to the Special English program, THE
MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Jack Weitzel and Frank
Oliver. Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. THE MAKING OF A
NATION can be heard Thursdays.