This feeble attack appears to have convinced Jackson that his danger was not pressing.  It was evident that the enemy had as yet no idea of his strength.  Stuart’s cavalry watched every road; Ewell held a strong position on Broad Run, barring the direct approach from Warrenton Junction, and it was determined to give the wearied soldiers the remainder of the day for rest and pillage.  It was impossible to carry away even a tithe of the stores, and when an issue of rations had been made, the bakery set working, and the liquor placed under guard, the regiments were let loose on the magazines.  Such an opportunity occurs but seldom in the soldiers’ service, and the hungry Confederates were not the men to let it pass.  “Weak and haggard from their diet of green corn and apples, one can well imagine,” says Gordon, “with what surprise their eyes opened upon the contents of the sutlers’ stores, containing an amount and variety of property such as they had never conceived.  Then came a storming charge of men rushing in a tumultuous mob over each other’s heads, under each other’s feet, anywhere, everywhere, to satisfy a craving stronger than a yearning for fame.  There were no laggards in that charge, and there was abundant evidence of the fruits of victory.  Men ragged and famished clutched tenaciously at whatever came in their way, whether of clothing or food, of luxury or necessity.  Here a long yellow-haired, barefooted son of the South claimed as prizes a toothbrush, a box of candles, a barrel of coffee; while another, whose butternut homespun hung round him in tatters, crammed himself with lobster salad, sardines, potted game and sweetmeats, and washed them down with Rhenish wine.  Nor was the outer man neglected.  From piles of new clothing the Southerners arrayed themselves in the blue uniforms of the Federals.  The naked were clad, the barefooted were shod, and the sick provided with luxuries to which they had long been strangers."* (* The Army of Virginia.  General George H. Gordon.)

The history of war records many extraordinary scenes, but there are few more ludicrous than this wild revel at Manassas.  Even the chagrin of Northern writers gives way before the spectacle; and Jackson must have smiled grimly when he thought of the maxim which Pope had promulgated with such splendid confidence:  “Let us study the probable lines of retreat of our opponents, and leave our own to take care of themselves!”

It was no time, however, to indulge in reflections on the irony of fortune.  All through the afternoon, while the sharp-set Confederates were sweeping away the profits which the Northern sutlers had wrung from Northern soldiers, Stuart’s vigilant patrols sent in report on report of the Federal movements.  From Warrenton heavy columns were hurrying over the great highroad to Gainesville, and from Warrenton Junction a large force of all arms was marching direct on Bristoe.  There was news, too, from Lee.  Despite the distance to be covered, and the proximity