Stuart, on the right flank of the Confederate line, charged down the opposing cavalry* and crossed Bull Run at Lewis’ Ford; (* This was one of the most brilliant cavalry fights of the war.  Colonel Munford, of the 2nd Virginia, finding the enemy advancing, formed line and charged, the impetuosity of the attack carrying his regiment through the enemy’s first line, with whom his men were thoroughly intermingled in hand-to-hand conflict.  The Federals, however, who had advanced at a trot, in four successive lines, were far superior in numbers; but the 7th and 12th Virginia rapidly came up, and the charge of the 12th, constituting as it were a last reserve, drove the enemy from the field.  The Confederates lost 5 killed and 40 wounded.  Munford himself, and the commander of the First Michigan (Union) cavalry were both wounded by sabre-cuts, the latter mortally. 300 Federals were taken prisoners, 19 killed, and 80 wounded.  Sabre, carbine, and revolver were freely used.) but the dark masses on the Henry Hill, increased every moment by troops ascending from the valley, still held fast, with no hope indeed of victory, but with a stern determination to maintain their ground.  Had the hill been lost, nothing could have saved Pope’s army.  The crest commanded the crossings of Bull Run.  The Stone Bridge, the main point of passage, was not more than a mile northward, within the range of artillery, and Jackson was already in possession of the Matthew Hill, not fourteen hundred yards from the road by which the troops must pass in their retreat.

7.30 P.M.

The night, however, put an end to the battle.  Even the Valley soldiers were constrained to halt.  It was impossible in the obscurity to distinguish friend from foe.  The Confederate lines presented a broken front, here pushed forward, and here drawn back; divisions, brigades, and regiments had intermingled; and the thick woods, intervening at frequent intervals, rendered combination impracticable.  During the darkness, which was accompanied by heavy rain, the Federals quietly withdrew, leaving thousands of wounded on the field, and morning found them in position on the heights of Centreville, four miles beyond Bull Run.

Pope, with an audacity which disaster was powerless to tame, reported to Halleck that, on the whole, the results of the battle were favourable to the Federal army.  “The enemy,” he wrote, “largely reinforced, assailed our position early to-day.  We held our ground firmly until 6 o’clock P.M., when the enemy, massing very heavy forces on our left, forced that wing back about half a mile.  At dark we held that position.  Under all the circumstances, with horses and men having been two days without food, and the enemy greatly outnumbering us, I thought it best to move back to this place at dark.  The movement has been made in perfect order and without loss.  The battle was most furious for hours without cessation, and the losses on both sides very heavy.  The enemy is badly whipped, and we shall do well enough.  Do not be uneasy.  We will hold our own here.”