Bonny Blue Flag
1st Lieutenant
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2008
- Location
- Grand Prairie, Texas
On CSPAN-3 this afternoon, author David Detzer talked about his book, "Donnybrook, The Battle of Bull Run, 1861".
He stated that after the battle, Union troops walked back to D.C., Detzer did not mention any kind of "mass exodus" by the troops. He did not site any source material.
For 3 days prior to the battle, the soldiers marched, sat and slept their way to Bull Run. It took that long to go the 30 miles because of large numbers of men, wagons, equipment, supplies, etc, all going to the same area.
Since 2:00 AM on the day of the battle, the soldiers had marched, and by 4:00 PM that same day, few had eaten or drank anything since breakfast, and had very little sleep. They left Bull Run at about 4 PM and walked the 30 miles until the afternoon of the next day to return to Washington. Detzer made it sound like it was a peaceful and orderly retreat. No mention of the town folks who had come to see the battle.
Detzer described some of the troops as having new shoes which hurt their feet and caused blisters, so the shoes were removed. But the soldier's feet were too swollen to put the shoes back on, so they walked back to D.C. in the dark and barefoot, stubbing their feet on rocks, wagons, etc. The wounded who could walk went with them. All soldiers were begging for water.
The citizens of D.C. saw the troops returning and were horrified to see the men exhausted, all of them had bleeding feet, all were covered with smoke, dirt, the walking wounded, etc.
Was Dr. Mary Walker at Bull Run? Dr. Walker was in her late 20's at the time of the battle. According to Detzer, one soldier wrote of seeing a "matronly in style" woman driving an ambulance alone into the battle. Detzer says there is no proof that Dr. Walker was at Bull Run. I wonder.
```````````````````````````````````````````
Question:
-Was there a mass exodus away from Bull Run? Or perhaps the "mass exodus" we have all read about is one of few incidents that have been blown out of proportion. Or Detzer didnt think it worth mentioning.
-Was Dr. Mary Walker at Bull Run or at the edges of the battlefield, applying her trade?
--BBF
He stated that after the battle, Union troops walked back to D.C., Detzer did not mention any kind of "mass exodus" by the troops. He did not site any source material.
For 3 days prior to the battle, the soldiers marched, sat and slept their way to Bull Run. It took that long to go the 30 miles because of large numbers of men, wagons, equipment, supplies, etc, all going to the same area.
Since 2:00 AM on the day of the battle, the soldiers had marched, and by 4:00 PM that same day, few had eaten or drank anything since breakfast, and had very little sleep. They left Bull Run at about 4 PM and walked the 30 miles until the afternoon of the next day to return to Washington. Detzer made it sound like it was a peaceful and orderly retreat. No mention of the town folks who had come to see the battle.
Detzer described some of the troops as having new shoes which hurt their feet and caused blisters, so the shoes were removed. But the soldier's feet were too swollen to put the shoes back on, so they walked back to D.C. in the dark and barefoot, stubbing their feet on rocks, wagons, etc. The wounded who could walk went with them. All soldiers were begging for water.
The citizens of D.C. saw the troops returning and were horrified to see the men exhausted, all of them had bleeding feet, all were covered with smoke, dirt, the walking wounded, etc.
Was Dr. Mary Walker at Bull Run? Dr. Walker was in her late 20's at the time of the battle. According to Detzer, one soldier wrote of seeing a "matronly in style" woman driving an ambulance alone into the battle. Detzer says there is no proof that Dr. Walker was at Bull Run. I wonder.
```````````````````````````````````````````
Question:
-Was there a mass exodus away from Bull Run? Or perhaps the "mass exodus" we have all read about is one of few incidents that have been blown out of proportion. Or Detzer didnt think it worth mentioning.
-Was Dr. Mary Walker at Bull Run or at the edges of the battlefield, applying her trade?
--BBF