The President hastened to telegraph his sulking general the explicit
definition of rank he had demanded:
Richmond, July 20, 1861.
"General J. E. Johnston,
"Manassas Junction, Virginia.
"You are a General of the Confederate Army possessed of the power
attached to that rank. You will know how to make the exact knowledge
of Brigadier General Beauregard, as well of the ground as of the
troops and preparation avail for the success of the object for which
you cooeperate. The zeal of both assures me of harmonious action.
"Jefferson Davis."
As a matter of fact the President was consumed with painful anxiety lest
there should not be harmonious action if Johnston should reach the
field in time for the fight. His own presence was required by law at
Richmond on July 20, for the delivery of his message to the assembled
Congress. It was impossible for him to leave for the front before Sunday
morning the 21st.
The battle began at eight o'clock.
General McDowell's army had moved to this attack hounded by the clamor
of demagogues for the immediate capture of Richmond by his "Grand Army."
Every Northern newspaper had dinned into his ears and the ears of an
impatient public but one cry for months:
"On to Richmond!"
At last the news was spread in Washington that the army would move and
bivouac in Richmond's public square within ten days.
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