A cold and drenching rainstorm delayed his march and the rabble that was
once Pope's army succeeded in getting into the defenses of Washington.
Davis' army took seven thousand prisoners and picked up more than two
thousand wounded soldiers whom their boastful commander had left on the
field to die. Thirty pieces of artillery and twenty thousand small arms
fell into Lee's hands.
Pope's losses since Jackson first struck his advance guard at Culpeper
Court House had been more than twenty thousand men and his army had been
driven into Washington so utterly demoralized it was unfit for further
service until reorganized under an abler man.
For the moment the North was stunned by the blow. Deceived by Pope's
loud dispatches claiming victory for the first two days it was
impossible to realize that his shattered and broken army was cowering
and bleeding under the shadow of the Federal Capitol.
Even on the night of August thirtieth, with his men lying exhausted at
Centreville where they had dropped at ten o'clock when Lee's army had
mercifully halted, poor Pope continued to send his marvelous messages to
the War Department.
He reported to Halleck:
"The enemy is badly whipped, and we shall do well enough. Do not be
uneasy.
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