. History of the Civil War in America . gard on the plateau of Manassas. This plateau slopesgently down to the north-west, in a direction contrary to thecourse of Bull Run, so that this little river becomes gradually moredeeply embanked in the ravine which borders the plateau to thenorth-west. In this lower part of its course we find, first, the rail-way bridge at Gordon Mills, and above only two fords—MitchellsFord and Blackburns Ford, both difficult of access. Higher up,the declivities are less abrupt, the fords become more numerous,and the main road from Alexandria to Warrenton crosses the
. History of the Civil War in America . gard on the plateau of Manassas. This plateau slopesgently down to the north-west, in a direction contrary to thecourse of Bull Run, so that this little river becomes gradually moredeeply embanked in the ravine which borders the plateau to thenorth-west. In this lower part of its course we find, first, the rail-way bridge at Gordon Mills, and above only two fords—MitchellsFord and Blackburns Ford, both difficult of access. Higher up,the declivities are less abrupt, the fords become more numerous,and the main road from Alexandria to Warrenton crosses the riverover a stone bridge. Beyond this bridge, ascending the course ofBull Run, the country is flat, intersected with woods and smallclearings; and in the vicinity of Sudeley Springs, this stream,fordable at every point, is no longer a serious obstacle. The stone bridge is situated at a distance of eight kilometresfrom Manassas Junction; the space between those two pointsis rather open, and the waters that flow through it are not very. BULL RUN. 231 deep. The course of Bull E,un, on the contrary, lies betweenthickly wooded banks, while the slopes which terminate theManassas plateau on that side are more and more plateau is bounded on the north-west by a small stream,Youngs Branch; beyond it stretch the flat lands of SudeleySprings, and along this latter stream the main road follows aline as straight as a Roman causeway. On the opposite side ofBull Run, and almost to the north of Manassas, the ground risesin the shape of a circular mound, upon Avhich stands the littlevillage of Centreville, surrounded by cultivated fields and trav-ersed by the high road; this place is seven kilometres from thestone bridge. Such was the ground on which the first army organized by theConfederates had been posted; its camps occupied the Manassasplateau, where it had open spaces for drilling, and where itwas covered by line of Bull Run. A few earthworks sur-rounded the railway stat
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidhistoryofciv, bookyear1875
