and dusk, and the position and force of General Porter being as it was at that time, was it possible, without the greatest danger, for General Porter to have made a movement to this right, to attempt to reach and attack Jackson on his right?

Answer. No, sir; it was impossible to have done so. In the first place, it was impracticable to cross the country in that position during the day. Again, we would have been obliged to have whipped this very force in front of us, large as it was, to have got there, and it was doubtful if we could have done it.

Question. They would have attacked you in flank if you had attempted that movement?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Do you know that the order to attack, sent to General Morell from General Porter, was predicated upon the news which General Porter had received that the enemy was retiring?

Answer. General Morell told me that the news was that the enemy were retreating, and, says he, "We know to the reverse; that they are not."

The examination by the accused here closed.

Examination by the JUDGE-ADVOCATE:

Question. Did the force of which you speak to come from the direction of Thoroughfare Gap?

Answer. Yes, sir. Whilst the command was being got into line, prior to my going on this duty, my brigade was behind some others. General Porter had sent some dragoons of another regiment to the front, and my brigade was waiting in the road to get into position. I went to the left, and I could see a long line of dust, in fact, I saw two lines, one going parallel to the mountains, and the other one coming down through Gainesville, and it appeared to be close upon Gainesville at that time, perhaps this side of it; I cannot tell exactly, for I have never been to Gainesville; but the head of the column seemed to be about 5 miles off at that time.

Question. At what hour of the day was that?

Answer. It was 12 or half-past 12 o'clock. I joined my regiment and went on this duty at 1 o'clock. I should say the whole column of the enemy extended to Thoroughfare Gap. This column came down, and came rapidly to our front, as it appeared along the Manassas Railroad. Their whole line seemed to be in the general direction of the railroad from Thoroughfare Gap down to our position. The other line of the enemy's left seemed to go to the left of the enemy's left that were fighting with General Pope. I was so close to the enemy that I could hear their officers give the command to wheel into line, and other commands that they grave, sometimes correcting their men.

Question. You spoke of another line of the enemy's forces that seemed to be proceeding in the direction of the battle-field. Did that line also appear to have come form the direction of Thoroughfare Gap?

Answer. They seemed to come through the same Gap. The two lines joined together at a point just this side of that Gap; where it was I do not know. It was a long distance off from our position. One line seemed to come directly down to the left of the enemy's extreme left, I should judge, and the other column came down to our front. There seemed to be two large armies.

Question. Did you make your estimate of the amount of that force principally from the extent of the line as indicated by the clouds of dust, or had you other means than that of judging?

Answer. My estimate was made mostly from the length of time in which they were coming down - there appeared to be artillery and infantry - and the time that we were attacked; and also what I had seen of the enemy's dust prior to going on this duty, and the length of their lines, as much as I could see of it, in our front.

Question. Would it have been possible to have distinguished the clouds of dust raised by artillery and infantry from those raised by wagon trains moving?

Answer. No, sir. You cannot tell the difference, except by the quickness of movement of these columns. They seemed to move very quickly, which caused me, before going on this duty, to judge that it was the enemy coming. I judged that the advance of the enemy was dragoons from the fact that there was always a dust ahead of and disconnected from the main column, which moved quicker even than the rest of the line; and, therefore, before going on this duty, I judged that the enemy were coming down to our front.

Question. Would not an ambulance train move as quickly, or very nearly, so as would the artillery?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. If the enemy had been in as large force as you suppose, double the force of General Porter's corps, do you not think they would have made an attack on you on the evening of the 29th of August, or would have prevented your withdrawing from there on the morning of the 30th?

Answer. I do not think they would have made an attack on the 29th. Our position