Letter from Sergeant Richardson.
Perhaps as graphic an account of the fight and retreat as has been furnished by any of our boys is the following from Rennie Richardson of the Lancaster Co. The friend to whom it was addressed giving us permission to publish. – Rennie’s honest indignation at the brutality of the Southern Miscreants in bayoneting our wounded, and his enquiry if the people of the North will endure it unrevenged, wakes a kindred feeling in the breasts of all but traitors and their sympathizers. We give the letter near verbatim.
Washington, D. C.,
Tuesday, July 22, 1861.
Friend Hod: – I received your letter to-day and read it with great pleasure. Our regiment has been out to fight and have got defeated. – The first day they took Fairfax Court House then marched on to Centreville took that and Sunday morning about 2 o’clock, they started for Bull’s Run; they calculated to take them by surprise but were found to be ready for us. We took two of their masked batteries. – In the first place we sent two regiments ahead for guard, when they got into the woods they did not see any thing, but the — rebels opened fire upon them with their masked batteries and cut them all to pieces. Then our column marched up and as soon as they got into the woods, the Rebels opened fire upon them from both sides of the road and cut them down like grass before the scythe. But them Fire Zouaves, Ellsworth’s men marched up in front of the enemy as cool as though they were going to fire at a mark. The enemy opened upon them with two masked batteries and the shells and balls went into them like hail stones, but they stood there like marble pillars and fired into the rebels and took two batteries; but the — rascals opened the third upon them and they could not stand that a great while. They did not flinch a hair. They marched in with 1000 men and came out with 300. Oh, they fought awfully! The bomb shells would come and you would bow your head and they would pass over you; some of them would take off a leg some an arm and some a head; some killed horses; one took Gov. Sprague’s horse’s head off passed along killed Col. Burnside’s horse and did not hurt a man. You never saw so much bowing in one day in your life as there was there yesterday. There was a great many of our Regiment killed and a great many of our company.
Oh, Hod, if you could have seen our Regiment coming home this morning it would have made your blood run cold; some with one shoe on, some barefoot, some in their stocking feet. They had nothing to eat from Sunday morning at 2 o’clock but once until Monday.
Them — — rebels would not let us go and get our wounded but they would stab and shoot them when they passed them. If the men of the north will stay at home and let that be done they are no men at all, — ’em.
Our Colonel was shot through his arm and will have to lose it. Our first Lieutenant was shot and one of our Sergeants.*
RENNIE.
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*Col. Marston’s wound is likely to prove less severe than reported. He will not lose his arm by latest accounts. As no mention is made of Lieut. Littlefield being severely wounded we presume he was not severely injured. The Sergeant alluded to is L. W. Brackett of Milan. – Ed. Repub.
Lancaster, NH, Coos Republican, 7/30/1861
A History of the Second Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry
Hugh R. Richardson in the Congressional Record, 1902
Contributed by John J. Hennessy
Bull Runnings 
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