11pm - 3am: The armies march, plan, and a few rest

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Lower Fords

Heintzelman and Reno received Pope’s orders for the morning. If either rolled their eyes, it is not recorded.

Centreville

When Kearny received the orders, however, the outspoken general’s curses were well recorded.

“Let General Pope go to hell,” he snarled at the unfortunate aide who had delivered the order. “We won’t march before morning.”

Tired of braggart commanding generals—at least McClellan had been well-mannered about it—Kearny put his men down for the night.

Chinn Ridge

Franz Sigel had done little more than fire his artillery at some Confederates on the plain north of the Turnpike, despite the fact that his men had been within an easy march of Brawner’s Farm. When he received Pope’s order to prepare for assault the next day, he was aware that the Confederates weren’t on Matthews’ Ridge or the Turnpike. But if he sent a correction to Pope, it is not recorded. Pope’s subsequent resistance to facts suggest it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

By midnight, he had completed transferring his men from Henry Hill to Chinn Ridge, in better position for an assault on the men he had been firing at across the plain early [Hill’s Division].

Somewhere

Also about midnight, McDowell gave up. He was hopelessly lost on the rambling paths of the Virginia piedmont, and the sound of the guns had stopped, robbing him of even that navigation point. Miserably, he climbed off his horse and let his staff set up a small camp and wait for dawn to help guide them home. One more indignity for Irvin McDowell.

Brawner’s

At 1:00 am, King’s division began their withdrawal, beginning with Hatch’s brigade, then Gibbon’s and Doubleday’s, and, finally, Patrick’s. It had been a long, difficult day, but it would be several more hours before the men could get any kind of rest.