Saturday July 27

It is said that a dispatch from Rosecrans reached Marietta this morning stating that Gen. Cox was occupying Charleston.  I hope it is true.  Later, today's Gazette says Wise retreated without giving battle.   His conduct in the Kanawha Valley has been atrocious, not calculated to win friends to secession but to strengthen union feeling.  The traitors are now driven back from Western Virginia but I fear they will not stay whipped.  They have little cause to glory in the Manassas fight.  In a position they had been fortifying for weeks, their troops numbering three to one of ours, fighting behind their defences, masked batteries and rifle pits with cavalry &c. were boldly attacked by our troops & driven back two miles.  Our troops always in a fair fight and open field proving their superiority, performing deeds of wondrous valor under circumstances almost hopeless.  No men could excell Ellsworth's Zouaves in daring.  So of the 69" N. Y. and many other regiments, our own Ohio boys did good service, losing 35 killed and wounded in the Ohio 2" and 146 missing, probably prisoners, some perhaps dead.  No doubt the rebel loss has been too severe to leave much room for rejoicing.  Gen. Bartow of Georgia and Gen. Bee of S. Carolina are killed.  The Lynchburg regiments were cut to pieces.  Wade Hampton's South Carolina regiment and two others from that State and Bartow's fine regiment of Georgians nearly annihilated.  The Georgia, Oglethrop L. F. regiments suffered severely, a large number of officers killed.  Of our troops, the New York 69" (Irish) the fire Zouaves N. Y. & 71
 N. Y. suffered severely.  the 1", 2" & 3" Connecticut, 1s Regulars composed of the 2", 3" and 8" Companies, 250 Marines and the 8" and 14" N. Y. Militia, 1" & 2" Rhode Island 2" New Hampshire, 5" Massachusetts, 1s Minnesota 1s & 2s Michigan, 11", 12", 38" N. York, 2", 4" & 5" Maine and 2" Vermont, 1" & 2" Ohio &c. were engaged in this bloody battle.  How many lives were actually lost on either side we shall never know.  Our own loss has been estimated so variously that we can only guess the truth.  The statements vary from 5000 to 300.  I have no doubt the loss was large.  God forgive us that we have seemed to forget the He is King, that we have failed to honor him and obey his laws.  I have felt like crying out as Joshua did after the defeat at Ai "O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!"  I am more afraid of God's displeasure than of all the hosts of the South.

Peggy's comments:
The Battle at Manassas Junction/Bull Run was clearly a loss for the Union.  Casualty numbers vary with the source, but it appears that on the Union side, 460 were killed, 1,124 wounded, and 1,312 captured or missing.  For the South, 387 killed, 1,582 wounded, and 13 captured or missing.