"We move out for Manassas in the morning." July 20,1861

The most fitting description of that day comes from the detailed accounting for the Bull Run actions of the Second Vermont in the recorded words of the Company I Commander, Captain Volney S. Fullham:

"The only fighting by Vermont troops in 1861 was at Bull Run. The Second Vermont left camp at Claremont,[ Claremont is a community or populated place (Class Code U6) located in Arlington County at latitude 38.843 and longitude -77.105; Claremont appears on the Alexandria U.S. Geological Survey Map. Arlington County)] Va., July 16th, in light marching order, leaving knapsacks and tents behind, and on the night of the 20th, lay on the ground near Centerville, under orders to march at 2 a. m. of Sunday, July 21st, when 28,000 raw soldiers were to attack the enemy in a stronghold selected and held by them weeks before. Howard's brigade was posted some miles away until nearly 1 o'clock p. m., when it was sent to the front at such speed that only the strongest could endure it. Private Perry G. Wells went with canteens for water, and I took his musket; as he could not overtake us, I bore it into the fight and discharged from it cartridges taken from handy boxes or given me by the wounded. Only about 43 of I Co. went into action. After varying successes on each side, when victory for the Union arms seemed assured, at about 3 p. m. re-enforcements for the enemy, that swelled their numbers to 32,000, and gave them 10 more guns than we took into the field, arrived and turned it into defeat. In the engagement seven of I Co. had received serious injuries: Lieutenant Isaac N. Wadleigh was disabled by a shot or shell that passed so near his back as to render him unable to walk alone, which caused his resignation in the fall, and from which he never recovered; Sergeant Ethan Allen Priest was wounded in the thigh by a piece of shell; Corporal Harvey K. Austin, wounded in the knee, and Vernon A. Marsh, pierced through the neck by a bullet, were discharged for disability on account of their wounds; Harry Tole and Joseph Osier received gunshot wounds from which they recovered; and John Leonard, wounded in the arm, was captured and died Sep. 7th in prison at Richmond. In falling back from its advanced position where the Second Vermont was in front, as was, generally, the First Vermont Brigade during the war, I Co. preserved its regular formation when no other organized body of Union troops was in sight, for which the commendation of Col. Howard was then received; and this order was preserved until, by the stampede of gun carriages, caissons, and baggage-wagons along the narrow path of retreat, its ranks were broken, and the men were mixed in hopeless confusion with other troops. I then took charge of Lieut. Wadleigh, a man taller and nearly fifty pounds heavier than I, who was being helped along by two soldiers. With one arm around him, and the other bearing his sword and revolver, I led and supported him with frequent rests by the way for many hours, and until, on arriving at our last place of bivouac near Centerville, Va., with many stragglers gathered by the way, he was sent in a baggage-wagon at night to a hospital in Washington. About 9 o'clock a. m. of July 22d, the Second Vermont arrived in a rain storm at its camp, "Bush Hill," whence the troops were sent in detachments by rail about four miles to Alexandria. I remained in camp until every other officer of the 2d had left, and went in with the last train about 6 p. m. in a torrent. At the station in Alexandria many soldiers were sleeping on the platform, drenched with rain, but unconscious that they were wet; and required the roughest treatment to arouse them. They were taken to the Market where I Co. was assembled; and Col. Howard, passing and learning the situation, assisted me to find quarters for the men in a hall over the Custom House, where they were provided with rations. I found lodgings for myself and my First Lieut., Sherman W. Parkhurst, in the house of a Union family, that of John Ogden, whose acquaintance I had made in passing through the city before; and, at about dark, after sixty -three waking hours, nearly all on my feet, I stretched myself with my Lieutenant upon a feather bed spread on the floor, where I slept fourteen hours continuously. On July 23d, I shook hands with President Lincoln and Secretary Seward in their carriage before the Custom House, and, probably, was as fit for service as any man of the Second Vermont."