Follow me on my Twitter page: https://twitter.com/Tipsyfishs
Follow me on my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Tipsyfishs/
On July 18, Tyler advanced to Centreville and found that Centreville was unoccupied by Confederate troops. He then marched southeast to Mitchell's Ford and Blackburn's Ford, arriving at the latter about 11 a.m. Looking south across the stream, Tyler believed that the road to Manassas Junction was clear, but he failed to see the Confederate brigade of Brig. Gen. James Longstreet concealed in the woods behind the ford. He ordered two howitzers under Capt. Romeyn B. Ayres to bombard the Confederates he could see, guns of the Alexandria Artillery and the Washington Artillery, but the fire had no visible effect. He ordered Col. Israel B. Richardson and part of his brigade forward.
Richardson's advance met initial resistance from the 1st, 11th, and 17th Virginia Infantry regiments of Longstreet's brigade. Tyler ordered Ayres to move his guns closer to the action, accompanied by cavalry, and he sent the rest of Richardson's brigade toward the ford. Richardson's assault fell apart as the 12th New York Infantry began to retreat under heavy fire, causing a wave of panic to spread through the Union line.
Col. Jubal A. Early arrived with his Confederate brigade after marching 2 miles north from Beauregard's headquarters at Wilmer McLean's house. The availability of this additional firepower completed the Confederate victory, and a reinforced Washington Artillery kept the Union troops under fire as they retreated. Colonel Patrick T. Moore of the 1st Virginia Infantry, later a Confederate brigadier general, received a severe head wound in the skirmish and was incapacitated for further field service.
