Did General McDowell send you to General Sigel at Gainesville on that morning? What message did you carry and what was General Sigel's answer?

Answer. General McDowell explained to me that General Sigel was to cross the railroad at Gainesville, then turn to the right and march along the railroad to Manassas and told me to go forward and see if General Sigel was so doing. I found General Sigel at Gainesville near where the four roads meet. He said to me he would to a little farther, a few hundred yards beyond the railroad, because the road made an angle with the railroad and would then turn off to the right. I made known to General Sigel the message upon which I was sent.

Question by General McDOWELL. What seemed to be understood by General Sigel as to the route he was to pursue to Manassas with respect to the Manassas Railroad?

Answer. That after crossing the railroad from the south side to the north side he was to march by the side of the railroad to Manassas.

See also Captain Krebbs' evidence (proceedings of January 14.)

Question by General McDOWELL. Did General McDowell send you to General Sigel on the occasion of the march from Gainesville toward Manassas Junction on the 28th of August last, after the skirmish of Reynolds' division?

Answer. He did.

Question. Where did you find General Sigel's command, on the north or the south side of the Manassas Railroad?

Answer. I found General Sigel's command on the south side of the railroad-he and staff-I should think about 4 miles from Gainesville, on the south side of the railroad.

Question. Did you represent to General Sigel that he was not on the right road, and that it was General McDowell's order that he should go to the north of it?

Answer. I told him that he was mistaken; that I understood the order that his right should rest on the railroad, his left on our right, which was on the Warrenton turnpike.

First Lieutenant William Burchard, on General Sigel's staff, says (proceedings of January 30):

General McDowell asked me how far from this place on the Manassas Junction road was General Sigel, and I told him about 4 miles. General McDowell said, "All right; go to General Sigel and tell him he should take position-the right on the railroad, the left on the pike."

See also evidence of Captain Haven, January 8, as to the interview of one of General Sigel's aides with General McDowell as to the route General Sigel should take. He says:

A second aide (the first did not speak English well) came and asked, "Did General McDowell send an order for General Sigel to go to the right of the railroad?" General McDowell replied emphatically, "No! He is to go with his right on the road."

It will thus be seen it was not for want of reiterated orders, both written and verbal, that General Sigel put himself and persisted in keeping himself south of the railroad, when his orders were that he should go to the north of it. There may have been want of co-operation here, but I feel it is not justly to be ascribed to me. This departure by General Sigel from General Orders, No. 10, was the cause of another (Reynolds' division) marching along the turnpike some 2 miles beyond Gainesville and then turning off to go in the direction ordered; and not having General Sigel's corps between it and the railroad, as I had provided for, left so wide a gap that I then brought King's division to the right instead of the left of Reynolds, my object being to have the troops thus marching on Manassas separated by such intervals as would give them the proper space for being brought into line to the front. That this was carried out with any great precision or could have been so in a broken, partly wooded country, with places impracticable for artillery, is doubtful, but I suppose it might have been sufficiently so for practical purposes. At all events, it was incumbent on us to make every effort to try and do so as nearly as possible to comply with the orders from general headquarters. I did not pretend to superintend the details of the march of either General Sigel's corps or of the divisions,