about five o'clock in the afternoon
Well -- I 've just got to say , if they did n't You fellers can smell of my boots ! The Brooklyn Fourteenth was another , And those Minnesota chaps too ; But the odds were too heavy against us , And but one thing was left us to do : We had to make tracks for our quarters , And finished it up pretty rough ; But if any chap says that they licked us , I 'd just like to polish him off ! With the remembrance of the many heroic souls who sacrificed themselves for their country that day , I have not the heart , my boy , to continue the subject . I was routed at about five o'clock in the afternoon , and fell back on Washington , where I am now receiving my rations . I do n't take the oath with any spirit since then ; and a skeleton with nothing on but a havelock is all that is left of Yours , emaciatedly , ORPHEUS C. KERR . WASHINGTON , D.C. , August -- , 1861 . The Mackerel Brigade , of which I have the honor to be a member , was about the worst demoralized of all the brigades that covered themselves with glory and perspiration at the skrimmage of Bull Run .