1861
The First Battle of Bull Run
In the first major land battle of the Civil
War, a large Union force under General Irvin McDowell is routed by a
Confederate army under General Pierre G.T. Beauregard.
Three months after the Civil War erupted at
Fort Sumter, Union military command still believed that the Confederacy could
be crushed quickly and with little loss of life. In July, this overconfidence
led to a premature offensive into northern Virginia by General McDowell.
Searching out the Confederate forces, McDowell led 34,000 troops–mostly inexperienced
and poorly trained militiamen–toward the railroad junction of Manassas, located
just 30 miles from Washington, D.C. Alerted to the Union advance, General
Beauregard massed some 20,000 troops there and was soon joined by General
Joseph Johnston, who brought some 9,000 more troops by railroad.
On the morning of July 21, hearing of the
proximity of the two opposing forces, hundreds of civilians–men, women, and
children–turned out to watch the first major battle of the Civil War. The
fighting commenced with three Union divisions crossing the Bull Run stream, and
the Confederate flank was driven back to Henry House Hill. However, at this
strategic location, Beauregard had fashioned a strong defensive line anchored
by a brigade of Virginia infantry under General Thomas J. Jackson. Firing from
a concealed slope, Jackson’s men repulsed a series of Federal charges, winning
Jackson his famous nickname “Stonewall.”
Meanwhile, Confederate cavalry under J.E.B.
Stuart captured the Union artillery, and Beauregard ordered a counterattack on
the exposed Union right flank. The rebels came charging down the hill, yelling
furiously, and McDowell’s line was broken, forcing his troops in a hasty
retreat across Bull Run. The retreat soon became an unorganized flight, and supplies
littered the road back to Washington. Union forces endured a loss of 3,000 men
killed, wounded, or missing in action while the Confederates suffered 2,000
casualties. The scale of this bloodshed horrified not only the frightened
spectators at Bull Run but also the U.S. government in Washington, which was
faced with an uncertain military strategy in quelling the “Southern
insurrection.”