View of the Battlefield - July,
1861
The First Battle of Bull Run (or First Manassas),
the earliest important engagement of the war, was fought on July
21, 1861, between a Union army of about 30,000 under the command
of General Irvin McDowell, and a
Confederate army of about 22,000 commanded by General
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard.
Both sides were ill-trained for war, but a Union order
to blockade the South and public pressure in the North led to
a march, accompanied by many spectators, toward the Confederate
capital at Richmond. At Bull Run, the Union troops encountered
the Confederate forces coming from their base at Manassas, about
4.8 km (about 3 mi) south of the stream.
The 5-hour battle began with a Union assault resulting
in a Confederate retreat to Henry House Hill. There, a part of
a brigade commanded by General Thomas
J. "Stonewall" Jackson held back the Union troops
until 9000 reinforcements under General Joseph Eggleston Johnston
arrived. The Union general Robert Patterson had earlier failed
to retain Johnston, and the combined Confederate force easily
routed the Union army. The stubbornness of his defense earned
for Jackson the nickname "Stonewall."
Although the flight of the Union army did not end
until the troops reached Washington, the Confederate forces were
too disorganized to pursue. The Union army lost about 2900 men
killed, wounded, captured, or missing; the Confederates, about
2000. The Confederate victory encouraged the South and spurred
the North to greater effort. General McDowell was relieved of
command of the Union army and replaced by Maj.
Gen. George B. McClellan, who set about reorganizing and
training the troops.
The battle, demonstrating as it did the effectiveness
of the Confederate army, changed the status of the conflict from
a rebellion to a civil war.
- Other Names: First Manassas
- Location: Fairfax County and Prince William
County, Virginia
- Campaign: Manassas Campaign (July 1861)
- Date(s): July 21, 1861
- Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell
[US]; Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and Brig. Gen.
P.G.T. Beauregard [CS]
- Forces Engaged: 60,680 total (US 28,450; CS
32,230)
- Estimated Casualties: 4,700 total (US 2,950;
CS 1,750)
- Result(s): Confederate victory
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