Bull Run, First Battle of

Bull Run, First Battle of (1861).The first major land battle of the Civil War occurred at Bull Run Creek (near the town of Manassas, Virginia) Virginia, on 21 July 1861. Brig. Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard, the hero of Fort Sumter, commanded the Confederate army. His force of 20,000 protected a rail link that led to Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army in the lower Shenandoah Valley. Johnston's 12,000 men faced a Federal force of 18,000 commanded by the aged Robert Patterson, a veteran of the War of 1812.

Beauregard deployed his force along a stream called Bull Run; it was crossable only at a number of fords and one stone bridge. Henry Hill commanded the bridge and the fords around it, thus forming the key to the Confederate position. Believing the Federals would attack his right, Beauregard posted most of his force there. Meanwhile, on 18 July, Johnston was ordered to join Beauregard at Manassas; for the first time in the history of warfare, the Confederates used railroads operationally, over the next two days sending Johnston's men sixty miles from the Shenandoah Valley to reach Beauregard's army.

Under intense public pressure to capture Richmond, Union Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell planned to move from Centreville with 30,000 men to turn the Confederate left flank, isolating Beauregard from Johnston and making his strong defensive line along Bull Run untenable.

On the morning of 21 July, the Federals attacked the stone bridge. Confederate Capt. Nathan G. “Shanks” Evans perceived that the Federal attack in his front was merely a feint; in the first battlefield use of the wigwag telegraph system, Capt. E. P. Alexander signaled to Evans that his left flank was turned. With his left threatened, Beauregard rushed his forces toward Henry Hill to support Evans.

That afternoon, the Federals launched several piecemeal assaults against Henry House Hill. At one intense moment of fighting Brig. Gen. Barnard E. Bee rallied his Alabamians by declaring, “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall.” His comment gave Brig. Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson his immortal nickname. The attacks on Henry House Hill continued for about two hours, with neither side gaining a decisive advantage.

At around 4:00 P.M., fresh troops from Beauregard's army under Col. Jubal A. Early and Brig. Gen. E. Kirby Smith arrived on the field and began to roll up the Federal right. The Union units withdrew, and some panic ensued—it was impossible to rally the army, which began a retreat all the way back to Washington, D.C. Similar confusion reigned on the Confederate side, allowing the Federals to escape unmolested.

The losses in the largest battle yet fought in North America were considered heavy, though by the following year they would be eclipsed frequently: the Confederates suffered 1,982 casualties, while the Union suffered 2,896. In the humiliation of defeat Northerners realized that blind enthusiasm was not enough to win the war; many felt a renewed sense of purpose in the Union's war effort. The victory reinforced Southern views of their martial superiority.
[See also Civil War: Military and Diplomatic Course.]

Bibliography

Russell H. Beattie, Jr. , Road to Manassas, 1961.
William C. Davis , Battle at Bull Run, 1977.

Jonathan M. Berkey