The First Battle of Bull Run 1861
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.”
(More Events on This Day in History)
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American Revolution
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Automotive
- 1960 Germany passes controversial “Volkswagen Law”
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Civil War
- 1861 First Battle of Bull Run begins
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Cold War
- 1955 Eisenhower presents his “Open Skies” plan
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Crime
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Disaster
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General Interest
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- 1970 Aswan High Dam completed
- 2005 Bombers attempt to attack London transit system
- 2011 NASA’s final space shuttle mission comes to an end
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Hollywood
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Literary
- 1899 Ernest Hemingway is born
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Music
- 1973 “Soul Makossa” is the first disco record to make the Top 40
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Old West
- 1865 Wild Bill Hickok fights first western showdown
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Presidential
- 1862 Former President Martin Van Buren lapses into a coma
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Sports
- 1959 Pumpsie Green becomes first African-American to play for Red Sox
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Vietnam War
- 1965 Johnson considers the options
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World War I
- 1911 David Lloyd George delivers Mansion House speech
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World War II
- 1944 Hitler to Germany: “I’m still alive.”
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