Overview
The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the First Battle of Manassas, took place near Manassas, Virginia, on July 21, 1861. General Irvin McDowell led about 28,450 Union soldiers south from Washington after President Abraham Lincoln and other Union officials pressured him to attack Confederate forces. General P.G.T. Beauregard commanded the Confederate defenses along Bull Run and protected the railroad junction at Manassas.
After Confederate forces stopped a Union advance at Blackburn’s Ford on July 18, McDowell shifted his attack toward the Confederate left. Early on July 21, about 13,000 Union soldiers crossed Bull Run near Sudley Church. Colonel Nathan Evans and General Barnard Bee delayed the Union advance on Matthews Hill while Confederate reinforcements arrived by train from General Joseph Johnston’s Army of the Shenandoah.
Union forces captured Matthews Hill, but McDowell paused for nearly two hours. Beauregard used the delay to strengthen a new defensive line on Henry Hill. General Thomas J. Jackson positioned his brigade along the line and helped resist repeated Union attacks.
At about 3:00 p.m., Jackson launched a counterattack that captured most of the Union artillery on Henry Hill. Additional Confederate attacks broke the Union position on Chinn Ridge. McDowell’s army retreated toward Washington, and the withdrawal became a rout. The Confederate victory ended expectations of a quick Union victory and showed both sides that the war would require greater sacrifices and resources.
Essential Facts
- Also Known As: First Battle of Manassas.
- Date: July 21, 1861.
- Location: Fairfax and Prince William counties near Manassas, Virginia.
- Participants: The United States of America (USA) and the Confederate States of America (CSA).
- USA Commanders: Irvin McDowell.
- CSA Commanders: Joseph E. Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard.
- Who Won: The Confederate States won the First Battle of Bull Run.
- Campaign: Manassas Campaign (1861).
- Era: Civil War, July–December, 1861.
Statistics
United States of America
- Casualties: 2,896, including 460 killed, 1,124 wounded, and 1,312 captured or missing.
- Forces Engaged: Military District of Northeastern Virginia, later informally called the Army of Northeastern Virginia.
- Troop Strength: About 28,450 soldiers.
Confederate States of America
- Casualties: 1,982, including 387 killed, 1,582 wounded, and 13 missing.
- Forces Engaged: Confederate Army of the Potomac and Army of the Shenandoah.
- Troop Strength: About 32,230 soldiers.
Significance
The First Battle of Bull Run is important to American History because it ended widespread expectations that the Civil War would be short. The Union defeat shocked Northern politicians who believed Federal forces could quickly capture Richmond and crush the Confederacy. The Confederate victory increased Southern confidence and showed that Confederate soldiers could resist a larger Union war effort. The battle also forced the Federal Government to reorganize its eastern forces and place General George B. McClellan in command. Nearly 5,000 combined casualties revealed the scale of the conflict and warned both sides that victory would require large armies, extensive supplies, and years of fighting.
History
April 12, 1861 — Battle of Fort Sumter
At 4:30 a.m., April 12, 1861, Southern forces commanded by Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard fired a mortar shot over Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, signaling other Confederate batteries to bombard the Federal facility. The Battle of Fort Sumter and the American Civil War had begun.
Underestimating the resolve and grit of Southern forces, many Northerners believed that the Union’s volunteer army assembling in Washington, D.C., could quickly crush the uprising by capturing Richmond, Virginia, which became the capital of the Confederacy in May 1861.
Thus, President Lincoln and other Federal officials urged Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, commander of the Union forces in the Military Department of Northeastern Virginia, to launch an offensive against Richmond and to bring the uprising to an end before the ninety-day enlistments of his soldiers expired.
Believing that his troops were not yet ready for combat, McDowell reluctantly relented to political pressure and marched roughly 28,450 troops out of Washington and into Virginia on July 16.
Blocking McDowell’s path to Richmond was a force of about 22,000 Confederate soldiers deployed along the Alexandria Line about thirty-five miles west of Washington. Established by Brigadier General Milledge Luke Bonham, the Alexandria Line roughly paralleled Bull Run, a small stream that rises in the Bull Run Mountains of northern Virginia and feeds into the Occoquan River in eastern Virginia.
On May 31, 1861, Major General Robert E. Lee issued General Orders, No. 149 (Virginia Forces), replacing Bonham with Beauregard. By the time McDowell began his offensive, Beauregard was referring to his new command as the Confederate Army of the Potomac (see General Orders, No. 20, June 20, 1861, (AOP-CSA)). Besides guarding the main routes from Washington to Richmond, Beauregard’s Alexandria Line also protected the vital rail station at Manassas Junction (now Manassas) where the Manassas Gap Railroad crossed the Orange and Alexandria Railroad.
As McDowell’s forces approached the Confederate defenses on July 18, a Confederate brigade commanded by Brigadier General James Longstreet repulsed a Federal brigade commanded by Brigadier General Daniel Tyler attempting to cross Bull Run at Blackburn’s Ford near Beauregard’s right flank. The Confederate victory at the minor Battle of Blackburn’s Ford prompted McDowell to redirect his offensive to Beauregard’s left flank. It also instilled a sense of confidence in the Rebel troops that would prove invaluable three days later.
July 21, 1861 — The First Battle of Bull Run Begins
Following the Battle of Blackburn’s Ford, McDowell began shifting the bulk of his army west to cross Bull Run and sweep around Beauregard’s left flank undetected. Striking out at 2:30 a.m. on July 21, 13,000 Union soldiers crossed Bull Run near Sudley Church. Meeting little Confederate resistance, the Federals fired the first shots of the battle at about 6 a.m. when they encountered Confederate pickets. At roughly 8:30, Major Edward Porter Alexander, Beauregard’s signal corps’ commander stationed atop Signal Hill, spotted the Yankee maneuver and alerted Colonel Nathan “Shanks” Evans, “Look out for your left, your position is turned.” In what was reportedly the first use of signal flags for long-range communication during the Civil War, Alexander also alerted Beauregard of McDowell’s movement.
By the time Beauregard could react to Alexander’s warning, McDowell’s forces had turned the Confederate left flank. Recognizing the imminent danger of the situation, Colonel Evans, without orders, redeployed his small brigade near the base of Matthews Hill to buy time for Beauregard to reinforce the Confederate left.
In the meantime, the vanguard of Major General Joseph Johnston’s Confederate Army of the Shenandoah, which had departed for Manassas on July 18, began arriving in the area by train. When Brigadier General Barnard Elliott Bee, Jr. witnessed Evans’ heroic effort to hold back the Yankee onslaught on Matthews Hill, he threw his 3rd Brigade into the fray.
Despite being heavily outgunned and out-manned, Evans and Bee held off the Yankee advance against Matthews Hill that began at 10:30. Although the Confederates paid dearly, they bought precious time for Beauregard to establish a new defensive line behind them on Henry Hill.
When the Federals finally forced the Confederate defenders off of Matthews Hill after 11:30, McDowell halted his advance for nearly two hours to rest and reorganize his forces. Beauregard used the delay to his advantage by further reinforcing his defenses, anchored by Colonel Wade Hampton’s South Carolina Legion on Henry Hill.
By the time McDowell resumed his offensive, most of Johnston’s 10,000 Confederate soldiers were in the area. Between noon and 1 p.m., Brigadier General Thomas J. Jackson extended and anchored Hampton’s left flank by deploying the 2,000 soldiers of his brigade in a treeline just below the crest of Henry Hill. Jackson’s arrival cemented a formidable Confederate defensive line. Throughout the afternoon, Johnston continued to funnel reinforcements to Jackson’s left and right while Beauregard directed the action on the field against McDowell’s unsuccessful piecemeal attacks.
Stonewall Jackson Launches a Counterattack on Union Forces
At roughly 3 p.m., Jackson launched a counterattack that eventually led to the capture of most of the Union artillery on Henry Hill. When General Bee observed Jackson’s thrust, he reportedly stated,
There is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer. Rally behind the Virginians!
Bee’s pronouncement, which probably fewer than fifty men heard, had little impact on the outcome of the battle, but it etched the names of Jackson and his brigade in Confederate folklore. For the rest of the Civil War, the name “Stonewall” represented the standard of excellence for Confederate soldiers.
Union Forces Retreat
By 4 p.m., the last of McDowell’s army arrived on the field when Colonel Oliver O. Howard’s brigade of New Englanders deployed on Chinn Ridge, west of Henry Hill. A half-hour later, Colonel J. E. B. Stuart’s Virginia Cavalry and several Confederate infantry brigades quickly overpowered Howard’s men, triggering a general retreat by the Union army.
By 5 p.m., McDowell’s entire force was in full flight. With the Confederates in hot pursuit, the retreat disintegrated into a rout, sending the panicked Yankees scurrying back to Washington. To the consternation of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Southern forces did not pursue the fleeing Northerners.
The Myth of the First Battle of Bull Run
Civil War lore perpetuates the myth that throngs of civilians from Washington, including some noted politicians, who ventured out to witness the fighting as they picnicked, impeded the Federal retreat. Indeed, many curiosity-seekers rode out toward Manassas Junction that day, but most of them traveled no farther than Centerville—about twenty-five miles away. Rather than impeding the Union retreat, it is more likely that the terrified civilians led the mad stampede back to Washington once the Union retreat began.
Outcome
The outcome of the First Battle of Bull Run was an embarrassing loss for the Federal forces. One week after the battle, the federal government reorganized its forces near the nation’s capital. On July 25, 1861, the War Department merged the Department of Northeastern Virginia with the Department of Washington to create the Division of the Potomac and named Major General George B. McClellan as the new principal commander of Union forces in the East. By August, the War Department relegated McDowell to a division commander in McClellan’s new Army of the Potomac.
Although small in comparison with what was to come, the magnitude of the First Battle of Bull Run proved sobering to both sides. Over 50,000 soldiers took part in what was the largest conflict in North America up to that time. Combined casualties totaled nearly 5,000 (killed, wounded, captured, or missing). Nearly 850 Americans (460 Union plus 387 Confederate) perished on the battlefield that day. Casualties for the Union totaled 2,896 (460 killed, 1,124 wounded, and 1,312 captured or missing). The Confederacy lost 1,982 soldiers (387 killed, 1,582 wounded, and 13 missing).
The tenacity with which the Confederate soldiers fought to defend their homeland dashed Northern hopes of a decisive victory that would quickly quash the uprising. On the other side, Southerners received their first glimpse of the enormity of resources—men and materiel—that the Union could, and would, bring to bear to achieve victory four bloody years later.
Map of Manassas National Battlefield
Timeline
- 1860, November 6 — Abraham Lincoln was elected to be the 16th President of the United States.
- 1860, December 20 — South Carolina seceded from the Union.
- 1861, February 8 — The seceded states formed the Confederate States of America.
- 1861, April 12–13 — Confederate forces under P.G.T. Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter. The Battle of Fort Sumter marked the start of the Civil War.
- 1861, May — Richmond became the capital of the Confederate States of America.
- 1861, May 31 — Robert E. Lee replaced Milledge Luke Bonham with P.G.T. Beauregard as Commander of the Confederate defenses.
- 1861, June 20 — General Orders No. 20 identified Beauregard’s command as the Confederate Army of the Potomac.
- 1861, July 16 — Irvin McDowell marched about 28,450 Union soldiers from Washington into Virginia.
- 1861, July 18 — Confederate forces stopped a Union attempt to cross Bull Run at the Battle of Blackburn’s Ford.
- 1861, July 18 — Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of the Shenandoah started traveling toward Manassas.
- 1861, July 20 — Union troops under Irvin McDowell moved toward the Confederate army.
- 1861, July 21
- About 13,000 Union soldiers crossed Bull Run near Sudley Church.
- Union forces attacked Confederate positions on Matthews Hill.
- Confederate troops established a new defensive line on Henry Hill.
- Thomas J. Jackson strengthened the Confederate position on Henry Hill.
- Jackson launched a counterattack that helped capture most of the Union artillery on Henry Hill.
- Confederate forces broke the Union position on Chinn Ridge.
- The Union retreat became a rout toward Washington.
- Confederate forces won the First Battle of Bull Run.
- 1861, July 22 — Confederate President Jefferson Davis promoted P.G.T. Beauregard to full General.
- 1861, July 25 — The War Department created the Division of the Potomac and placed George B. McClellan in command.
- 1861, August — The War Department reduced Irvin McDowell to command of a division in McClellan’s Army of the Potomac.
- 1862 — The Union Army of the Potomac and Confederate Army of Northern Virginia fought the Second Battle of Bull Run on nearly the same ground.
AP US History
Definition
First Battle of Bull Run (1861) — The First Battle of Bull Run was the first major land engagement of the Civil War, fought near Manassas, Virginia, on July 21, 1861. Union forces turned the Confederate left at Matthews Hill but paused before attacking Henry Hill. Confederate reinforcements strengthened the defensive line, General Thomas J. Jackson helped stop repeated Union attacks, and a Confederate counterattack captured Union artillery. The Union retreat became a rout, producing a decisive Confederate victory.
Alignment
The First Battle of Bull Run is part of the following AP US History sections:
