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First Battle of Bull Run | HearLore
— Ch. 1 · Political And Military Prelude —
First Battle of Bull Run.
~9 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
On the 20th of December 1860, South Carolina became the first of seven Southern states to declare secession from the Union. By the 1st of February 1861, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed suit with their own ordinances of secession. The Confederate States of America adopted its Constitution in Montgomery, Alabama on the 8th of February 1861. Open warfare began when Confederate forces barraged Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on the 12th of April 1861. Two days after the Federal Army surrendered at Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring an insurrection against United States laws had taken place.
Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers with ninety-day enlistments to augment the existing U.S. Army of about 15,000 men present for duty. He later accepted an additional 40,000 volunteers with three-year enlistments. This increased the strength of the U.S. Army to 156,861, further enlarged to 183,588 present for duty on the 1st of July 1861. Lincoln's actions caused four more Southern states including Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee to adopt ordinances of secession and join the Confederacy. On the 29th of May 1861, with the arrival in Richmond, Virginia of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, the Confederate capital moved from Montgomery to Richmond.
In Washington, D.C., many regiments of volunteers raised by states under Lincoln's call rushed to defend the capital. General in Chief Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott laid out his strategy to subdue the Confederate States on the 3rd of May 1861. He proposed that an army of 80,000 men be organized to sail down the Mississippi River and capture New Orleans. While the Army strangled the Confederacy in the west, the U.S. Navy would blockade Southern ports along the eastern and Gulf coasts. The press ridiculed what they dubbed as Scott's Anaconda Plan. Instead, many believed the capture of the Confederate capital at Richmond, only south of Washington, would quickly end the war.
Commanders And Troop Movements
Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase championed fellow Ohioan, 42-year-old Maj. Irvin McDowell. Although McDowell was a West Point graduate, his command experience was limited. In fact, he had spent most of his career engaged in various staff duties in the Adjutant General's Office. Now, through Chase's influence, McDowell was promoted three grades to brigadier general in the Regular Army and on the 27th of May was assigned command of the Department of Northeastern Virginia. McDowell immediately began organizing what became known as the Army of Northeastern Virginia, 35,000 men arranged in five divisions.
Under public and political pressure to begin offensive operations, McDowell was given very little time to train the newly inducted troops. Units were instructed in the maneuvering of regiments, but they received little or no training at the brigade or division level. He was reassured by President Lincoln that while his army was green, the enemy was also green. Against his better judgment, McDowell commenced campaigning. On July 16, McDowell departed Washington with about 35,000 men, the largest field army yet gathered on the North American continent.
The Confederate Army of the Potomac under Beauregard was encamped near Manassas Junction where he prepared a defensive position along the south bank of the Bull Run river. The Union Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson's 18,000 men engaged Johnston's force in the Shenandoah Valley, preventing them from reinforcing Beauregard. After two days of marching slowly in the sweltering heat, the Union army was allowed to rest in Centreville. McDowell reduced the size of his army to approximately 31,000 by dispatching Brig. Gen. Theodore Runyon with 5,000 troops to protect the army's rear.
Flanking Maneuver And Matthews Hill
On the morning of July 21, McDowell sent the divisions of Hunter and Heintzelman from Centreville at 2:30 a.m., marching southwest on the Warrenton Turnpike and then turning northwest toward Sudley Springs. Tyler's division marched directly toward the Stone Bridge. The inexperienced units immediately developed logistical problems. Tyler's division blocked the advance of the main flanking column on the turnpike. The later units found the approach roads to Sudley Springs were inadequate, little more than a cart path in some places.
At 5:15 a.m., Richardson's brigade fired a few artillery rounds across Mitchell's Ford on the Confederate right, some of which hit Beauregard's headquarters in the Wilmer McLean house as he was eating breakfast. All that stood in the path of the 20,000 Union soldiers converging on the Confederate left flank were Col. Nathan Shanks Evans and his reduced brigade of 1,100 men. Evans had moved some of his men to intercept the direct threat from Tyler at the bridge but began to suspect that weak attacks from Schenck's brigade were merely feints.
Evans received reinforcement from two other brigades under Brig. Gen. Barnard Bee and Col. Francis S. Bartow, bringing the force on the flank to 2,800 men. They successfully slowed Hunter's lead brigade in its attempts to ford Bull Run and advance across Young's Branch. One of Tyler's brigade commanders, Col. William Tecumseh Sherman, moved forward from the stone bridge around 10:00 a.m. and crossed at an unguarded ford. This surprise attack, coupled with pressure from Burnside and Maj. George Sykes, collapsed the Confederate line shortly after 11:30 a.m., sending them in a disorderly retreat to Henry House Hill.
Henry House Hill And The Stonewall Legend
As they retreated from their Matthews Hill position, the remainder of Evans's, Bee's, and Bartow's commands received cover from Capt. John D. Imboden and his battery of four 6-pounder guns. They were met by generals Johnston and Beauregard, who had just arrived from Johnston's headquarters at the M. Lewis Farm. Fortunately for the Confederates, McDowell did not press his advantage and attempt to seize the strategic ground immediately.
Brig. Gen Thomas J. Jackson's Virginia Brigade came up in support of the disorganized Confederates around noon. Jackson posted his five regiments on the reverse slope of the hill where they were shielded from direct fire. He was able to assemble 13 guns for the defensive line which he posted on the crest of the hill. As the guns fired, their recoil moved them down the reverse slope where they could be safely reloaded. Meanwhile, McDowell ordered the batteries of Ricketts and Griffin to move from Dogan's Ridge to the hill for close infantry support.
Their 11 guns engaged in a fierce artillery duel across against Jackson's 13. Unlike many engagements in the Civil War, here the Confederate artillery had an advantage. The Union pieces were now within range of the Confederate smoothbores and the predominantly rifled pieces on the Union side were not effective weapons at such close ranges. As his men were pushed back towards Henry House Hill, Bee exclaimed to Jackson that the enemy were driving them. Jackson is said to have replied that they would give them the bayonet. Bee then exhorted his own troops to re-form by shouting that there was Jackson standing like a stone wall.
The Great Skedaddle And Union Rout
At about 4 p.m., the last Union troops were pushed off Henry House Hill by a charge of two regiments from Col. Philip St. George Cocke's brigade. To the west, Chinn Ridge had been occupied by Col. Oliver Otis Howard's brigade but at 4 p.m., two Confederate brigades moved forward and crushed Howard's brigade. Beauregard ordered his entire line forward and the Union troops began to panic in retreat. At 5 p.m. everywhere McDowell's army was disintegrating.
Thousands, in large and small groups or as individuals, began to leave the battlefield and head for Centreville in a rout. McDowell rode around the field trying to rally regiments and groups of soldiers, but most had had enough. Unable to stop the mass exodus, McDowell gave orders for Porter's regular infantry battalion to act as a rear guard. The unit briefly held the crossroads, then retreated eastward with the rest of the army. McDowell's force crumbled and began to retreat.
A Union wagon was overturned by artillery fire on a bridge spanning Cub Run Creek, inciting panic in McDowell's force. As the soldiers streamed uncontrollably toward Centreville, discarding their arms and equipment, hundreds of Union troops were taken prisoner. Wagons and artillery were abandoned including the 30-pounder Parrott rifle which had opened the battle with such fanfare. Expecting an easy Union victory, wealthy elite of nearby Washington including congressmen and their families had come to picnic and watch the battle. When the Union army was driven back in running disorder, roads back to Washington were blocked by panicked civilians attempting to flee in their carriages.
Casualties And Tactical Failures
Bull Run was the largest and bloodiest battle in United States history up until that point. Union casualties were 460 killed, 1,124 wounded, and 1,312 missing or captured. Confederate casualties were 387 killed, 1,582 wounded, and 13 missing. Among the Union dead was Col. James Cameron, brother of President Lincoln's first Secretary of War Simon Cameron. Among the Confederate casualties was Col. Francis S. Bartow, the first Confederate brigade commander to be killed in the Civil War.
General Bee was mortally wounded and died the following day. Two Confederate brigade commanders Jackson and Edmund Kirby-Smith were wounded in the battle. Jackson was shot in his hand so he remained on the battlefield. No Union officers above the regimental level were killed; two division commanders Samuel Heintzelman and David Hunter and one brigade commander Orlando Willcox were wounded.
Although nearly 60,000 men were present at the battle, only 36,000 had actually been engaged. McDowell had expended most of his energy maneuvering nearby regiments instead of controlling movements as a whole. Other factors contributed to McDowell's defeat including Patterson's failure to hold Johnston in the valley and McDowell's two-day delay at Centreville. Allowing Tyler's division to lead the march delayed the flanking divisions of Hunter and Heintzelman.
Postwar Political Repercussions
The Northern public was shocked at the unexpected defeat of their army when an easy victory had been widely anticipated. Both sides quickly came to realize that the war would be longer and more brutal than they had imagined. On July 22, President Lincoln signed a bill that provided for enlistment of another 500,000 men for up to three years of service. Three months after the First Battle of Bull Run, Union forces suffered another smaller defeat at the Battle of Ball's Bluff near Leesburg, Virginia.
Perceived military incompetence at both battles led to establishment of Joint Committee on Conduct of War, a congressional body created to investigate Northern military affairs. The committee listened to testimony from variety of witnesses connected with McDowell's army. Although report concluded principal cause of defeat was Patterson's failure to prevent Johnston from reinforcing Beauregard, Patterson's enlistment expired few days after battle. Northern public clamored for another scapegoat and McDowell bore chief blame.
On July 25, he was relieved of army command and replaced by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan who would soon be named general-in-chief of all Union armies. In Washington, President Lincoln and members of cabinet waited for news of Union victory. Instead, telegram arrived stating General McDowell's army in full retreat through Centreville. The day is lost. Save Washington and remnants of this army.
The First Battle of Bull Run took place on the 21st of July 1861. Union forces under General Irvin McDowell engaged Confederate troops near Manassas Junction, Virginia.
Who commanded the Union Army at the First Battle of Bull Run?
Major General Irvin McDowell commanded the Union Army of Northeastern Virginia during the First Battle of Bull Run. He led approximately 35,000 men from Washington, D.C., into battle against Confederate forces.
What were the casualty numbers for the First Battle of Bull Run?
Union casualties totaled 460 killed, 1,124 wounded, and 1,312 missing or captured. Confederate losses included 387 killed, 1,582 wounded, and 13 missing or captured.
Why was the First Battle of Bull Run significant in United States history?
The First Battle of Bull Run was the largest and bloodiest battle in United States history up until that point. It shocked the Northern public by proving the war would be longer and more brutal than anticipated.
How did the First Battle of Bull Run end?
The First Battle of Bull Run ended with a complete rout of Union forces after Confederate brigades crushed Howard's brigade and pushed Union troops off Henry House Hill. General McDowell ordered a retreat to Centreville as his army disintegrated around 5 p.m.