On July 21, 1861, the Union and Confederate armies met near Manassas Junction, Virginia and fought in the first great battle in the Civil War known as the First Battle of Bull Run. Two months after the firing Fort Sumter, Lincoln ordered Brigadier General Irvin McDowell to lead an offensive that would quickly strike the Confederacy by taking control of its capital, Richmond. McDowell's marching forces were met at Bull Run by a disorganized Confederate army under the command of Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard. Expecting the battle to be an entertaining stalemate, spectators from both Washington came to watch the soldiers with excitement. However, as the battle began, the spectators realized the magnitude of it and fled from the scene. Unfortunately, McDowell's ambitious plan for a surprise attack on the left flank of the South was not well executed due to the inexperience of the Union officers. Just like the Union though, the Confederates who were planning to attack the left flank of the Union dealt with the same issues. Eventually, the Union took first control of Henry House Hill making it look like the Union would win the battle. Still, Confederate reinforcements under the command of Brigadier General Joseph E. Johnson arrived from the Shenandoah Valley and pushed back the Union army. From then on to the end of the battle, the fighting would be evenly matched at Henry House Hill where by late afternoon, both sides had the same amount of troops (around 18,000). Also, during the battle, a brigade of Virginians under the leadership of a colonel named Thomas J. Jackson, stood their ground against the Union where Jackson would receive his famous nickname, "Stonewall Jackson." At this point, Beauregard ordered a counterattack on the Union line where the Confederates shouted the "rebel yell" (soon becoming infamous around the Union) as they broke the Union line. With this, the Union army frantically fled to close by Washington D.C. making the Confederacy victorious. Despite their victory, the Confederate army was far too disorganized to follow the Union allowing them to retreat safely back to Washington.
The First Battle of Bull Run resulted in 3,000 Union casualties and only 1,750 for the Confederates. Expecting a swift, easily won war, Northerners were shocked to discover that the Union had lost in the battle. With the South winning the battle, rejoicing Southerners got a false hope that they themselves could beat the Union swiftly. However, due to both sides being sobered with violence and casualties, they both realized that the war would be a long, grueling conflict that would take an unimaginable effect on the country and its people. In response to the outcome of the battle, conflict arouse in the Confederacy arose as President Jefferson Davis was to blame for the failure to pursue and demolish the remainder of the Union army. For the Union, Lincoln responded by removing the hesitant McDowell and replacing him with George B. McClellan who would reorganize and retrain the Union forces into a brutal fighting force later known as the Army of the Potomac. With this, both sides started reorganizing their armies drastically knowing that the war would probably be a gruesome war with awful consequences.
"The Battle of Bull Run (1st Manassas) Official Records and Battle Description." The American Civil War Home Page. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.civilwarhome.com/1manassa.htm>.
"The First Battle of Bull Run, 1861." EyeWitness to History - History through the Eyes of Those Who Lived It. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/bullrun.htm>.
"First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts." History.com — History Made Every Day — American & World History. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.history.com/topics/battle-of-first-bull-run>.
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