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Union Major General Irwin McDowell was a Mexican-American War veteran. He was also a regular army artillery officer. He knew that in the Mexican-American War, artillery performed well on both the offensive and defensive side of battles. Sometimes artillery in that war had artillery advance in front of an infantry advance. As the US Civil War continued, both sides would see that the best use of artillery was on the defensive side of military operations. With that said, the First Battle of Bull Run was based on many ideas learned from the Mexican-American War. McDowell ordered two of his artillery batteries to advance in front of the Federal infantry to a position too close to Confederate lines. When advancing Rebel troops were mistaken for battery supports, the Union artillerymen allowed the Confederates to advance until the Rebels were able to fire on the artillery within pistol range. The results were a disaster. All the Union artillerymen were shot down and many of the Union horses were killed. Three guns were lost to the Confederates and as the Union retreated, two more guns were captured. The Union captain in charge of artillery was wounded and taken prisoner.

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Q: Why did Major General Irwin McDowell employ his artillery in an offensive stance at the First Battle of Bull Run?
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What were Union General Irwin McDowell's orders on enemy artillery in the First Battle of Bull Run?

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