Bull Run

A small stream of northeast Virginia southwest of Washington, D.C., near Manassas. It was the site of two important Civil War battles (July 21, 1861, and August 29–30, 1862), both Confederate victories. They are also known as the Battles of Manassas.

Bull Run, battles of (1861 and 1862), Union defeats in the vicinity of Manassas Railway Junction, crucial for communications across northern Virginia to the Shenandoah valley and only 25 miles (40 km) from Washington. McDowell took the offensive in July 1861 knowing his 35, 000 men were ‘green’. But so were the Confederates, who were widely dispersed with 22, 000 under Beauregard close to Washington and 9, 500 under Johnston 50 miles (80 km) away in the Shenandoah. Beauregard fell back on the Bull Run river, but his left was outflanked and fell back in disorder after fierce resistance. Leading the Shenandoah reinforcements from the railhead at Manassas Junction, Jackson formed on the reverse slope of Henry House Hill and halted the rout. Enfiladed by aggressively handled Union artillery, his position was salvaged by a spontaneous infantry charge. Union forces massed against him were outflanked in turn and dissolved in panic. Washington would almost certainly have fallen to a determined pursuit.

Second Bull Run was where Lincoln finally learned that he had no talent for directing armies. Having recalled McDowell when his advance on Richmond might have helped McClellan in the Seven Days battles, and Banks when he might have made a difference in the Shenandoah, he put them both under the command of Pope and ordered him to advance before McClellan could return from the Jamestown peninsula. Uncannily echoing the first battle, throughout 29 August Pope battered a strong position held by Jackson's corps, which was reduced to throwing rocks. Oblivious to Longstreet coming up on his left, he continued the attack the next day and was shattered by a Confederate counter-offensive that came very close to enveloping his whole army. Pope was sent to chase Indians in Minnesota; McClellan regained command and for once managed to act faster than Lee expected, bringing him to battle and near-destruction at Antietam.

— Hugh Bicheno

For more information on Battles of Bull Run, visit Britannica.com.

Bull Run, First Battle of (21 July 1861), the first major engagement of the Civil War, known in the Confederacy as the First Battle of Manassas. The principal Union army of some 30,000 men, under General Irvin McDowell, was mobilized around Washington. Union General Robert Patterson, with a smaller army, was sent to hold Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston in the Shenandoah Valley. General Pierre G. T. Beauregard's Southern army occupied the line of Bull Run Creek, a shallow, meandering stream that runs across the main highways south of Washington.

Public opinion compelled President Abraham Lincoln to order McDowell to advance. The Union attack on 17 July forced an advance force under General M. L. Bonham back to Centreville. The next morning, Bonham rejoined the main Southern force, in a line extending about eight miles behind Bull Run. McDowell and Beauregard planned to turn each other's flank. General Richard S. Ewell, on the Confederate right, was to cross Bull Run at day light on 21 July, with the other brigades to follow. But Beauregard's order did not reach Ewell. General James Longstreet, after crossing, waited in vain for word of his attack. By 7 A.M., Union forces were attacking the Confederate left at Stone Bridge. Johnston sent General T. J. Jackson to support the troops at Stone Bridge, and other regiments soon followed. Fierce fighting raged along Bull Run; and it is here that Jackson won the nickname "Stonewall."

The arrival of another portion of Johnston's army turned the tide in favor of the Confederates. The disorderly Union retreat across Bull Run soon became a rout as troops fled back to Washington. Afterward, bitter controversy ensued between Jefferson Davis, Johnston, and Beauregard as to the responsibility for not pursuing the defeated Federal troops into Washington. From some 13,000 men engaged, the Union tallied about 500 killed, 1,000 wounded, and 1,200 missing; the Confederates, with about 11,000 engaged, counted about 400 killed, 1,600 wounded, and 13 missing.

Bibliography

Davis, William C. Battle at Bull Run: A History of the First Major Campaign of the Civil War. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1977.

Johnson, Robert M. Bull Run: Its Strategy and Tactics. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1913.

McDonald, Jo Anna M. We Shall Meet Again: The First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run), July 18–21, 1861. Shippensburg, Pa.: White Mane, 1999.

—Milledge L. Bonham, Jr./A. R.

The first major battle of the Civil War in which a battalion of inexperienced Marines from the Washington Navy Yard performed well beyond what should have been expected of them. With an average of 3 weeks since enlisting, the Marines were trained enroute to the battle by Major John G. Reynolds, the battalion commander, and his officers. They supported the 11th New York "Fire Zouaves" in the first attack during which the Zouaves broke and ran--never to be seen again on the battlefield-taking the Marines with them from the field. The Marines were rallied four times and entered the battle (a rate equal to the professional soldiers of the Federal Army) five times. On the fifth attack the field was swept by fresh Confederate troops (in blue uniforms) who had just been brought in by train from the Shenandoah Valley. General McDowell and his officers roundly praised the Marines for their skill and tenacity but Colonel Commandant John Harris, in his report to the Secretary of the Navy, wrote, "It is the first instance in history where any portion of its members turned their backs on the enemy." Ignoring fact, the Commandant attempted to hurt the career of Major Reynolds and established a lie in the annals of the Corps.

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