The Union troops - after a stray shell destroyed a bridge that blocked their retreat, which was also hampered by a lot of Washington civilians who had come to watch the battle.
The Union fell apart and Soldiers ran North.
Near Manassas in the Shenandoah Valley. Bull Run was a little stream that ran through it. The Union preferred to name their battles after the nearest water-course. The Confederates preferred the name of the nearest town or habitation. So Southerners call this battle Manassas.
Confederate General defeated Pope's Army of Virginia in the Second Battle of Bull Run that ran from August 29 to September 1, 1862. This was a stunning victory for Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, and a humiliating loss for the Union.
The Confederates won the first major battle of the US Civil War, also know as the First Battle of Bull Run. They nearly lost, but after a new train load of fresh Confederate troops arrived, the Union fell apart and soldiers ran north.
The day Bull Run took place many of the people in the area thought it would be fun to take a Sunday picnic and watch the battle. They saw it as entertainment, but when it was over they realized that war was dirty and it was bloody. People ran for their lives. It was also thought, at the time, that the war would be short and glorious, but after Bull Run people knew that it was going to be a long war and not very glorious to shoot another person.
It showed both sides the war wasn't going to be short and it would be bloody. The battle was held on a Sunday afternoon and people treated it like a event to watch. After church families took picnic baskets out to watch the battle, but they soon ran for their lives. Battles move and the armies were not ready for the awful nature of war. Many of the men threw down weapons and ran.
They did pursue them. That battle moved and ended up peoples yards. It was a Sunday afternoon when the battle started and no one was ready for the violence and carnage that took place. People came out after church to have a picnic lunch and to watch the battle. They ended up running for their lives because the battle moved towards them. Soldiers were so frightened on both sides that they threw down their guns and ran.
The battle showed that it was going to be bloody and dirty. Men threw down their guns and ran from the field. The idea before the battle was that war was glorious and it would be a short war. This was wrong on both counts.
No one slept at Bull Run. A battleground is not a place where people stay. In the civil war there were dead bodies on the ground that had to be removed or buried. Some civil war battles had so many dead that you couldn't see the ground and the streams ran red with blood. Neither army were on a camp out. I am not sure you understand just how brutal the battles were. On the first Bull Run the men literally threw down their guns and ran. Battles move so people who lived in the area found the battle in their front yard and bullets whizzing through their houses.
The first major battle of the Civil War was fought around the town of Manassas, Virginia, some 25 miles west and just south of Washington, D.C. Known as the First Battle of Bull Run (for a stream in the area), the battle occurred in July of 1861 and resulted in a moderate Confederate victory.
No real advantages. The armies didn't have uniforms and the men on both sides weren't prepared for the blood, death, and carnage of battle. Men literally threw their guns down and ran.
The enraged bull came charging through the china shop and everyone ran for their lives.