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BULL RUN (FIRST MANASSAS)

FIRST MANASSAS

• Rejecting Scott’s Anaconda Plan, Lincoln gave orders in late June 1861 that the forces assembling around Washington must advance against Richmond

• The commander, Brigadier General Irwin McDowell, objected that the men were not yet ready

• Lincoln replied, “You are green, it is true. But they are green also. You are all green alike.”

MCDOWELL

• Graduated from West Point in 1838 and had served in the Mexican War but not commanded troops in combat

• Most of his career had been spent in various staff duties in the Adjutant General’s Office

• His promotion to brigadier general from major had come largely from his political connections to Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase

PATTERSON

• A second nearby Union force was located northwest of Washington, near Harper’s Ferry

• Major General Robert Patterson commanded these 18,000 men

• Patterson was 70 years old and a veteran of the War of 1812 and the Mexican War

FIRST MANASSAS

• On July 16, McDowell left Washington with about 35,000 men

• Twenty five miles to the southwest lay 25,000 Confederates commanded by Pierre Gustave Toutant de Beauregard

• Beauregard had deployed his men along Bull Run and held the railroad town of Manassas Junction and blocked the direct overland approach to Richmond

BEAUREGARD

• Graduated from West Point in 1838 (same year as McDowell) and fought at Contreras, Churubusco, and Chapultepec in Mexico

• Had the shortest term of any superintendent of West Point, resigning after five days when his native Louisiana seceded from the Union

• His first assignment with the Confederacy had won him fame as the “Hero of Sumter”

JOHNSTON

• Joseph Johnston commanded 12,000 additional Confederates at Winchester

• Johnston was to defend the Shenandoah Valley and support Beauregard if necessary

• Among Johnston’s brigade commanders was Thomas Jackson

• McDowell considered it imperative that Patterson hold Johnston’s army in the Shenandoah Valley while McDowell attacked Beauregard

FIRST MANASSAS

• On July 16, McDowell began his advance but the movement was slow and tedious

• Beauregard was alerted of McDowell’s movements and requested reinforcements

• An independent infantry brigade commanded by Theophilus Holmes in Fredericksburg and six infantry companies of Wade Hampton’s Legion in Richmond began heading north

FIRST MANASSAS

• McDowell’s lead division finally reached Centreville at 11:00 on July 18 and a brief clash with Confederates occurred

• At around noon, Johnston marched out of Winchester behind a screen from Jeb Stuart’s cavalry• Patterson was completely deceived.• An hour after Johnston departed, Patterson

telegraphed Washington, “I have succeeded, in accordance with the wishes of the General-in-Chief, in keeping General Johnston’s force at Winchester.”

FIRST MANASSAS

• Johnston’s men boarded trains at Piedmont Station (now Delaplane), a stop on the Manassas Gap Railroad, and departed for Manassas Junction

• They reached the Bull Run positions on the afternoon of July 21, representing the importance railroads would play in troop movements throughout the war

FIRST MANASSAS

• McDowell’s plan was to feint toward Blackburn’s Ford and the Stone Bridge while his main force marched around the Confederate left flank

FIRST MANASSAS

• McDowell’s army began leaving their camps at about 2:30 a. m. on July 21• Again the march was beset with delays

• At 6:00, Federals and Confederates were skirmishing at the Stone Bridge

• Johnston became concerned with this activity and began reinforcing the Confederates at the Stone Bridge while Beauregard stuck to his original plan of attacking the Federal left

FIRST MANASSAS

• The Confederates were unable to hold the Stone Bridge and began a disorderly retreat to Henry Hill

• It appeared that a Federal victory was at hand

Ruins of the Stone Bridge

FIRST MANASSAS

• At about noon, Jackson’s 2,600-man brigade arrived on Henry Hill

• There he met his fellow brigade commander Bernard Bee who excitedly told Jackson the Federals were driving the Confederates back

• Jackson calmly began to establish a position on the southeast slope of the ridgeline about 400 yards from the Henry House

Ruins of the Henry House

4:00 P.M.

FIRST MANASSAS

• Bee at some point reportedly said, “There stands Jackson like a Stonewall. Rally around the Virginians!”• This is the origin of “Stonewall”

Jackson• At about 1:00, Federals

began attacking Henry Hill• Rather than launching large

scale, coordinated assaults, McDowell committed his forces piecemeal, frittering away his numerical advantage

FIRST MANASSAS

• The Confederates were able to defend against these piecemeal attacks while their own reinforcements were steadily arriving

• McDowell’s army began to disintegrate• Thousands, in small

groups or as individuals, began leaving the battlefield

• McDowell tried to rally the army without success and eventually resorted to ordering a withdrawal

FIRST MANASSAS

• A few Confederate units attempted to pursue, but the victorious Confederates were almost as disorganized as the defeated Federals

• Nonetheless the Union retreat quickly became a rout and hundreds of civilian spectators who had come out from Washington to watch the battle were caught up in the chaos

• McDowell ultimately fell back to Washington

FIRST MANASSAS: RESULTS

• Showed the difficulties in controlling large bodies of troops• Neither commander was able to deploy his

forces effectively• Only 18,000 men from each side were actually engaged

• Showed that the war would not be won in one decisive battle• Problems with culmination hindered

Confederate pursuit• Lincoln began call for three year rather than 90

day enlistments• North called up an additional 500,000

volunteers; South 400,000

FIRST MANASSAS: RESULTS

• Showed that the armies were untrained• McClellan replaced McDowell

and began an intense campaign to organize, train, and equip the army

FIRST MANASSAS: REASONS FOR FEDERAL DEFEAT

• McDowell spent most of his energy maneuvering nearby regiments and brigades rather than controlling and coordinating the movements of his army as a whole

• Patterson failed to hold Johnston in the Shenandoah Valley

• Federals were repeatedly slow in marching and moving

FIRST MANASSAS: REASONS FOR CONFEDERATE VICTORY

• Confederate use of rail provided timely reinforcements

Victory Rode the Rails: Jackson at Piedmont Station, July 19, 1861

by Mort Kunstler