BATTLE OF BULL RUN

First Battle of Bull Run

Just outside Manassas, Virginia, the first major land battle of the Civil War tore away any illusion of a quick, clean victory. Union forces under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell marched out from Washington hoping to strike inexperienced Confederate troops and end the rebellion in a single blow. Instead they found determined opposition and a battlefield that quickly grew chaotic, with brigades feeding in piecemeal and terrain that broke up neat formations. On Henry House Hill, a Virginia brigade under Thomas Jackson earned him the nickname “Stonewall” as they held firm against repeated Union attacks. In the afternoon, coordinated Confederate counterattacks broke the Union line and turned retreat into a panicked rout, even as civilians who had come to watch fled back toward Washington. The defeat shocked the North, convinced leaders that a long, brutal struggle lay ahead, and set both sides on the path of mass mobilization and harder-edged war.