FIRST MANASSAS - FIRST BULL RUN

First Manassas - First Bull Run

First Manassas - First Bull Run

Introduction

Soon after the first conflict between authorities of the Federal Union and those of the Confederate States had occurred in Charleston Harbor, by the bombardment of Fort Sumter -- which beginning at 4:30 A.M. on the 12th of April, 1861, forced the surrender of that fortress within thirty hours thereafter into my hands, -- I was called to Richmond, which by that time had become the Confederate seat of government, and directed to "assume command of the Confederate troops on the Alexandria line." Arriving at Manassas Junction, I took command on the 2d of June, forty-nine days after the evacuation of Fort Sumter by Major Anderson.

Although the position at the time was strategically of commanding importance to the Confederates, the mere terrain was not only without natural defensive advantages, but, on the contrary, was absolutely unfavorable (Manassas, 1961).

Its strategic value was that, with close proximity to the Federal capital, it held in observation the chief Federal army then being assembled in the quarter of Arlington by General McDowell, under the immediate eye of the commander-in-chief, General Scott, for an offensive movement against Richmond; and while it had a railway approach in its rear for the easy accumulation of reënforcements and all the necessary munitions of war from the southward, at the same time another (the Manassas Gap) railway, diverging laterally to the left from that point, gave rapid communications with the fertile valley of the Shenandoah, then teeming with livestock and cereal subsistence, as well as with other resources essential to the Confederates. There was this further value in the position to the Confederate army: that during the period of accumulation, seasoning, and training, it might be fed from the fat fields, pastures, and garners of Loudon, Fauquier, and the lower Shenandoah valley counties, which otherwise must have fallen into the hands of the enemy. But, on the other hand, Bull Run, a petty stream, was of little or no defensive strength; for it abounded in fords, and although for the most part its banks were rocky and abrupt, the side from which it would be approached offensively was in most places the higher, and therefore commanded the opposite ground (Kops, 2001).

Discussion

The war was still fresh and green, more music and flamboyant uniforms than wounds and missing kin. Crowds cheered on July 16, 1861, as Irwin McDowell's army marched through the streets of Washington, then across the bridges and into Virginia. Everyone in the capital was confident that the swaggering army would knock the Rebels aside and end the war in a few weeks, if that long. There would be a few artistic wounds, enough for the newspapers to talk about bandaged heroes, but nothing serious. Some civilians packed picnics and followed the army, wanting to see the spectacle of a battle (Manassas, 1961).

If the crowd didn't know what was coming, neither did the troops. They were hardly disciplined, not accustomed either to marching or ...