First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas): The Wake-Up Call for Both Sides in the American Civil War
The First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) on 21 July 1861 was the first major battle of the American Civil War and a wake-up call for both sides which, until then, believed that the war would be over quickly, and they would come out the winner. Each side pointed to earlier, smaller, battles to support their claim.
The engagement is known as the First Battle of Bull Run (or First Bull Run) and the First Battle of Manassas (or First Manassas) because of the way each side named battles. The Union named them after streams, the Confederates after towns. Bull Run was a tributary stream; Manassas Junction was a town.
The Battle of First Bull Run (First Manassas) drastically changed how both North and South viewed the war and also how they saw themselves. Prior to the battle, each side was confident in their armies but, afterwards, it was clear that both armies were disorganized, and both made critical mistakes and, at the same time, that neither was prepared to back down.
The Union forces finally fled the field at the end of the day following a strong Confederate counterattack – an event described by the English journalist William H. Russell in his 1861 article Battle of Bull Run (an excerpt of which is published today as Panic at Bull Run) – but, until the success of that counterattack, it was unclear which way the battle was going to go.
Neither side believed the other would show such resolve and neither anticipated the losses. The casualty count for the battle was much higher than any previous engagement – a total of 4,878 - 2,896 for the Union and 1,982 for the Confederacy.
The battle convinced both sides that the war would be a long and bloody affair and, in time, as engagements such as the Battle of Antietam and the Battle of Gettysburg ended in much higher casualty counts, those of the Battle of First Bull Run (First Manassas) would increasingly seem minor.
Background
The American Civil War began with the Battle of Fort Sumter (12-13 April 1861) and the engagements that followed had relatively few casualties. The Battle of Rich Mountain (11 July 1861), for example, had a casualty count of 46 Union and between 170-600 Confederate.
These low numbers, and the Union victories of Major General George B. McClellan at the Battle of Philippi (Philippi Races) and Rich Mountain encouraged the North to believe victory would be won quickly and with little loss of life. The South believed exactly the same thing and for the same reasons, noting, for example, their victory in the Battle of Big Bethel (10 June 1861) in which their casualty count was only eight.
After the Confederate victory at the Battle of Fort Sumter, both sides had called for volunteers – and those calls had been answered. Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard, who had won at Sumter, was placed in charge of Confederate forces and Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, who had limited field experience, was chosen to lead the Union Army of Northeastern Virginia.
McDowell, whose strengths were in administration, not combat, insisted that he be given time to train and discipline his troops – most of whom had no military experience – but his request was denied by the Lincoln Administration on the grounds of the Union victories already noted.
It was clear to Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet, as well as the Northern press, that a direct attack on the Confederate capital at Richmond would end the war quickly – and one did not need a professionally trained force for that. Further, the enlistment for many of the volunteer army would be up by the end of July and action needed to be taken before that happened.
Consequently, McDowell was ordered to move against Richmond as quickly as possible – and did so not only with untrained and undisciplined troops but also with companies and units in various kinds of uniforms. The Union volunteers knew nothing of war and signed up expecting to have a grand adventure and be back home in a few months. They dressed as they saw fit, behaved as they pleased, and routinely argued with officers.
The Confederate forces under Beauregard were in the same state of disorganization and also lacked discipline and training. Many Confederate soldiers wore the blue uniforms they had worn in the US Army, others wore gray, others wore brown or whatever color clothes they pleased. The variations in uniform, on both sides, would result in several moments of confusion during the battle and one of those would actually result in a pivotal moment toward the day’s end.
The command structure was also confused and so, although Beauregard began the engagement with a grand plan for defeating McDowell, this would have to be amended as communication breakdowns and miscommunication became a serious problem throughout the battle.
Beauregard began the day with a significant advantage: the pro-Confederate spy in Washington, D.C., Rose O’Neal Greenhow, had provided him with McDowell’s battle plans. Even this, however, could do little good in an army lacking organization and clear communication from command.
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⇒ First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas): The Wake-Up Call for Both Sides in the American Civil War
