Effect on Union and subsequent events

Union forces and civilians alike feared that Confederate forces, 14,000 not engaged in the battle and thus rested, would advance on Washington, DC, only 27 miles away [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/White+House,+The+White+House,+Pennsylvania+Avenue+Northwest,+Washington,+DC/Manassas+National+Battlefield+Park,+6511+Sudley+Rd,+Manassas,+VA+20109/@38.8739661,-77.4266301,11z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x89b7b7bcdecbb1df:0x715969d86d0b76bf!2m2!1d-77.0365298!2d38.8976763!1m5!1m1!1s0x89b667f23d235661:0x7635c08e7530ef73!2m2!1d-77.5365564!2d38.8172215!3e2], with very little standing in their way. On July 24, Prof. Thaddeus S. C. Lowe ascended in the balloon Enterprise to observe the Confederates moving in and about Manassas Junction and Fairfax. He saw no evidence of massing Confederate forces but was forced to land in Confederate territory. It was overnight before he was rescued and could report to headquarters. He reported that his observations "restored confidence" to the Union commanders.

The Northern public was shocked at the unexpected defeat of their army when an easy victory had been widely anticipated, some Northerners having visited to overlook the battlefield and picnic at leisure. Both sides quickly came to realize that the war would be longer and more brutal than they had imagined. On July 22, President Lincoln signed a bill that provided for the enlistment of another 500,000 men for up to three years of service. On July 25, 11,000 Pennsylvanians who had earlier been rejected by the U.S. Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, for federal service in either Patterson's or McDowell's command arrived in Washington, DC, and were finally accepted.

Three months after the First Battle of Bull Run, Union forces suffered another, smaller defeat at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, near Leesburg, Virginia. The perceived military incompetence at both battles led to the establishment of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, a congressional body created to investigate Northern military affairs. Concerning the Battle of First Bull Run, the committee listened to testimony from a variety of witnesses connected with McDowell's army. Although the committee's report concluded that the principal cause of defeat was Patterson's failure to prevent Johnston from reinforcing Beauregard, Patterson's enlistment had expired a few days after the battle, and he was no longer in the service. The Northern public clamored for another scapegoat, and McDowell bore the chief blame. On July 25, he was relieved of army command and replaced by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, who would soon be named general-in-chief of all the Union armies. McDowell was also present to bear significant blame for the defeat of Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia by Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia thirteen months later, at the Second Battle of Bull Run.

Effect on Confederacy

The reaction in the Confederacy was more muted. There was little public celebration, as the Southerners realized that despite their victory, the greater battles that would inevitably come would mean greater losses for their side as well. Once the euphoria of victory had worn off, Jefferson Davis called for 400,000 additional volunteers. Stonewall Jackson, arguably the most important tactical contributor to the victory, received no special recognition but would later achieve glory for his 1862 Valley campaign. Privately, Davis credited Greenhow with ensuring Confederate victory.

The battle also had long-term psychological consequences. The decisive victory led to a degree of overconfidence on the part of Confederate forces and prompted a determined organizational effort on the part of the Union. In hindsight, commentators on both sides agreed that the one-sided outcome "proved the greatest misfortune that would have befallen the Confederacy." Although modern historians generally agree with that interpretation, James M. McPherson has argued that the esprit de corps attained by Confederate troops on the heels of their victory, together with a new sense of insecurity felt by northern commanders, also gave the Confederacy a military edge in the following months.

Confederate victory: turning point of the American Civil War

"Bull Run" vs. "Manassas"

The name of the battle has caused controversy since 1861. The Union army frequently named battles after significant rivers and creeks that played a role in the fighting; the Confederates generally used the names of nearby towns or farms. The U.S. National Park Service uses the Confederate name for its national battlefield park, but the Union name (Bull Run) also has widespread currency in popular literature.

Confusion between battle flags

Battlefield confusion between the battle flags, especially the similarity of the Confederacy's "Stars and Bars" and the Union's "Stars and Stripes" when it was fluttering, led to the adoption of the Confederate Battle Flag, which eventually became the most popular symbol of the Confederacy and the South in general.

Conclusions

The First Battle of Bull Run demonstrated that the war would not be won by one grand battle, and both sides began preparing for a long and bloody conflict. The battle also showed the need for adequately trained and experienced officers and men. One year later, many of the same soldiers who had fought at First Bull Run, now combat veterans, would have an opportunity to test their skills on the same battlefield at the Second Battle of Bull Run/Manassas.

The City of Manassas commemorated the 150th anniversary of the battle July 21–24, 2011.

Battlefield preservation

Part of the site of the battle is now Manassas National Battlefield Park, which is designated as a National Battlefield Park. More than 900,000 people visit the battlefield each year. As a historic area under the National Park Service, the park was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. The American Battlefield Trust and its partners have preserved more than 385 acres of the battlefields at Manassas in 15 transactions since 2010, mostly on the Second Manassas Battlefield.

See also

  • Armies in the American Civil War
  • Troop engagements of the American Civil War, 1861
  • List of costliest American Civil War land battles
  • Origins of the American Civil War
  • Bull Run Mountains
  • Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps

Notes

References

  • Alexander, Edward P. Fighting for the Confederacy: The Personal Recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander. Edited by Gary W. Gallagher. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989. .
  • Ballard, Ted. First Battle of Bull Run: Staff Ride Guide. Washington, DC: United States Army Center of Military History, 2003. .
  • Beatie, Russel H. Army of the Potomac: Birth of Command, November 1860 – September 1861. New York: Da Capo Press, 2002. .
  • Brown, J. Willard. The Signal Corps, U.S.A. in the War of the Rebellion. U.S. Veteran Signal Corps Association, 1896. Reprinted 1974 by Arno Press. .
  • Davis, William C., and the Editors of Time-Life Books. First Blood: Fort Sumter to Bull Run. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1983. .
  • Detzer, David. Donnybrook: The Battle of Bull Run, 1861. New York: Harcourt, 2004. .
  • Eicher, David J. The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. .
  • Esposito, Vincent J. West Point Atlas of American Wars. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1959. . The collection of maps (without explanatory text) is available online at the West Point website. Praeger, 1959.
  • Freeman, Douglas S. Lee's Lieutenants: A Study in Command. 3 vols. New York: Scribner, 1946. .
  • Haydon, F. Stansbury. Military Ballooning during the Early Civil War. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1941. .
  • Livermore, Thomas L. Numbers and Losses in the Civil War in America 1861–65. Reprinted with errata, Dayton, OH: Morninside House, 1986. . First published in 1901 by Houghton Mifflin.
  • Long, E. B. The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861–1865. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971. .
  • McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. .
  • Rafuse, Ethan S. "First Battle of Bull Run." In Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History, edited by David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. .
  • Rafuse, Ethan S. A Single Grand Victory: The First Campaign and Battle of Manassas. The American Crisis Series. Wilmington, DE: SR Books, 2002. .
  • Rawley, James A. Turning Points of the Civil War. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966. .
  • Robertson, James I., Jr. Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Soldier, The Legend. New York: MacMillan Publishing, 1997. .
  • Salmon, John S. The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2001. .
  • Williams, T. Harry. Lincoln and His Generals. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1952. .
  • National Park Service battle description
  • Professor Thaddeus Lowe's Official Report (Part I)

Memoirs and primary sources

  • Dyer, Frederick H., A compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Volume 1, 1908, Des Moines IA
  • Longstreet, James. From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America. New York: Da Capo Press, 1992. . First published in 1896 by J. B. Lippincott and Co.
  • Robert Underwood Johnson, Clarence Clough Buell, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War: The Opening Battles, Volume 1 (Pdf), New York: The Century Co., 1887.
  • U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion : a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901

Further reading

  • Davis, William C. Battle at Bull Run: A History of the First Major Campaign of the Civil War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1977. .
  • Goldfield, David, et al. The American Journey: A History of the United States. 2nd ed. New York: Prentice Hall, 1999. .
  • Gottfried, Bradley M. The Maps of First Bull Run: An atlas of the First Bull Run (Manassas) Campaign, including the Battle of Ball's Bluff, June–October 1861. El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2009. .
  • Hankinson, Alan. First Bull Run 1861: The South's First Victory. Osprey Campaign Series #10. London: Osprey Publishing, 1991. .
  • Hennessy, John J. The First Battle of Manassas: An End to Innocence, July 18–21, 1861. Revised and Updated Edition. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2015. .
  • Hennessy, John, Ethan Rafuse, and Harry Smeltzer. "Historians' Forum: The First Battle of Bull Run." Civil War History 57#2 (June 2011): 106–120.
  • Hines, Blaikie. The Battle of First Bull Run, Manassas Campaign – July 16–22, 1861: An Illustrated Atlas and Battlefield Guide. Maine: American Patriot Press, 2011. .
  • Longacre, Edward G. The Early Morning of War: Bull Run, 1861 (2014).
  • Rable, George. "The Battlefield and Beyond." Civil War History 53#3 (September 2007): 244–51.
  • Battle of Bull Run: Battle maps , photos, history articles, and battlefield news (Civil War Trust)
  • "Map of the Battles of Bull Run, 1861", prepared by Army engineer, National Archives and Records Administration, at World Digital Library
  • Manassas National Battlefield Park website
  • First Battle of Manassas: An End to Innocence, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
  • Harper's Weekly 1861 Report on the Battle of Bull Run
  • Civil War Home website on First Bull Run
  • Animated history of the First Battle of Bull Run
  • FirstBullRun.co.uk
  • First Manassas Campaign with Official Records and Reports
  • Map of the Battles of Bull Run Near Manassas. Solomon Bamberger. Zoomable high-resolution map.
  • Newspaper coverage of the First Battle of Bull Run