- Civil War Series - At the start of the Civil War in 1861, both the Union and the Confederacy foresaw a quick conflict, expecting to be done fighting by summer’s end. Politicians in the North believed the Federal Army would conquer Richmond, the Confederate capital, in one fell swoop, while top Southern general P.G.T. …
- Civil War Series - The climax of the First Battle of Manassas took place on Henry Hill, a grassy pasture west of Bull Run and north of Manassas Junction, Virginia—the object of Union attack. On the afternoon of July 21, 1861, after a Federal victory in the morning at nearby Matthews Hill, fierce Confederate …
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- Civil War Series - The Civil War’s First Battle of Manassas comprised two major engagements: a Union victory at Matthews Hill in the morning, and a Union defeat at Henry Hill in the afternoon. With Gen. Irvin McDowell’s Federal forces crossing Bull Run at Sudley Ford, Confederate Col. Nathan “Shanks” Evans shifted 900 troops …
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- Civil War Series - The Stone Bridge at Virginia’s Manassas National Battlefield Park was the site of the first action of the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861. Destroyed during the war, the bridge has been reconstructed, just off today’s Warrenton Turnpike (Lee Highway), and marks the start of a short circuit …
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- Civil War Series - On July 19, 1861—two days before the Civil War’s First Battle of Manassas—Union General Irwin McDowell dispatched John G. Barnard, his chief engineer, to identify a suitable place for thousands of Federal soldiers, horses, and artillery to cross Bull Run Creek undetected. Barnard found such a crossing at Sudley Ford, …
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- Civil War Series - On July 21, 1861, Union troops crossed northern Virginia’s Bull Run in pursuit of what was supposed to be the nascent Civil War’s first and only decisive battle. Spirits were high; Gen. Irvin McDowell, tasked by President Lincoln to oversee the offensive, led a hodgepodge of Northern volunteers, enlisted for …
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