Download - 1 st Battle of Bull Run
Call to Arms
• Two days after Ft. Sumter, Lincoln issues proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteers
• Volunteers agree to serve for 3 months in order to put down the rebellion in the south
• Lincoln got more than enough volunteers, but 4 more states seceded in response
Background
• “On to Richmond”– After losing Ft.
Sumter, Union forces wanted to take the capital of the CSA.
– Wanted to take Richmond, Virginia
• 39,000 Union Soldiers marched to Richmond– Brigadier General Irvin
McDowell
Background
• 21,000 Confederate troops– Led by Hero of Ft.
Sumter– Brigadier General
P.G.T. Beauregard
• 11,000 additional troops– Brigadier General
Joseph E. Johnston– Reinforce Beauregard
Picnicking at the Battle Ground
• People carried picnic baskets and champagne• Brought binoculars to view the action more closely• Believed the battle would not last long• No doubt that the Northern army would easily overpower
the Rebels
The Fight Begins
• July 21, 1861• Manassas Junction,
Virginia– Near Bull Run Creek– 30 miles west of
Washington D.C.
Fighting
• Union Forces, led by McDowell cross Bull Run Creek and attack the Rebels
• Troops were undisciplined, inadequately trained, and poorly equipped.
• Officers had little experience leading large armies
Fighting Continues
• At First,– Union army successfully
pushed back the left side of the Confederate Army
• Confederates Rally– Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson– He held “Like a Stone Wall.”
Reinforcements
• Confederates receive reinforcements– Push the tired Union troops
back toward Bull Run Creek
• Union Retreats– Began as an orderly retreat– Army runs into hundreds of
onlookers– Picnickers panicked and
got in the way of retreating soldiers
Battle Outcome
• The Rebels troops defeated the Union forces– They won the first
major battle in the war– The Union hope of
winning the war quickly disapeared
• Proved both armies needed training
Outcome Continued
• Union General Winfield Scott retires
• General George McClellan appointed to lead the Union Army– Takes time to train the
army