First Bull Run & Other Random Things

Alice Cho

First Bull Run

Union wants to take control of the Confederate capital – Richmond, VA

July 21-The Union led by McDowell and the Confederate led by P.G.T. Beauregard meet at Bull Run Creek• Union pushes Confederates back

• UNTIL 12,000 Confederate troops led by Johnston arrive from Harper’s Ferry

First Bull Run (contd.)

Union retreated and went back to Washington, but the victorious Confederates were too disorganized to pursue.

4,700 casualties total McDowell replaced by McClellan

• McClellan was able to train troops faster

Confederate Territories

About 750,000 sq. mi.• Union had a hard time strategizing

• Best way was to divide and conquer

• Led to the Anaconda Plan-blockade of Confederate seaports to choke off the flow of foreign funds and arms, while battering away at Richmond

• Union forces in the west could penetrate the <3 of the Confederacy at key points (internal waterways-effective modes of transportation)

The War in the West

Union General Ulysses S. Grant seized 2 forts that guarded Tennessee River from his base in Kentucky• Feb. 1862-attacked Fort Henry and Fort

Donnellson

The War in the West (contd.)

Decided to move south down to the Tennessee River• Generals Grant and Don Carlos Buell were to

join forces and move down to Memphis• Vital railhead & supply line uniting the East & West

of Confederate

SURPRISE!- attack by Albert Sidney Johnston & Beauregard at Shiloh

The War in the West (contd.)

April 6- 55,000 Confederates launched an assault, pushing back the Union Army• SURPRISE!- Buell’s 15,000 troops arrived at

night, so they attacked in the morning

Battle at Shiloh• Union=13,000 deaths

• Confederates=10,000 deaths

The War in the East

March 1862 – McClellan used a ferry to carry his 50,000 men to Fortress Monroe (on the coast of Virginia)

Union became threatened by the Virginia (gunboat)

SO, the Union brought out their own gunboat, the Monitor

Standoff resulted.

The War in the East (contd.)

McClellan’s force was undermanned(121, 500) & they used deception and delay to hide weakness. • They were 5 miles away from Richmond, but Johnston

did a counterattack—no reinforcement

Confederate command fell to Robert E. Lee• Launched series of attack (Seven Days of Battle) at

McClellan

Richmond=FAILURE. :[

Second Battle of Bull Run (Aug 28&30, 1862

“Stonewall” Jackson used Shenandoah Mts. to screen movements• Prevented McDowell’s 30,000 from marching

to Richmond

Pope (Union) tried to go south to Richmond, but was defeated at Cedar Mt. on Aug 9

Went back to Washington. :[

Domestic & Political Issues

Initially, the war was about preserving Union; it soon became a war about slavery

August 1861 – General John C. Fremont (Union Army commander in St. Louis) declared slaves owned by Confederates in Missouri were free

May 1862 – General David Hunter declared all slaves owned by Confederates were free in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina

Confiscation Acts- seizure of all Confederate property-including slaves- behind Union=FREE

First Blood to the South: Bull Run, 1861 – Brian Holden Reid

Greatest battle fought on American soil Began with the bombardment of Fort

Sumter on April 12, 1861 Union responded by calling for a

volunteer army (75,000 for 3 months; May 3rd called for 42,000)

Contd.

Confederacy changes capital from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, VA

This move= more focus on VA Union wanted to get to Richmond before

Confederates• Provoked the hysterical cry of “On to

Richmond”

Contd.

Politics governed the workings of this campaign

Military action had been resorted to because American political mechanisms had broken down

Politicians felt that they have been betrayed by the states that seceded• HYSTERIA!!

Contd.

May 1861= McDowell become commander of the Army of the Potomac• He was solemn, humorless, prone to over-

eating, but competent

• Labored under the intense strain of political pressure

Contd.

Hugh Brogan wrote that Americans expected everything to happen quickly

People expected McDowell to end war• Made plans to advance towards Richmond

and to pin down enemy commanded by Johnston in Shenandoah Valley• Plans too complex for bad staff

• Inexperienced-bad staff• COMMAND SYSTEM=CHAOTIC

Untitled. :]

War would be determined by moral, and not material, factors• South felt that they were morally superior

First Bull Run

North thought battle went well, at first Beauregard had his forces in the center

and on the right of Bull Run• Johnston influenced Beauregard to move

forces to the left so that he could counter McDowell’s move• Federal’s strength usually in center and on the right

Reasons for Union defeat

Main feature of this battle was the complete lack of preparation on both sides for sustained military operations

Amount of money for militia was not a lot After Sumter, they raised volunteers

instead of expanding regular army• Volunteer troops-undisciplined and poorly

trained

Untitled. :]

North overconfident before Bull Run & South after it.• Hubris=BAD

Both were not experiencing the realities of war

Wheeeee. :]

Spring of 1862- Peninsular Campaign• Ended with politicians blaming one another for

urging McDowell on to his premature advance

• Tried to discredit Lincoln and his Cabinet The First Battle of Bull Run had revealed

starkly the illusions and false expectations cherished about the character of warfare in the mid-19th century.