Bull Run

[civilwartalk]

Bull Run

The site of the first real battle of the Civil War, near Manassas, Va., in July 1861. The name is that of a creek in the area.

Union leaders launched the attack in hope of taking the Manassas railway junction. They planned to march on to Richmond, Va., capital of the Confederacy.

Early in the fighting, the Union troops appeared to be winning. Battlefield confusion and determined Southern resistance helped defeat the Northern attack. "Stonewall" Jackson, a famous Southern military leader, got his nickname here.

Many Northern troops fled back to Washington, D.C., in panic, along with sight seers who had come in expectation of watching an easy victory.