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The
Battles of Bull Run
by Katie T.
There were two Battles of Bull Run. The First Battle of Bull Run was the first major land battle in the American Civil war. It was fought on July 21, 1861, in Manassas, Virginia; between the Confederate army led by General P.G.T. Beauregard and General Joseph E. Johnston with 22, 000 troops and the Union army led by General Irvin McDowell with 35, 000 troops. The Confederate army came from Richmond, and was formed by soldiers from twelve Southern States that wanted to keep the slaves. The Union army was from Washington, D. C., and wanted to free the slaves. The Union army soldiers were all volunteers called upon by President Abraham Lincoln and they were inexperienced. The two armies met face to face along Bull Run. After ten hours of violent fighting, there were 900 deaths in the end. The Union army was defeated and retreated to Washington D.C at the daybreak of July 22, 1861.
After this battle, General George B. McClellan became the commander of
the Union Army and turned the inexperienced army into a strong one. In April,
he led the army towards Richmond to join General John Pope’s army. General Robert
E. Lee and General Thomas J. Jackson sent the Confederate Army to stop the Union
Army. After a few battle, the McClellan’s army was pushed back just outside
of Richmond. In August 27, 1862, the Confederate army attacked Pope’s Union
army. This started the Second Battle of Bull Run, which lasted for three days.
On the morning of August 30, General John Pope thought the Confederate army was
retreating and his army followed them. It was a trap by the Confederate army.
General Pope’s army was attacked and nearly destroyed. They had to
retreat back to Washington D.C. There were 3, 300 soldiers killed in total.
After these two battles the south became very powerful. But there would be many
more battles in the American Civil War.
References:
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Virginia, National Park Service
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First Battle
of Bull Run
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Bull_Run