1st Bull Run
The First Battle of Bull Run, referred to as the First Battle of Manassas in the South, was the first major land battle of the American Civil War . This wasn't one of the biggest battles of the war, but it was the formal opening for both sides. Of the 32,500 Confederate soldiers, 1,982 of them became casualties, while the Union counted 2,896 casualties from 35,000 troops. Many thought this would quickly settle the dispute; all it did was prepare everyone for a long war and move the Federal government into action.
Principal Commanders
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard (1819 - 1893) Confederate Army
Beauregard was a Frenchman who had extensively studied Napoleon. He graduated second in his West Point class in 1853. One of his instructors was Major Robert Anderson, whom he forced into surrender at the outbreak of the Civil War at Fort Sumpter, South Carolina.
English: Map of the Second Battle of Bull Run of t...
Partial map of the First Battle of Bull Run of the...
English: First Battle of Bull Run, chromolithograp...At the battle of First Bull Run, he defeated Irvin McDowell, who was a fellow cadet. Beauregard was commissioned as an engineer, distinguished himself in the war with Mexico, and served as the superintendent of West Point, but resigned in 1861 to serve the Confederate Army. He saw action at Shiloh and Charleston, South Carolina. He ended the war as commander of the Department of North Carolina and Southeastern Virginia.
Irvin McDowell (1818 - 1885) Union Army
McDowell was educated in France and graduated 23rd from his West Point class in 1838. He carried the rank of major and was serving under General Winfield Scott in Washington, D.C., when the Civil War began. He was in close contact with Lincoln and government officials and impressed them so that they promoted him to Brigadier general in May, 1861. McDowell was pushed into fighting the battle of First of Bull Run,