First battle at the Bull Run
Destroyed stone bridge over the Bull Run, photograph from March 1862
| date | July 21, 1861 |
|---|---|
| place | Fairfax and Prince William County , Virginia , USA |
| output | Confederation victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} United States |
|
| Commander | |
|
Irvin McDowell
|
PGT Beauregard
Joseph E. Johnston |
| Troop strength | |
|
35,000
|
32,000
|
| losses | |
|
2,708 killed: 481
wounded: 1011 missing / captured: 1216 |
1,982 killed: 387
wounded: 1,582 missing / captured: 13 |
.svg){kind=small}
The First Battle of the Bull Run , also known as the First Battle of Manassas , took place on July 21, 1861 and was the first significant land battle of the American Civil War . It ended with a victory for the Potomac Confederate Army under Brigadier General P.GT Beauregard over the Army of Northeastern Virginia under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell .
The psychologically important success of the Confederate troops thwarted the plans of the Union government under President Abraham Lincoln to put an end to the secession of the southern states by marching on their capital, Richmond .
Names of the battle
The different names First Battle of Manassas and First Battle of the Bull Run result from different naming conventions of the Northern States (Union) and the Southern States ( Confederation ): The Confederation often named battles after the nearest city or a striking part of the terrain, the Union after the nearest river or watercourse.
prehistory
President Abraham Lincoln appointed Brigadier General Irvin McDowell as Commander in Chief of the Army of Northeastern Virginia. McDowell was of the opinion that he could not attack at first because his troops were still too poorly trained and too inexperienced. However, the politicians wanted a quick victory, which was particularly intended to ease the pressure on the capital. Arguments against hasty deployment of the inexperienced troops were dismissed by Lincoln with the following words: “ You are green; the rebels are green. You are all green alike ”(German:“ You are inexperienced; the rebels are inexperienced. You are all equally inexperienced ”). McDowell was forced to attack.
Course of the battle
preparation
McDowell planned to conduct a mock attack each with Brigadier General Daniel Tyler's 1st Division on the stone bridge over the Bull Run and with Colonel Thomas A. Davies' brigade on Blackburn's Ford . Under the protection of this deception, the main attack was to be carried out by Brigadier Generals David Hunter and Samuel P. Heintzelman against the Confederate left flank . You should move in a wide arc on the north bank of the Bull Run to Sudley Ford and cross the river there. Then they should carry out a surprise attack at dawn over the gently sloping plateau to Henry Hill .
This plan failed because many troop leaders had never led troops of this size, because of the resulting coordination problems and the soldiers' inexperience. The flank movement was estimated at six kilometers, but was actually twelve kilometers long. Numerous delays during the march and the fatigue of the troops finally did not allow an attack before 10:00 a.m. Additionally, Tyler's mock attack on the stone bridge over Bull Run on the Confederate's right flank was too weak and allowed Colonel Nathan George "Shanks" Evans , who had been informed of the attack on the left flank, the brigade's regiments a mile northwest relocated to face the Union troops there.
But the Confederate soldiers were also inexperienced. The Commander in Chief of the Confederate Potomac Army was the Hero of Fort Sumter , Brigadier General PGT Beauregard. It had strengthened the position system south of the Bull Run and had been strengthened by three brigades of the Shenandoah Army by July 21 . Further reinforcements were still on the railroad from Shenandoah Valley .
Union attack over the flank
Colonel Evans 'brigade was positioned in a line between Matthews House and Sudley Road, exactly in the direction of the Northerners' flank attack. To the south and south-east an open plateau opened up to Henry Hill in the rear of the regiments. Evans was able to withstand the attacking Union troops for an hour, but had to give up the positions around 11:30 a.m. despite reinforcement by the Brigades Colonel Francis Stebbins Bartows and Brigadier General Barnard Elliott Bees (both died in the course of the Battle of the Bull Run). Even the support of Captain John Imboden's artillery could not stop the Union's ever-lengthening line of attack. In complete dissolution, the Evans ', Bartows and Bees' brigades reached the base of Henry Hills.
There, under the command of Brigadier General Thomas Jonathan Jackson, the brigade of the same name had taken up position in front of a long line of trees. The senior officer of the fleeing southerners, Brigadier General Bee, shouted the following now famous sentence to his men:
“Look at Jackson's brigade! It stands there like a stone wall ”
“Look at Jackson's Brigade! It stands there like a wall! "
To this day it is not clear how this statement was meant: out of anger that Jackson did not undertake a discharge attack or out of joy because Bee was able to gather his soldiers protected behind Henry Hill. What is certain is that Jackson was not in the fight at this point, that the escape was stopped and the fighting continued from positions on Henry Hill. Jackson received his nickname "Stonewall", which was also given to his brigade as a name of honor . Imboden's artillery suffered great losses and had very little ammunition. They did not back down, however, until more artillery pieces reached Jackson's line and slowed another advance by Union forces.
Turning point of the battle
The advancing Union troops had lined up from their flank movement along the Warrenton Turnpike and Sudley Road to Henry House and threatened the left flank of the Confederates. McDowell planned a major attack on the Confederate's right flank, relying on a quick advance of the division under Tyler over the bull run. However, this reacted only slowly.
The first of Tyler's brigades to cross the stone bridge was that of Colonel William T. Sherman , who would become well known during the war. However, the brigade suffered the Union's greatest losses during the battle. The Keyes brigades were intercepted directly by the Confederates as they advanced, and when Brigadier General Robert Schenck launched an attack, it was too late to have any effect. McDowell had to realize that his planned attack had failed. A second, quickly planned attack brought the Union troops close to Jackson's positions, but had to be canceled.
Shortly thereafter, McDowell did the Confederates a favor by placing his artillery right on the line of scrimmage at Henry House. Her fire from this position posed no great danger to Jackson; it was also very vulnerable to rapid counterattacks. During the battle, the guns changed hands five times. Heavy losses were inflicted on Union gunners in particular. Their commander, Captain James B. Ricketts - an old friend of Beauregard's - was also injured. Beauregard sent his own medics to take care of the opposing officer.
Disorderly withdrawal of the Union
Beauregard realized that if he held the position at Henry Hill long enough, he would win the battle. Between 2:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. he decided to let the entire line of defense go into the attack. Meanwhile, further reinforcements of the Shenandoah Army under Brigadier General Joseph E. Johnston had arrived by rail . They were immediately thrown into battle and attacked the right flank of the Union troops together with brigades of Beauregard's Potomac Army brought in from the south. Confusion was caused by the 33rd CS Virginia Infantry Regiment, which was still wearing the blue uniforms of the old US Army. The Union artillery hesitated to fire on the enemy and was overrun.
The Union troops evaded the enemy and retreated first to the stone house at the intersection between Sudley Road and Warrenton Turnpike, then further north to Bull Run. Some troops crossed the water in the north at the Sudley ford ( Sudley Ford ), others in the northeast at the poplar ford ( Poplar Ford ). The troops at the stone bridge to the east soon joined the retreat towards Centerville and Washington.
When an artillery shell hit a Union troops carriage on a bridge near Centerville, panic arose among the units. A hitherto relatively orderly retreat turned into a hasty escape. The situation was made worse by onlookers civilians lingering near the battlefield. Members of the higher society from nearby Washington , who had expected an easy Union victory, had come to watch the picnic but were now also panicked and blocked the road to Washington in their carriages.
The Confederates could not use the escape of the Northerners to march on Washington. The soldiers were too exhausted to pursue Union troops.
Troop strength and losses
About 28,450 soldiers fought on the Union side, while the Confederates had a total of 32,230 men. In fact, however, 18,572 Union soldiers and 18,053 Confederation soldiers were involved in the fighting. The losses were relatively small, but shook both sides: McDowell lost 2,708 men (of which 481 were killed, 1,011 wounded and 1,216 captured or missing), Beauregard deplored 1982 men (of which 387 dead, 1,582 wounded and 13 captured or missing).
consequences
The First Battle of the Bull Run, in which both sides had high hopes for an early outcome to the war, was neither great nor decisive in its dimensions and consequences. The losses were limited and the strategic situation on both sides had not changed significantly. The psychological effect, however, was great. The Union's defeat shook the government: Lincoln realized that the Confederates could not be defeated in a few days.
McDowell was deposed as Commander in Chief of the Army of Northeastern Virginia and replaced by Major General George B. McClellan , who soon increased the strength of the army to 150,000 men and trained them well before their next major test, the Peninsular Campaign .
Near Manassas, grocer Wilmer McLean owned a farm where Confederate Brigadier General PGT Beauregard had set up his headquarters. McLean also owned the house at Appomattox Court House , where General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865 , in what is widely believed to be the end of the Civil War. Hence the saying that the Civil War "began in McLean's front yard and ended in his living room."
literature
- William C. Davis: The American Civil War. Soldiers, generals, battles . Translated from the American by Anke Schreiber. Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 2004, ISBN 3-8289-0384-3 .
- John Macdonald: Great Battles of the Civil War . Collier Books and Maxwell Macmillan International, New York 1992, ISBN 0-02-034554-2 .
- James M. McPherson : Battle Cry of Freedom. The Civil War Era . Oxford University Press, New York 1988, ISBN 0-19-503863-0 .
- James M. McPherson (Ed.): The Atlas of the Civil War . Running Press, Philadelphia 2005, ISBN 0-7624-2356-0 .
- United States War Department (Ed.): The War of the Rebellion. A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies . United States Government Printing Office , Washington 1880-1901.
- Richard W. Stewart, general editor: American Military History, Volume 1, The United States Army and the Forging of a Nation, 1775-1917 . US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 2005, ISBN 0-16-072362-0 , pp. 207-212 ( army.mil ).
swell
- ^ A b The Battle of First Manassas (First Bull Run). National Park Service, November 17, 2019, accessed February 28, 2020 .
- ^ Union losses. Cornell University Library, January 12, 2017, accessed February 28, 2020 (Official Records, Vol. 42, Part 1, p. 327).
- ↑ Confederate losses. Cornell University Library, January 12, 2017, accessed February 28, 2020 (Official Records, Vol. 42, Part 1, p. 570).
- ^ John MacDonald: Great Battles of the Civil War , p. 12
- ↑ General PGT Beauregard : Stonewall
Web links
- The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
- Preparation of a military-historical field briefing for staff officers of the US Army (English)
- Animation of the battle on the American Battlefield Trust website
Coordinates: 38 ° 48 ′ 53 " N , 77 ° 31 ′ 22" W.