Battle of Bull Run Essay -- essays research papers

In Virginia the first battle of the Civil War was fought, near Manassas, Virginia railroad junction, after which the battle is called (or First Bull Run, named after the flowing stream on the battlefield, if of the Union point of view). The armies in this first battle were not prodigious by later Civil War principles. The Federal services under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell were well thought-out into four divisions, of about 30,000 men. These divisions were commanded by Tyler, Hunter, Heintzelman, and Miles. The Confederate command structure was to some extent more unmanageable, including two "armies", with no division structure and thirteen independent brigades under Bonham, Ewell, Jones, Longstreet, Cocke, Early, Holmes, Kershaw, Evans, Jackson, Bartow, Bee, Smith, and a cavalry brigade under Stuart. The Confederate Army of the Potomac was under the command of Brigadier General Pierre G. T. Beauregard, and the Army of the Shenandoah was controlled by Brigadier General Joseph E. Johnston. These two forces would be equivalent to McDowell's strength. The first battle of Bull Run (or first battle of Manassas) was the first major engagement of the Civil War. Federal troops led by General McDowell advanced towards Manassas Junction, where Confederate troops were dug in, overcrowding the road to Richmond. Both Confederate and Union troops were not prepared for battle. Union troops advanced on Confederate troops, practically breaking through, but at the last split second, Confederate reinforcements arrived on the battlefield and carried the day. Union troops were routed. As Washington filled with Union soldiers, the anxiety grew to take action. Horace Greely, the mercurial editor of the New York Herald Tribune kept up a persistent stream of editorials echoed throughout the Union " Forward to Richmond- Forward to Richmond.? Army Chief of Staff Winfield Scott put forth a arrangement to beat the confederacy. He called for a inclusive barricade of South, followed by a forceful army to take hold of the Mississippi and New Orleans. Only after all this was accomplished he suggested launching a significant attack against the center of the Confederacy. He opposed any gradually actions. The demands for action however, could not be deprived of. General McDowell came up with a plan for a direct att... ... The line had to be held. A few moments later General Johnson gave the order for a counterattack. The Confederate attack quickly broke the Union lines. Before long the retreat of the union army turned into a complete rout. It was impossible to stop the retreating soldiers from heading all the way back to the Potomac River. In the midst of the flight were hundreds of sightseers from Washington, including six senators and ten Congressmen. As Congressman Riddle stated: "We called to them, tried to tell them there was no danger, called them to stop, implored them to stand. We called them cowards, denounced them in the most offensive term, put out our heavy revolvers, and threatened to shoot them, but all in vain; a cruel crazy, mad, hopeless panic possessed them, and communicated to everybody about in front and rear. The heat was awful, although now about six; the men were exhausted their mouths' gaped, their lips cracked and blackened with the powder of the cartridges they had bitten off in the battle, their eyes starting in frenzy; no mortal ever saw such a mass of ghastly wretches."