The First Battle of Manassas

A detailed Summary of The First Battle of Manassas


On a hot summer day in July of 1861 there stood about 30,000 Union troops lead by General Irvin McDowell ready to march out and capture Richmond and end the war. For the troops were young volunteers and thought that the battle would only last one day. But they were wrong for the battle of Manassas or otherwise known as Bull Run lasted more then one day the battle lasted six days instead. The Confederates had 22,000 men who were headed by Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, Col. Nathan Evans, Barnard Bee, Col. Francis Bartow, and Gen. Thomas J. Jackson.

As the Union army marched towards Richmond they had little knowledge of what the war would mean. For all they knew was that the war would only last one day and they would go home. General McDowell had a plan to seize the railroad junction at Manassas, so he would have a better approach to the Confederate's Capital. As the Union was trying to devise a plan to seize the railroad junction th


The Union stopped the confederate's attacks, but the battle lasted long enough for the confederates to reenforce their lines. Both sides where battling back and forth trying to force one or the other off Henry Hill. The confederates took out the Unions right flank on the Chinn Ridge, which caused McDowell's unit to retreat back across Bull Run, where the roads were crowed with people trying to see the battle. In all the confusion of the battle Gen. Bee and Col. Bartow die in action, and Gen. Stonewall takes command and attacks.

The battle begins on the morning of July 21; McDowell sent his troops to march north toward Sudley Springs. McDowell created a decoy attack at the stone bridge where Warrenton Turnpike crossed Bull Run, to distract southerners. At Approximately 5:30 AM a loud single shot was fired which signaled the battle. As McDowell's men headed towards Matthews Hill, Col. Nathan Evans realized that the attack at Stone Bridge was only a diversion, so he sent his command rush

Some common words found in the essay are:
Bull Run, Gen Bee, Jackson Union, Manassas Junction, Irvin McDowell, Francis Bartow, Gen McDowell, Capital Union, Battle Manassas, Thomas Jackson's, bull run, gen thomas, gen bee, attack stone bridge, towards matthews hill, col nathan, francis bartow, bee col, barnard bee, battle lasted, hold union, gen thomas jackson, col nathan evans, beauregard gen, seize railroad junction,

Approximate Word count = 672
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

join now Save Paper



Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.