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P.G.T. Beauregard - American Civil War - HISTORY.com

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Find out more about the history of P.G.T. Beauregard, including videos, interesting articles, pictures, historical features and more. Get all the facts on HISTORY.com

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Contents

1. Stonewall Jackson's Early Years

2. Stonewall Jackson's Civilian Life

3. Jackson Earns His Name

4. Stonewall Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign

5. Jackson's Partnership with Lee

6. The Battle of Chancellorsville and Jackson's Death

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (1824-63) was one of the South's most successful generals during the American Civil War (1861-65). After a difficult childhood, he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in time to fight in the Mexican War (1846-48). He then left the military to pursue a teaching career. After his home state of Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, Jackson joined the Confederate army and quickly forged his reputation for fearlessness and tenacity during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign later that same year. He served under General Robert E. Lee (1807-70) for much of the Civil War. Jackson was a decisive factor in many significant battles until his mortal wounding by friendly fire at the age of 39 during the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863.

Stonewall Jackson's Early Years

Thomas Jonathan Jackson was born on January 21, 1824, in Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia). When Jackson was two years old, his six-year-old sister died of typhoid fever. His father, Jonathan Jackson (1790-1826), an attorney, perished of the same disease a short time later, leaving his wife, Julia Neale Jackson (1798-1831), with three children and considerable debt. After Julia Jackson remarried in 1830, to a man who reportedly disliked his stepchildren, Thomas Jackson and his siblings were sent to live with various relatives. The future Civil War general was raised by an uncle in the town of Jackson's Mill, located in present-day West Virginia.

Did you know? In 1954, Stonewall Jackson's home in Lexington, Virginia-the only home he ever owned-was turned into a museum and historic site. Jackson lived in the home, which is filled with period furniture and some of his personal possessions, during the decade he taught at the Virginia Military Institute.

In 1842, Jackson enrolled at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Older than many of the other students, he initially struggled with the curriculum and endured frequent ridicule for his modest background and relatively poor education. However, Jackson worked hard and eventually met with academic success, graduating in 1846.

Jackson left West Point just as the Mexican War was starting and he was sent to Mexico as a lieutenant with the 1st U.S. Artillery. He quickly earned a reputation for toughness and bravery, and by the war's end in 1848 he held the rank of brevet major. Jackson continued his military service until he accepted a professorship at the Virginia Military Institute in 1851.

Stonewall Jackson's Civilian Life

Jackson spent 10 years as a professor of artillery tactics and natural philosophy (similar to modern-day physics) at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. He was better at teaching artillery than natural philosophy, and was disliked by some cadets for his brusqueness, lack of sympathy and eccentric behavior. Students mocked him for his hypochondria and his habit of keeping one arm elevated to hide a perceived discrepancy in the length of his limbs.

In 1853, Jackson married Elinor Junkin (1825-54), the daughter of a Presbyterian minister who was the president of Washington College. She died in childbirth 14 months later; in 1857, Jackson married Mary Anna Morrison (1831-1915), the daughter of a former president of Davidson College. The following year, the couple had a daughter; however, the child lived for only a month. Jackson's one surviving daughter, Julia Laura (1862-89), was born less than a year before her father's death.

Jackson's final years in the Lexington community earned him a reputation as an honest and dutiful man of devout faith. He did not drink, gamble or smoke. When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, Jackson accepted a commission as a colonel in the Confederate army and went off to war, never to return to Lexington alive.

Jackson Earns His Name

During the first wave of secession from December 1860 through February 1861, during which time seven Southern states declared their independence from the U.S., Jackson hope that his home state of Virginia would remain in the Union. However, when Virginia seceded in April 1861, he supported the Confederacy, showing his loyalty to his state over the federal government.

Jackson served only briefly as a colonel before receiving a promotion to brigadier general under General Joseph E. Johnston (1807-91). Jackson earned his nickname at the First Battle of Bull Run (also known as Manassas) in July 1861 when he rushed his troops forward to close a gap in the line against a determined Union attack. Upon observing Jackson, one of his fellow generals reportedly said, "Look, men, there is Jackson standing like a stone wall!"-a comment that spawned Jackson's nickname. Jackson was commissioned a major general in October 1861.

Stonewall Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign

In the spring of 1862, Jackson spearheaded the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, firmly establishing himself as a strong and independent commander. The Confederate army's high command had charged him with the task of defending western Virginia from an invasion by Union troops. With an army of some 15,000 to 18,000 troops, Jackson repeatedly outmaneuvered a superior Union force of more than 60,000 men. Jackson's army moved so quickly during the campaign that they dubbed themselves "foot cavalry." President Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) had split the Union army into three parts, and Jackson used his mobility to attack and confuse the divided forces over the course of the campaign. He won several key victories over armies of larger size. By the campaign's end in June, he had earned the admiration of Union generals. Jackson had prevented the Northerners from taking the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, and had done so in the face of unfavorable odds.

Jackson's Partnership with Lee

Jackson joined Lee's army in June 1862, and Lee was determined to keep him in the thick of the fighting in Virginia. Chosen for his tactical prowess and bravery, Jackson did not disappoint. From August 1862 until May 1863, he and his troops played key roles at the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of Chancellorsville.

By October 1862, Jackson was a lieutenant general and led a significant portion of Lee's army. His widely publicized exploits had elevated him to legendary status among Southern soldiers and citizens alike. Jackson's bravery and success inspired devotion from his soldiers, but to his officers, he was known as overly secretive and difficult to please. He frequently punished his officers for relatively minor violations of military discipline and rarely discussed his plans with them. Rather, they were expected to obey his orders without question.

The Battle of Chancellorsville and Jackson's Death

Lee and Jackson's most famous victory took place near a crossroads at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia in May 1863. Facing a numerically superior Union force of 130,000 men to 60,000 of their own, Lee and Jackson devised and executed a plan to rout the army of Union General Joseph Hooker (1814-79).

Historians call this battle one of Lee's finest moments as a Confederate general, and his success owed much to Jackson's participation. On May 2, Jackson stealthily and quickly took 28,000 troops on an approximately 15-mile forced march to Hooker's exposed flank while Lee engaged in diversionary attacks on his front. Jackson's attack on the Union rear inflicted massive casualties on the superior force, and Hooker was forced to withdraw only days later.

But the victory was not without cost. Jackson's brutal attack ended at sunset, and he took some men into the forest to scout ahead. A North Carolina regiment mistook them for enemy cavalry and opened fire, severely wounding Jackson. He was taken from the field and General J. E. B. Stuart (1833-64) took over his command. Doctors determined that a bullet had shattered the bone just below his left shoulder, and they quickly amputated Jackson's left arm. He was transferred to a field hospital at a nearby plantation to recover. Lee dispatched a letter, writing, "Could I have directed events, I would have chosen for the good of the country to be disabled in your stead." Jackson initially appeared to be healing, but he died from pneumonia on May 10, 1863, at the age of 39. Southerners mourned his death, while Lee faced fighting the war without a highly valued general and comrade. Jackson was buried in Lexington, Virginia.

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Stonewall Jackson's Early Years Stonewall Jackson's Civilian Life Jackson Earns His Name Stonewall Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign Jackson's Partnership with Lee The Battle of Chancellorsville and Jackson's Death Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (1824-63) was one of the South's most successful generals during the American Civil War (1861-65).

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Joseph E. Johnston - American Civil War - HISTORY.com

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Find out more about the history of Joseph E. Johnston, including videos, interesting articles, pictures, historical features and more. Get all the facts on HISTORY.com

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North: Irvin McDowell
South: P.G.T Beauregard, Joseph E. Johnston, and Thomas Jackson

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The North was finally willing to start fighting the South because they thought they were doing wrong. The North thought it would be an easy win.

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4,000 Soldiers in Union and then they knew Confederate states were serious

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year/date
what lead to event
who was involved
write specific description of event
why was this important
WHY IT'S CHOSEN

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The Union thought it would be a piece of cake to win the Civil War, but this battle had shown them it wouldn't be that easy

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Manassas, Virginia. Fairfax County and Prince William County

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35,000 Union soldiers
20,000 Confederate soldiers

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Manassas Junction, Virginia, 25 minutes away from Washington D.C

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Contents

1. Prelude to the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)

2. Battle Begins at Bull Run

3. The "Rebel Yell" at Bull Run (Manassas)

4. Who Won The Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)?

The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of Manassas, marked the first major land battle of the American Civil War. On July 21, 1861, Union and Confederate armies clashed near Manassas Junction, Virginia. The engagement began when about 35,000 Union troops marched from the federal capital in Washington, D.C. to strike a Confederate force of 20,000 along a small river known as Bull Run. After fighting on the defensive for most of the day, the rebels rallied and were able to break the Union right flank, sending the Federals into a chaotic retreat towards Washington. The Confederate victory gave the South a surge of confidence and shocked many in the North, who realized the war would not be won as easily as they had hoped.

Prelude to the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)

By July 1861, two months after Confederate troops opened fire on Fort Sumter to begin the Civil War, the northern press and public were eager for the Union Army to make an advance on Richmond ahead of the planned meeting of the Confederate Congress there on July 20. Encouraged by early victories by Union troops in western Virginia and by the war fever spreading through the North, President Abraham Lincoln ordered Brigadier General Irvin McDowell to mount an offensive that would hit quickly and decisively at the enemy and open the way to Richmond, thus bringing the war to a mercifully quick end. The offensive would begin with an attack on more than 20,000 Confederate troops under the command of General P.G.T. Beauregard camped near Manassas Junction, Virginia (25 miles from Washington, D.C.) along a little river known as Bull Run.

Did you know? After First Manassas, Stonewall Jackson further distinguished himself in the Shenandoah Valley, Second Manassas and Fredericksburg. The man Lee called his "right arm" was accidentally shot by his own men at Chancellorsville and died of complications relating to the injury.

The cautious McDowell, then in command of the 35,000 Union volunteer troops gathered in the Federal capital, knew that his men were ill-prepared and pushed for a postponement of the advance to give him time for additional training. But Lincoln ordered him to begin the offensive nonetheless, reasoning (correctly) that the rebel army was made up of similarly amateur soldiers. McDowell's army began moving out of Washington on July 16; its slow movement allowed Beauregard (who also received advance notice of his enemy's movements through a Confederate espionage network in Washington) to call on his fellow Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston for reinforcements. Johnston, in command of some 11,000 rebels in the Shenandoah Valley, was able to outmaneuver a Union force in the region and march his men towards Manassas.

Battle Begins at Bull Run

McDowell's Union force struck on July 21, shelling the enemy across Bull Run while more troops crossed the river at Sudley Ford in an attempt to hit the Confederate left flank. Over two hours, 10,000 Federals gradually pushed back 4,500 rebels across the Warrington turnpike and up Henry House Hill. Reporters, congressmen and other onlookers who had traveled from Washington and were watching the battle from the nearby countryside prematurely celebrated a Union victory, but reinforcements from both Johnston and Beauregard's armies soon arrived on the battlefield to rally the Confederate troops. In the afternoon, both sides traded attacks and counterattacks near Henry House Hill. On Johnston and Beauregard's orders, more and more Confederate reinforcements arrived, even as the Federals struggled with coordinating assaults made by different regiments.

The "Rebel Yell" at Bull Run (Manassas)

By four o'clock in the afternoon, both sides had an equal number of men on the field of battle (about 18,000 on each side were engaged at Bull Run), and Beauregard ordered a counterattack along the entire line. Screaming as they advanced (the "rebel yell" that would become infamous among Union troops) the Confederates managed to break the Union line. As McDowell's Federals retreated chaotically across Bull Run, they ran headlong into hundreds of Washington civilians who had been watching the battle while picnicking on the fields east of the river, now making their own hasty retreat.

Among the future leaders on both sides who fought at First Manassas were Ambrose E. Burnside and William T. Sherman (for the Union) along with Confederates like Stuart, Wade Hampton, and most famously, Thomas J. Jackson, who earned his enduring nickname, "Stonewall" Jackson, in the battle. Jackson, a former professor at the Virginia Military Institute, led a Virginia brigade from the Shenandoah Valley into the battle at a key moment, helping the Confederates hold an important high-ground position at Henry House Hill. General Barnard Bee (who was later killed in the battle) told his men to take heart, and to look at Jackson standing there "like a stone wall."

Who Won The Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)?

Despite their victory, Confederate troops were far too disorganized to press their advantage and pursue the retreating Yankees, who reached Washington by July 22. The First Battle of Bull Run (called First Manassas in the South) cost some 3,000 Union casualties, compared with 1,750 for the Confederates. Its outcome sent northerners who had expected a quick, decisive victory reeling, and gave rejoicing southerners a false hope that they themselves could pull off a swift victory. In fact, both sides would soon have to face the reality of a long, grueling conflict that would take an unimaginable toll on the country and its people.

On the Confederate side, accusations flew between Johnston, Beauregard and President Jefferson Davis over who was to blame for the failure to pursue and crush the enemy after the battle. For the Union, Lincoln removed McDowell from command and replaced him with George B. McClellan, who would retrain and reorganize Union troops defending Washington into a disciplined fighting force, thereafter known as the Army of the Potomac.

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The First Battle of Bull Run was the first major battle of the American Civil War. The battle, fought in 1861 by poorly trained volunteers, ended in Confederate victory. The high casualty count from the battle made both sides realize it would be a long, costly war.

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First major battle in the American Civil War
It gave the South a surge of confidence and bravery. "Yo, man, we actually have a chance, man!"

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First Battle of Bull Run: The U.S Marines

As Marine Major John G. Reynolds marched his battalion over the Potomac Long Bridge on the afternoon of July 16, 1861, he must have wondered what lay ahead for his Marines. A Mexican War veteran, Reynolds had seen Marines serve with distinction in that war 14 years earlier, and now he fully expected his command to do the same. Still, as an officer with 35 years of military service under his belt, Reynolds worried about the green troops under his command. True, they were Marines, but as they headed toward their first fight in a new war, across a small Virginia creek called Bull Run, he had some doubts that could only be answered when the bullets began to fly.

The order to the commandant had been specific: 'You will be pleased to detail from the barracks four companies of eighty men each, the whole under the command of Major Reynolds with the necessary officers, noncommissioned officers and musicians for temporary field service under Brigadier General [Irvin] McDowell. The Marines were to join Union forces moving to oppose the Confederates positioned at Manassas, Va. From regiments of brand-new volunteers to U.S. Army regulars, every available Union soldier was being rushed toward the impending fray, and the Marines were no exception.One part of the Confederate Army had already occupied Manassas, a day's march of 26 miles from Washington, D.C. General P.G.T. Beauregard's Southerners, about 23,000 strong, were astride an important railroad junction and in position to threaten the capital itself. The remainder of the Confederate forces, 15,000 men under General Joseph E. Johnston, were in the vicinity of Harpers Ferry, 70 miles northwest of Manassas.

The Confederate Army, split as it was into two separate wings, seemingly invited attack, and the Union commander was being pressured from all sides to take quick and decisive action. McDowell needed to act quickly to defeat the divided Confederates while he still commanded an army. Many of the 90-day Union volunteer regiments in his army, called into service in response to Confederate seizure of Fort Sumter two months earlier, were nearing the end of their enlistments, and many of the new replacement regiments were not yet combat-ready. Nevertheless, recognizing the need for urgency, the Lincoln administration rushed additional reinforcements to McDowell from all parts of the Union. Raw young recruits from New York, New England, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Minnesota poured into Washington, camping in a sea of white tents visible in every direction from the Capitol dome.

The arrival of new troops in Washington reflected the growing sense of panic within both the government and the Union Army. With a teeming Rebel army mere miles away, an understandable sense of urgency gripped the president, his cabinet and U.S. Army General-in-Chief Winfield Scott, an aging hero of the Mexican War. Scott, in particular, was obsessed with protecting the capital, to the point of resisting McDowell's plan for taking the war to the Confederates in Virginia and advising instead that he consider making a large-scale assault down the Mississippi River to split the Confederacy in two. McDowell, in turn, refused to consider Scott's counter suggestion, and Lincoln eventually intervened, ordering flatly that the Union Army take the offensive-immediately.

Under direct orders from the president, McDowell drew up a plan for dividing his army into three columns to converge on the Rebels from three different directions north of Manassas. The plan was a good one, but it required at least twice as many men as McDowell then had at hand-hence the tumultuous influx of new recruits in Washington.

The Marine Corps of 1861 reflected the turmoil of the times. Its 48 officers and 2,338 enlisted men had a wide range of experience levels, from aging veterans to raw recruits. Having grown by 25 percent between 1860 and 1861, the Corps swelled once again as the Civil War started. Indeed, the influx was so rapid that new troops at the Washington Navy Yard had to be berthed in the stables. Since many veteran Marines still served aboard ships or were deployed at U.S. shore installations throughout the world, few experienced Marines remained in Washington to help preserve the Union. As a result, untested new recruits filled out the ranks of Reynold's force.

The Civil War influenced the number and quality of Marine officers available for duty, as well. Although the total number of Marine officers remained essentially the same after the war started, the experience level of the officers declined. Twenty Marine officers resigned from service, electing to join the Confederacy in the spring of 1861. More critically, among the ranks from first lieutenant to major, nearly half of the officers headed South. Thus it was that half of Reynolds' Marine officers marching to face a hostile enemy had been commissioned within the previous two months.

It took time for the new Marine units to be integrated, however hastily, into the Army, and in the meantime, Lincoln, Scott and the cabinet members fretted. The target date for the offensive, July 8, passed without a whimper. McDowell, sitting in his camp, complained to his staff that he had no opportunity to test my machinery, to move it around and see whether it would work smoothly or not. Unfortunately for McDowell, he did not have the luxury of a test run. Scott, fuming at the delay, told Brig. Gen. Daniel Tyler that there was no excuse for an unfortunate result in the upcoming campaign, since McDowell had superior numbers and equipment in his favor. McDowell, however, did not see it that way. I wanted very much a little time, he said later, all of us wanted it. We did not have a bit of it. The answer was: 'You are green, it is true; but they are green, also; you are all green alike.'

Finally, on July 15, final orders were given for an advance the next day. Brigadier General Samuel Heintzelman would lead one wing of the army down the Orange & Alexandria Railroad to a point below the Confederate army at Manassas. Brigadier General David Hunter would head toward Centreville, a village directly northeast of Bull Run. And Tyler would head for Vienna, where he would proceed west to block the Little River Turnpike and the Rebel line of retreat. On to Richmond! was the informal, if overly optimistic, watchword of the campaign.

Reynolds formed his men into a battalion and trooped out from the Washington Navy Yard with the rest of the army on July 16. In addition to four companies of 320 privates, the battalion included 12 officers, 17 noncommissioned officers, two drummers and two fifers. None of the privates had been in the service for more than three weeks, and only 16 Marines had had significant experience. Still, the leaders were seasoned Marines. Besides Reynolds' 35 years of service, his second-in-command, Major Jacob Zeilin, had been in service for 30 years. Of the remainder, only three other officers, nine noncommissioned officers and two musicians could be considered veterans.

The Marines were attached to Colonel Andrew Porter's brigade of the 2nd Division. The brigade numbered 3,700 men and included a militia regiment from New York, the 8th New York; two volunteer regiments, the 14th and the 27th New York; a battalion of Army regulars; a cavalry detachment; and an artillery battery from the 5th U.S. Artillery under Captain Charles Griffin. Porter recognized only too well the rawness of the Marines, but still complimented them: Through the constant exertions of their officers [they] had been brought to present a fine military appearance. He assigned Reynolds' battalion to support Griffin's battery. By accompanying the artillery, Griffin reasoned, the Marines might be shielded from the heaviest fire, and their inexperience might not become a factor.

The Union army's march toward Manassas took twice as long as expected, with one day of travel lost when field rations were not packed as ordered. It was not until July 21 that the Federals arrived near Centreville, where the Confederates guarded the lower crossings of Bull Run. McDowell's plan was to make a feint against the Confederate positions on Bull Run with half of his army while marching the remainder of his force upstream. There, at a ford near Sudley Springs, the soldiers would cross Bull Run, presumably turning the flank of the preoccupied Confederates. The Marines and the rest of Porter's brigade would be a part of the Union flanking force.

Speed was the key to the successful execution of McDowell's complex plan. Unfortunately, in 1861 there were few units in the green Union Army that could move fast enough to make it work without a total loss of organization. Still, that was the plan, and the soldiers moved out as rapidly as possible, some of them singing Dixie as they moved into Virginia.Porter's brigade and the Marines did their part, falling into marching order at 2 a.m. Despite the early start, the marchers suffered immediate delays and could not keep to the attack timetable. Columns became hopelessly disorganized, mixing with other units on the road and becoming confused in the dark; other regiments lost their way completely. It was not until midmorning on the 21st that the first Union elements actually crossed Bull Run.

Even as the congestion cleared, the Marines discovered another challenge to their march. Griffin's battery contained six horse-drawn cannons that raced ahead of the brigade whenever they could to make up time. In Reynolds' own words, The battery's accelerated march was such as to keep my command more or less in double-quick time; consequently the men became fatigued or exhausted in strength. Double-quicking their way through the dark, the Marines lost much of their freshness, particularly as the morning turned into a typically hot July day in Virginia. Once the Marines crossed Bull Run, they rested half an hour while the remainder of Porter's brigade caught up. Meanwhile, the first Union brigade to cross the creek, Brig. Gen. Ambrose Burnside's, advanced toward the Confederate flank near Sudley Ford. Only a part of Colonel Nathan Shanks Evans' Confederate brigade protected the left side of Beauregard's army against the initial Union onslaught. McDowell's plan just might work.

Burnside's men engaged the Confederate line while Porter moved his men up on Burnside's right. Griffin's battery pushed ahead of Porter's column, followed closely by the Marines, and started firing from a range of 1,000 yards. Griffin's six guns, four rifled 10-pounders and two howitzers, quickly silenced a Confederate battery and then continued forward, advancing to the right as the Confederates started to yield under the intense pressure.

Griffin's artillery again aggressively pushed forward, with the Marines close behind, while Burnside's brigade forced the Confederates back. Still, the Confederate lines responded with intense and deadly fire as more Southern troops arrived to defend the flank. Burnside's men, tiring after several hours of vicious combat, began to lose their initiative, faltering and withdrawing on their own to replenish their ammunition. The majority of Burnside's brigade retreated to Sudley Ford and were no longer a factor on the battlefield. Porter's men, however reluctantly, now were in the Union front.

Although one of Porter's regiments followed Burnside's exodus to the rear, the remainder of the brigade, including Griffin's guns and the Marines, continued to fight ferociously. Additional Union brigades began to fill gaps as the battle progressed into the afternoon and the Confederate lines shifted about a mile to the rear. The Union army, despite its late start and early confusion, surged onward, ready to carry the day. Confederate resistance stiffened, however, as reinforcements from Johnston's force arrived from Harpers Ferry by train. As they climbed down from the train, Beauregard hastily sent the new forces forward to bolster his left flank. Eventually the Confederates, under the implacable leadership of Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson, rallied on Henry House Hill in a stubborn defense that earned him the nickname Stonewall, and the hill became the focal point of the battle. At 2 p.m. Griffin's battery and a second artillery battery, under Captain J.B. Ricketts, were ordered to occupy Henry House Hill, supported by infantry and Marines. Griffin's cannons were not well to the front, but they fired harmlessly over the Confederates, who were sheltered on the opposite side of the hill. Meanwhile, the Union artillery was suffering under heavy Confederate return fire.

The Marines covering the artillery were exposed to the same concentrated fire and rapidly began losing men of their own. Still, they remained in support of Griffin's battery as the action grew hotter around Henry House Hill.

As the fighting continued, an infantry regiment was observed closing in on Griffin's guns. At the same time, the 14th New York Infantry was moving up to protect the battery's flank, and the unknown regiment was thought to be a similar reinforcement, but from a different Union division. Griffin wanted to open fire on the blue-uniformed force, but major William F. Barry, McDowell's artillery chief, ordered him to hold his fire. Suddenly, murderous fire of musketry and rifles erupted against Griffin's men. The supposed reinforcements were the 33rd Virginia, whose commander, Colonel Arthur Cummings, had disobeyed an order from Jackson that he hold his position. Still wearing blue uniforms from prewar days, the 33rd Virginia was able to advance to within 70 yards of the Union right flank. The casualties they inflicted on the Marines were the first confirmation of their hostile intent.

The Union force resisted for a short time, but the surprise attack was devastating. Both artillery batteries suffered severely, bearing the brunt of the attack, and Griffin desperately attempted to remove his guns. But the Confederates came storming on, swarming over his artillery and supporting infantry. The 14th and 27th New York regiments broke and fled, followed by other supporting regiments. The Marines, in spite of the efforts of their officers, broke as well. Without support, Griffin's battery was overrun, losing a quarter of its men and half of its horses. That was the last of us, Griffin reported later; we were all cut down.

Reynolds managed to rally his Marines, and they returned to the fight. Again, however, the Confederate pressure was overwhelming, swamping the support troops and the Marines who still continued to fight. One Marine officer was killed and Major Zeilin was wounded, but action continued around the artillery battery. In all, possession of Griffin's guns was contested three times. Finally, at 4 p.m., the Marines broke one last time, contributing to the general route of the Union army.

The First Battle of Bull Run (or First Manassas) had ended with a surprising Confederate victory and a humiliating Union flight. Eventually, however, most of the Marines managed to return to Washington. Reynolds caught up with the largest group of the battalion, about 70 Marines, during the withdrawal. Overall, his battalion lost nine Marines killed, 19 wounded and six missing.

Reynolds gamely praised his men for their good conduct, considering their lack of combat experience, but it was an unavoidable fact that his young Marines had fled the battlefield. The Marine commandant would later report to the secretary of the navy that it is the first instance recorded in its history where any portion of [the Corps'] members turned their backs to the enemy. Historians would characterize the Marines' performance at Bull Run as a dismal-and atypical-example of battlefield panic.

Surprisingly, there were no recriminations against the Marines at the time. Reynolds was promoted to lieutenant colonel a few days later and continued to serve throughout the war. One of his officers, 2nd Lt. Robert Huntington, would not only fight in other theaters in the Civil War but also would lead the attack to capture Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the Spanish-American War, 37 years later.

Major Jacob Zeilin recovered from his wound at Bull Run and commanded the Marines during joint action against Charleston, S.C., later in the war. In 1864, he was selected as the seventh commandant of the Marine Corps, promoted ahead of four more senior Marines, including Reynolds. In 1867, Zeilin was promoted to brigadier general, becoming the first Marine to hold that rank.

Although not a proud moment in Marine Corps history, the performance at Bull Run had extenuating circumstances. Three weeks of training were clearly not enough. Reynolds reported that his Marines had barely learned facing movements before they marched off to war. Although the 90-day volunteer regiments were not veterans either, even they had trained longer than three weeks. As a result, the Marines were probably the least experienced soldiers in McDowell's entire amateur army at Bull Run.

Despite their brief training time, the Marines' fighting effort at Bull Run compared favorably with that of other units. At the forefront of the battle, the Marines suffered losses that were comparable to the overall 18 percent casualty rate suffered by Porter's brigade at Bull Run. Marine casualties were also nearly equal to those of the Regular Army battalion, then the most experienced unit in the Union Army, and were greater than many of the larger infantry regiments in the battle. Overall, the Marine's performance in action equaled the majority of the other units in Porter's brigade.

Because of their inexperience, the Marines had been assigned as an artillery escort, supposedly to remain behind the lines. Ironically, this secure assignment led to their repeated involvement in the most severe action of the battle. Although the dismal outcome of the battle may not have been what Major Reynolds had anticipated only five days before, his own Marine battalion had fought hard and well on the shores of Bull Run. He could take some pride, at least, in that.

This article was written by Kendall J. King and originally appeared in the September 1996 issue of America's Civil War.

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Facts about the First Battle Of Bull Run, a Civil War Battle of the American Civil War Battle Of Bull Run Facts Location Manassas, Virginia. Fairfax County and Prince William County Dates July 21, 1861 Generals Union: Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell Confederate: Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard & Gen. Joseph E.

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July 21st, 1861