Battle of Bull Run: First Major Warfare of the Civil War.

President Lincoln waged war against the Confederates who had declared secession against the Federal laws. His proclamation of the war was meant to suppress the Southern states into giving in into his reign (Griffiths, 2001). The Battle of Bull Run is considered to be the first major warfare which resulted in the victory of the Confederate. On 21 July 1861, the first attack occurred near Manassas Junction where the Confederate and Union armies went head-on, marking the first battle of the Civil war on American grounds. The battle began when Lincoln, made orders for General Irvin McDowell to attack the Confederate forces as a strategy of taking Richmond. The main intent of Lincoln was to move faster against their enemy, and he hoped that a decisive victory would help quell the ongoing rebellion. The triumph of the inexperienced Union Troop came as a surprise to the North American president who had strong belief that they were going to win and take over the North (Griffiths, 2001). The Battle of the Bull Run and the loss of the Union eventually made the north realize that the war could not be won as fast and easily as they had expected as the Confederate had proved their experience and ability to take over the great army.

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On the morning of 21st July, a volunteer army led by McDowell marched to the Bull Run stream located in Centreville to battle the Confederate army led by Gen (Griffiths, 2001). Pierre Beauregard. McDowell's plans were to attack left or north of Beauregard's while demonstrating on the creek's stone bridge. On 21st July, McDowell made his attack on the confederates by shelling the opponents' troop across Bull Run while others attacked the left flank by making their way through the Sudley Ford. Beauregard, on the other hand, sent detachments to destruct the Union on the left. By mid-day, McDowell's troop had already invaded the left flank located at Henry Hill while more brigades were crossing the Bull Run. Victory for the Union seemed to loom as the confederates struggled to receive reinforcements through railroad from Joseph Johnstone in Shenandoah Valley (Stedman, 1861). However, Gen. Jackson organized a defense at Henry Hill armed with artillery, which managed to take off the Union troops. By late afternoon, confederate reinforcements had already extended their line and successfully broken into the Union's right flank.

The second battle of the Bull Run led by Gen Stonewall Jackson and Gen Robert Elee for the confederates and John Pope, Gen. Henry Halleck and George McClellan of the Union went for two days, the 29th and 30th of August 1862, months after the first war (Stedman, 1861). The battle also occurred at the small stream known as the Bull Run located near Manassas in Virginia. Similar to the first battler, the confederate emerged victors after driving the Union army out of eastern Virginia laying the ground for their invasion of Maryland. Panicked and disheartened Union troops escaped towards the Washington DC after defeat from the artillery attack of the Confederates.

Artillery played a significant role in the Battle of the Bull Run as it was the main weapon used during both phases of the war. While the federal misused their artillery, the confederates employed sound tactics that led to their victory (Schreckengost, 2001). In the first battle, the Union forces had approximately 35, 000 soldiers divided into five divisions each consisting of three or five brigades (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2019). Each brigade was then assigned an artillery battery. The Confederates army of Potomac also had approximately 39 artillery batteries assigned to the seven infantry brigades. The army of the Shenandoah was divided into four brigades each given one artillery brigade. The second army had about twenty artillery pieces divided among the 12,000 men (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2019). Artillery was fired consistently by both troops during the war as they attacked their opponents. However, the victory of the battle was brought by the artillery that was fired by the Confederate that led to the overturning of the Union's wagon. The artillery sent Union troops into tension and panic, discarding their equipment and arms. Union troops abandoned their wagons and artillery as they flew uncontrollably in fear and confusion towards the Washington DC. Conversely, in the snd battle, the artillery that was fired by Jackson from the woods came as a surprise to the federals who were disrupted giving time for the rebels to reorganize their attack against the Union army that eventually withdrew from the war as per the orders from the Pope (Stedman, 1861).

Conclusively, the battle of the Bull Run resulted in casualties from both sides. In the first battle, the Union casualties of the Bull Run war included 460 deaths, 1124 were wounded, and 1312 went missing. Among the casualties was President Lincoln's brother, James Cameron and the Secretary of war, Simon Cameron. Confederate casualties included 387 deaths, 13 missing and 1582 were wounded (Stedman, 1861). In the second battle, the casualties increased. The total number of Unions in the field were 70,000 out of which the 13, 824 were killed, missing and wounded (Stedman, 1861). Confederate casualties were 8, 353 of which some were killed, injured or captured. A large number of victims brought about by the Bull Run sent a message to both parties of the war that the battle was not going to be easy. The confederates had waged a strong attack against their opponents that led to the Union troops to panic and withdraw their fire, which was not expected by the people of the North (Stedman, 1861). The sudden loss of the victory sent the Northerners into reeling while the triumph of the confederates gave them false hope that they were in a position to pull off a swift victory in the future battles of the Civil war. Therefore, although the war shattered the hopes of the Union's quick and easy victory in the Civil war, it acted as a major wake up call to both parties of the war.

References

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). First battle of Bull Run. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from < https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Battle-of-Bull-Run-1861> accessed 4th September 2019.

Griffiths, M. (2001). Analysis of the battle of Bull Run-1861. Air Command and Staff College, Air University, Maxwell AFB, AL 36112. PDF. Retrieved from < https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a145350.pdf> accessed 4th September 2019.

Schreckengost, G. J. (2001). The artillery fight at the first battle of the Bull Run. Field Artillery Journal. PDF. Retrieved from < http://vcwsg.com/PDF%20Files/The%20Artillery%20Battle%20At%20The%20First%20Battle%20Of%20Bull%20Run.pdf> accessed 4th September 2019.

Stedman, E. C. (1861). The Battle of Bull Run. Rudd and Carleton. Retrieved from < https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=3W1AAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA4&dq=the+battle+of+Bull+run&ots=_ciIffWbDA&sig=G22NiAALKoe-VMRMEq-sJiF6EQQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=the%20battle%20of%20Bull%20run&f=false> accessed 4th September 2019.