Civil War Illustrations
First Battle of Bull Run
The First Battle of Bull Run (referred to by the Confederates as Manassas) was fought on July 21, 1861 in Virginia, just miles from Washington, D.C. Although there had been numerous skirmishes since the Civil War began in April, with the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, this was the first major engagement between Union and Confederate troops.
Union troops, led by Brigadier General Irvin McDowell attacked the Confederate forces positioned along Bull Run, to the northeast of Manassas Junction. The Union commanders, under pressure from Washington to act, hoping to easily defeat the Confederate Army and then advance on the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, and bring a quick end to the war. But although the southern forces, led by General P.G.T. Beauregard, were initially driven back, the tide turned in the afternoon, with the arrival of Confederate reinforcements under the command of Brigadier General Joseph E. Johnston. In the end, it was the Union forces that retreated in disarray.
The images below were published shortly after the first Battle of Bull Run in Harper's Weekly and New York Illustrated News, two magazines from the period that carried extensive coverage of the American Civil War.
