One hundred and fifty years ago this area witnessed the birth of a new kind of warfare. After years of contentious debate and the election of an anti-slavery president, the southern states decided to secede from the Union their forefathers had played such a pivotal role in creating.
The ensuing American Civil War was an ideological as well as an economic conflict. Its outcome would determine the course the American Nation and, ultimately, the world would take.
During the spring and early summer of 1861, no one knew what the outcome of that struggle would be. As is typical when big events are taking place, most contemporaneous accounts expressed the hope that the conflict would be short-lived – that one big battle would be so decisive that it would bind the Union back together or forever enshrine the independence of the southern states.
The Union knew it had to defeat the Confederacy if it was to survive. General Irvin McDowell marched 38,000 Union troops from Washington in an effort to capture the railroad junction at Manassas. If the Union captured the railroad, the way to Richmond, the Confederate capital, would be open.
The Confederates knew what the Union objective was and they were not about to surrender it without a fight. General P.G.T. Beauregard, who had commanded the assault on Fort Sumter in April, defended Manassas. The stage was set for the first industrial-age battle on American soil.
Dawn on Sunday, July 21, 1861 hinted at a beautiful, hot summer day. There had been a skirmish between Union and Confederate forces at Blackburn’s Ford on July 18, so it was clear that there would be a bigger battle between the two forces. Yet soldiers and civilians on both sides clung to the hope that nothing much would change once that battle had been fought.
That hope proved illusory after that battle’s first cannon shots were fired.
Although the nascent intelligence elements of the Union and Confederate forces worked hard to ascertain enemy dispositions and intentions, they did a poor job preparing their armies for the carnage they became engulfed in. The Union had the advantage most of the day, but the Confederate forces rallied at Henry Hill, overcoming a Union drive and managing to get reinforcements into battle at the decisive moment.
That sealed the Confederate victory and forced the Union Army to flee back to Washington.
Losses and the physical and mental toll of the battle were heavy for both sides. The Confederates were so exhausted they could not press their advantage. The Civil War became a war of attrition and stalemate until the Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg began to turn the tide.
By that time all illusions that life would return to its pre-1861 rhythms had been shattered and the bucolic peace of that time became but a distant memory.
This weekend we can relive the First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run). In honor of the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, the Prince William and Manassas Convention and Visitors Bureau is staging the first large-scale re-enactment of the Battle of First Manassas in 50 years. This event will be a great way for all of us to commemorate a tragic, yet crucial, part of our history. You can find further details on this weekend’s Civil War Sesquicentennial activities by visiting this website
Cedric Leighton lives in Lorton and is the Founder and President of Cedric Leighton Associates, a Washington area strategic risk and management consultancy.
