Existing comment:
The End of Innocence: First Battle of Manassas: July 21, 1861:
I felt that I was in the presence of death. My first thought was, "This is unfair; somebody is to blame for getting us all killed. I didn't come out here to fight this way; I wish the earth would crack open and let me drop in."
-- Private B.M. Zettler, 8th Georgia Infantry
For eleven hours, under the hot July sun, young men met in battle on these fields. Lack of discipline and a sense of general confusion led to mistakes and missed opportunities. In the end, the Union army was in retreat and the Confederates surveyed a field of human wreckage. |