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Defeat and Disarray
First Battle of Manassas
July 21, 1861 5 p.m.
By day's end the Confederates held Henry Hill, capturing eight of the eleven Union cannon brought atop this plateau. Rebel reinforcements extended the battle lines across Sudley Road to neighboring Chinn Ridge (one-half mile ahead of you). Federal troops were driven back after a brief fight, the final combat of the day (a separate exhibit on Chinn Ridge discusses this action).
The Federal army fled back across Bull Run with Confederate cavalry in pursuit. The retreat, at first orderly, soon dissolved into a rout. Panic seized the troops as they came under artillery fire, and civilian spectators were caught up underfoot in the stampede back to the capital.
The battle's carnage shocked the country. More than 5,000 Americans were casualties -- nearly 900 of whom were dead. It was the largest battle in the nation's history to that time. Thirteen months later the armies returned and fought again at the Second Battle of Manassas (August 28-30, 1862). The park's self-guided driving tour provides an overview of this larger battle and its significance during the Civil War. |