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Bull Run
The first major land battle in the war took place in Virginia, near the Manassas railway junction. Southern forces tend to refer to it as the battle as the battle of Manassas, while the Northern armies call it the first Battle of Bull Run, after the stream that flowed through the battlefield.
By Civil War standards, the armies on either side, were not large. The Union forces, commanded by Brig. General Irvin McDowell were organized into four or five divisions of about 30,000 soldiers, led by Tyler, Hunter, Heintzelman, Miles, and  Runyan.
The Confederate forces include two armies with no division structure, and thirteen brigades under Bartow, Bee, Bonham, Cocke, Early, Evans, Ewell, Holmes, Jackson, Jones, Kershaw, Longstreet, Smith, and Stuart.
The Confederate Army of the Potomac was commanded by Brig. General Pierre Beauregard, while the Army of the Shenandoah was commanded by Brig. General Joseph E. Johnston. These two forces matched the strength of McDowell’s forces.
On July 16, 1861, the Union Army marched from Washington against the more experienced Confederate troops, centered behind Bull Run beyond Centreville. On July 21, the Union forces crossed at Sudley Ford, attacking the Confederate left flank on Matthews Hill.
Fighting continued throughout the day. Gaining an early advantage, the Union forces forced the Confederates to retreat to Henry Hill. Late in the afternoon, however, Confederate reinforcements broke through the Union right flank, forcing the Union troops to retreat northward. By July 22nd, the retreated Union armies reached Washington.
The Union advance was premature and, while they gained an early advantage, a reinforcement of Confederate forces resulted in a Southern victory.
Confederate General Bee and Colonel Barstow were killed in the fighting.
Too disorganized to pursue, the Confederate forces missed what was later argued to have been a chance to have taken Washington early in a war that they were later to lose.
The first Battle of Bull Run convinced President Lincoln that the American Civil War would not be easily won. General McDowell was relieved of his command, replaced by General George McLellan.
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