Lee was placed in command of the combined force, he permanently renamed it the Army of Northern Virginia. The flag incident showed the need for a more readily identifiable Southern banner. The "Southern Cross" design, a blue X with white stars on a red banner, the flag most commonly associated with the Confederacy, was adopted as a battle flag, although it was used more in the Eastern Theater than in the West. Banner image Bull Run, Va. Federal cavalry at Sudley Ford , created by George N.
Barnard, Library of Congress. As Marine Major John G. Reynolds marched his battalion over the Potomac Long Bridge on the afternoon of July 16, , he must have wondered what lay ahead for his Marines. A Mexican War veteran, Reynolds had seen Marines serve with distinction in that war 14 years earlier, and now he fully expected his command to do the same.
Still, as an officer with 35 years of military service under his belt, Reynolds worried about the green troops under his command. True, they were Marines, but as they headed toward their first fight in a new war, across a small Virginia creek called Bull Run, he had some doubts that could only be answered when the bullets began to fly. From regiments of brand-new volunteers to U. Army regulars, every available Union soldier was being rushed toward the impending fray, and the Marines were no exception.
General P. The remainder of the Confederate forces, 15, men under General Joseph E. Johnston, were in the vicinity of Harpers Ferry, 70 miles northwest of Manassas. The Confederate Army, split as it was into two separate wings, seemingly invited attack, and the Union commander was being pressured from all sides to take quick and decisive action.
McDowell needed to act quickly to defeat the divided Confederates while he still commanded an army. Many of the day Union volunteer regiments in his army, called into service in response to Confederate seizure of Fort Sumter two months earlier, were nearing the end of their enlistments, and many of the new replacement regiments were not yet combat-ready. Nevertheless, recognizing the need for urgency, the Lincoln administration rushed additional reinforcements to McDowell from all parts of the Union.
Raw young recruits from New York, New England, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Minnesota poured into Washington, camping in a sea of white tents visible in every direction from the Capitol dome. The arrival of new troops in Washington reflected the growing sense of panic within both the government and the Union Army. With a teeming Rebel army mere miles away, an understandable sense of urgency gripped the president, his cabinet and U.
Under direct orders from the president, McDowell drew up a plan for dividing his army into three columns to converge on the Rebels from three different directions north of Manassas. The plan was a good one, but it required at least twice as many men as McDowell then had at hand-hence the tumultuous influx of new recruits in Washington. The Marine Corps of reflected the turmoil of the times. Its 48 officers and 2, enlisted men had a wide range of experience levels, from aging veterans to raw recruits.
Having grown by 25 percent between and , the Corps swelled once again as the Civil War started. Indeed, the influx was so rapid that new troops at the Washington Navy Yard had to be berthed in the stables. Since many veteran Marines still served aboard ships or were deployed at U. The Civil War influenced the number and quality of Marine officers available for duty, as well.
Although the total number of Marine officers remained essentially the same after the war started, the experience level of the officers declined. Twenty Marine officers resigned from service, electing to join the Confederacy in the spring of More critically, among the ranks from first lieutenant to major, nearly half of the officers headed South. It took time for the new Marine units to be integrated, however hastily, into the Army, and in the meantime, Lincoln, Scott and the cabinet members fretted.
The target date for the offensive, July 8, passed without a whimper. McDowell, sitting in his camp, complained to his staff that he had no opportunity to test my machinery, to move it around and see whether it would work smoothly or not.
Unfortunately for McDowell, he did not have the luxury of a test run. Scott, fuming at the delay, told Brig. Daniel Tyler that there was no excuse for an unfortunate result in the upcoming campaign, since McDowell had superior numbers and equipment in his favor. McDowell, however, did not see it that way. I wanted very much a little time, he said later, all of us wanted it. We did not have a bit of it. Finally, on July 15, final orders were given for an advance the next day. And Tyler would head for Vienna, where he would proceed west to block the Little River Turnpike and the Rebel line of retreat.
On to Richmond! Reynolds formed his men into a battalion and trooped out from the Washington Navy Yard with the rest of the army on July In addition to four companies of privates, the battalion included 12 officers, 17 noncommissioned officers, two drummers and two fifers. None of the privates had been in the service for more than three weeks, and only 16 Marines had had significant experience.
Learn about the organization of the combined Confederate armies at First Manassas. Learn about the Confederate winter encampment on the battlefield during the winter of Learn about the use of signal flags and their importance in communicating on the battlefield. Explore This Park. Manassas National Battlefield Park Virginia. Info Alerts Maps Calendar. Alerts In Effect Dismiss. Dismiss View all alerts. Learn More About First Manassas. Union Order of Battle.
Confederate Order of Battle. Winter Camp at Manassas. Battlefield Communication. Last updated: November 8, Stay Connected. Learn More About First Manassas Union Order of Battle Learn about the organization of the Union Army at First Manassas Confederate Order of Battle Learn about the organization of the combined Confederate armies at First Manassas Winter Camp at Manassas Learn about the Confederate winter encampment on the battlefield during the winter of Battlefield Communication Learn about the use of signal flags and their importance in communicating on the battlefield.
The engagement began when about 35, Union troops marched from the federal capital in Washington, D. After fighting on the defensive for most of the day, the rebels rallied and were able to break the Union right flank, sending the Federals into a chaotic retreat towards Washington. The Confederate victory gave the South a surge of confidence and shocked many in the North, who realized the war would not be won as easily as they had hoped.
By July , two months after Confederate troops opened fire on Fort Sumter to begin the Civil War , the northern press and public were eager for the Union Army to make an advance on Richmond ahead of the planned meeting of the Confederate Congress there on July Encouraged by early victories by Union troops in western Virginia and by the war fever spreading through the North, President Abraham Lincoln ordered Brigadier General Irvin McDowell to mount an offensive that would hit quickly and decisively at the enemy and open the way to Richmond, thus bringing the war to a mercifully quick end.
The offensive would begin with an attack on more than 20, Confederate troops under the command of General P. The cautious McDowell, then in command of the 35, Union volunteer troops gathered in the Federal capital, knew that his men were ill-prepared and pushed for a postponement of the advance to give him time for additional training.
But Lincoln ordered him to begin the offensive nonetheless, reasoning correctly that the rebel army was made up of similarly amateur soldiers. Johnston for reinforcements. Johnston, in command of some 11, rebels in the Shenandoah Valley, was able to outmaneuver a Union force in the region and march his men towards Manassas.
Over two hours, 10, Federals gradually pushed back 4, rebels across the Warrington turnpike and up Henry House Hill. In the afternoon, both sides traded attacks and counterattacks near Henry House Hill. Among the future leaders on both sides who fought at First Manassas were Ambrose E. Burnside and William T.
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