Battle Of Bull Run Essay

It was well believed until Jackson’s forces began unloading rounds on the Union army stopping McDowell’s forces from advancing, holding the line like “a stone wall.” As the new Union recruits witnessed battle for the first time and felt the lack of preparation, they were quick to retreat back to Washington DC. The Southern victory and the tens of thousands of lives lost proved to the Union that this war was not going to be easily won.

During September 9th of 1862 Confederate forces led by Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson commanded three divisions with the goal of seizing Harpers Ferry. At the time Harpers Ferry was a Union occupied town bordering Maryland and Virginia. For the Union front this was a main arsenal holding area that provided support to other forces. For the Confederates, they saw it as a major supply line allowing logistics to travel down south or north through the use of rail road systems. COL Dixon Miles, the Union commander at Harpers Ferry, received intelligence about the movement of enemy forces towards his location.

General Pierre Beauregard, commander of Confederate troops at the Battle of First Bull Run and second-in-command during the Battle of Shiloh, commented that the enemy was given "...the most surprising surprise" but the delays allowed Union reinforcements to take their place on the battlefield beside their comrades and drive the rebels back after two days of fighting. No ground was gained, no strategic town was taken, no supply depot was sacked, but the Union victory did force the evacuation of Confederate troops from much of Tennessee and split the rebel forces along the lines formed by the Mississippi River.

He therefore ordered an all out assault at the heart of the Union lines hoping to break them with one massive attack. The plan was for artillery to open fire and break down the Union soldiers and then follow the barrage immediately with Pickett’s Charge. Pickett’s Charge was the name given to the frontal assault of the Union lines. After the Confederate artillery onslaught began, the Union artillery did not respond for about twenty minutes because they wanted to conserve ammunition for an anticipated assault. When the Confederates began the assault, it slowly progressed forward and finally reached the Union lines only to be stopped without any further progress.

The second phase of the Battle of Shiloh starts as reinforcements from General Buell’s Army of the Ohio and a unit of Grant’s own reserve division joined the Union Army now positioned at Pittsburg Landing. These reinforcements added over 22,500 men to the Union lines13 bringing the total number of Union forces to over 45,000, which is more than they had on 6 April, the first day of fighting.14 On April 7, General Grant renewed the fighting with an aggressive counteract.15 Greatly outnumbered (Confederate forces now around 25,000) and disorganized the Confederate forces now under General Beauregard fought hard but eventually had to retreat to back Corinth.16 The second phase of the Battle of Shiloh was won by General Grant and his Union forces due to two main reasons. The first, Union troop numbers greatly outnumbered their enemy, over 45,000 to 25,000 respectively. And secondly, the reinforcements received by General Grant had not fought the day before and were fresh and excited to fight, unlike the exhausted remaining Confederate troops.17 This was the bloodiest battle fought on American soil up to that point, with 23,746 casualties (Union: 13,047; Confederate: 10,699).18 The Union lost more men but claimed the victory because the Confederate Army retreated back to Corinth, Mississippi.

Upon arriving to Malvern Hill, the Confederates had a lack of information, affecting their understanding of the contour of the land. This greatly affected their use of artillery movement and emplacement, causing the Confederate artillery to be ineffective. This was caused by the swamps, not allowing the caissons to maneuver through (Hill M. , 2012). Because of this obstacle, the Confederate had to push their reserve artillery pieces down Willis Church Road, causing them to be exposed to the open field, which they were then bombarded by Union artillery fire (Krick, 2014). The Union had the advantage over the

Although Bloody Hill was one of charge and countercharge for the Confederates, the major problem was tactical positioning of the topography and technology. BG Slack and Woodruffs defense greatly outnumbered Lyon’s force as they were positioned down the hill and held inferior weapons. As Slack’s 2 regiments alongside Woodruff guns proceeded to move forward, close enough to be within range to shoot their shotguns and muskets, but the Federals would drive them back with artillery, small-arms fire, and short counterattacks. In order to hold Lyon’s advance, almost his entire force was engaged except for his reserve, the 2nd Kansas Infantry. Eventually, when the fighting died out all along the line as both Confederate and Union sides needed to reposition and recuperate to continue to fight as time went on. (George E. Knapp, 1953).

The weather on the day of battle was hot, in the mid 80’s to low 90’s, and humid. The heat had a negative effect on Union soldiers. The Union Army set out at 2 a.m. to avoid engaging in battle during the hottest part of the day. Many of these Soldiers were untrained in road marches and lacked discipline. They would break ranks to find water, rest or collect blackberries. For these reasons they reached Bull Run three hours late and consequently ended up fighting well into the day. Both sides went into the battle with high morale. They believed that over the course of a few days they would be victorious and the war would be won in this one battle. The terrain of the Battle was mostly rolling country side. Bull Run River was running through the battlefield, which is what the battle was named after. Soldiers had to

The Battle of Bull Run, or First Manassas to the Confederate States of America, was the first major battle of the Civil War. The battle would be a rude wake up call for everyone entering the war. This paper will explore the various details of the battle, including its importance.

The Confederates at Manassas knew far ahead of this action due to many Southern spies in Washington. The Southern troops spread in lines along eight miles of Bull Run Creek. The heaviest Southern troops were on a ridge around Henry House. After a few skirmishes, the Union Army arrived at Bull Run on July 21, 1861.

In September of 1863 Major General William S. Rosecrans was on a roll. He and his Union Army of the Cumberland had initiated their campaign in Tennessee against Confederate General Braxton Bragg in December of the previous year. After fighting a major battle at Murfreesboro (Stones River) and maneuvering adroitly to force the Confederates out of Tullahoma and then Chattanooga, Rosecrans had driven Bragg's army completely out of Tennessee and into northern Georgia.

In spite of the fact that at first glance the Civil War may have appeared an unbalanced clash, with the 23 conditions of the Union getting a charge out of a gigantic point of preference in populace, fabricating (counting arms creation) and railroad development, the Confederates had a solid military convention, alongside a portion of the best officers and commandants in the country. They likewise had a cause they trusted in: safeguarding their long-held customs and foundations, boss among these being subjection. In the First Battle of Bull Run (referred to in the South as First Manassas) on July 21, 1861, 35,000 Confederate fighters under the order of Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson constrained a more noteworthy number of Union powers (or Federals) to withdraw towards Washington, D.C., dashing any trusts of a speedy Union triumph and driving Lincoln to call for 500,000 more enlists. Indeed, both sides ' underlying call for troops must be broadened after it turned out to be clear that the war would not be a constrained or short clash.

The Second Battle of Bull Run was between the Union and Confederate armies in northern Virginia, from August 29 to August 30, 1862. The Union army of Virginia was commanded by John Pope and the the Confederate army was commanded by General Robert E. Lee. Based on President Abraham Lincoln’s orders, McClellan withdrew the Union army from Richmond. The plan was to combine that army with General Pope’s troops. When the northerners pulled back, General Lee planned to demolish General Pope's army before it combined with General McClellan, knowing that it would be difficult to fight an twice their size. General strategically divided his army in two, while half of the army remain in command of Major General James Longstreet and the other half would be led by General Stonewall Jackson.

     McDowell had 34,000 troops ready to attack 25,000 Confederate forces spread out over eight miles on the other side of Bull Run. Most of the Confederate forces were clustered on the Confederate right flank, prepared to counterattack. McDowell plan

He knew that the Federal forces (union) held more than a modest advantage in terms of men and supplies. This in mind, Grant directed Sherman to turn around now and start heading back toward Virginia. He started making preparations to provide assistance to Sherman on the journey. General John M.