Bull Run has steep banks and is deep in spots, and would have slowed even experienced troops. The soldiers of 1861, and many of their officers, were still novices. McDowell was 42 years old, a ...

(WDBJ) - On this day in 1861, Union and Confederate troops clashed outside of Manassas, Virginia in the first major engagement of the Civil War. It began when Union General Irvin McDowell hoped to ...

From the last letter of Maj. Sullivan Ballou, 2nd Rhode Island, killed at the First Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861: If it is necessary that I should fall on the battle-field for any country, I am ...

The postwar period saw a sustained effort by both the North and South to commemorate and honor the troops. Despite Lincoln’s words at Gettysburg that nothing would hallow the ground more than ...

Book 1: Plans and Illusions -- The sacred soil -- Untenable position -- The school of the soldier -- Tentative warriors -- To carry the war into Africa -- Sonar -- Scapegoat -- Book 2: Bumping heads - ...