150-Year Anniversary ยท July 1861
Pressed by public clamor for a quick end to the rebellion, the Union army under Irvin McDowell advanced into northern Virginia toward the Confederate force gathered near Manassas Junction.
On July 21, 1861, the armies met along Bull Run creek. A promising Union attack collapsed in the afternoon when Confederate reinforcements arrived by rail and Thomas J. Jackson's brigade held firm, earning him the name 'Stonewall.' The Union retreat dissolved into a panic that swept back to Washington.
The defeat ended any illusion of a ninety-day war. Congress voted to raise hundreds of thousands of three-year volunteers, and both sides settled in for a far longer and bloodier struggle than either had imagined.
First Bull Run ended the illusion of a ninety-day war. What replaced that illusion is outlined on the main American Civil War page.