The First Battle of Bull Run
The First Battle of Bull Run, also known in the South as the First Battle of Manassas, was the first major battle of the American Civil War. It took place two months after the outbreak of the war.

Near the town of Manassas, the Union army under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell advanced into Virginia toward Bull Run in an attempt to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond. The Confederate army under Generals P. G. T. Beauregard and Joseph E. Johnston clashed with McDowell’s army at Bull Run. The Confederates eventually won the battle after heavy fighting that raged throughout the day.

The battle was fought by about 32,230 Confederate soldiers and 28,450 Union soldiers, but both armies were inexperienced and poorly organized. The number of dead, wounded and missing amounted to about 1,982 for the Confederate army and 2,896 for the Union army, a total of 4,878, of whom up to 850 were killed. At that time the losses were considered enormous, though they were nothing compared with many of the battles that followed later in the war.