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First
Manassas: The Campaign
The first day's march covered only five miles, as many straggled
to pick blackberries or fill canteens.
McDowell's lumbering columns were headed for the vital railroad junction
at Manassas. Here the Orange and Alexandria Railroad met the Manassas
Gap Railroad, which led west to the Shenandoah Valley. If McDowell could
seize this junction, he would stand astride the best overland approach
to the Confederate capital.
On July 18, McDowell's army reached Centreville. Five miles ahead a small
meandering stream named Bull Run crossed the route of the Union advance,
and there guarding the fords from Union Mills to the Stone Bridge waited
22,000 Southern troops under the command of Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard.
McDowell first attempted to move toward the Confederate right flank, but
his troops were checked at Blackburn's Ford near the center of
Beauregard's defensive line. He then spent the next two
days scouting the Southern left flank. In the meantime, Beauregard asked
the Confederate government at Richmond for help. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston,
stationed in the Shenandoah Valley with 10,000 troops, was ordered to
support Beauregard if possible. Johnston gave an opposing Union force
the slip and, employing the Manassas Gap Railroad, started his brigades
toward Manassas Junction. Most of Johnston's troops arrived at the junction
on July 20 and 21, some marching from the trains directly into battle.
Morning,
July 21, 1861 >>
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