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| The one civilian casualty |
Less than 20 miles south of Washington DC off of exit 47B of I66 a major regional highway that brings the suburbs to the city, is the northern Virginia town of Manassas. A few miles more the malls turn to fields, rolling hills and the quiet of another world, another time. This is the Manassas Battlefield, 7 square miles of hiking trails, stone houses, a small cemetery and many markers of war.
It is an unusually warm and sunny day, a perfect time to be outdoors. There are two tours here to describe the details of two battles-the north called it The 1st and 2nd Battle of Bull Run named for the shallow creek that was crossed by the Union soldiers. The south called it The 1st and 2nd Battles of Manassas.
Best to defer to the southern armies on this one. They whipped the north in both battles. But not without cost. In the second battle alone there were 23,000 casualties, filling the surrounding farmhouses and distant Arlington churches with the wounded. Most of the dead were never buried and even today, on a occasion, remnants and artifacts surface.
This was Lee's 3rd month in charge and joined by several bold generals, he devised strategies that were both ingenious and dangerous. Often outnumbered in battles throughout the war, he found ways to use his troops to best advantage. The north had not yet found it's greatest general and on this day in late July, 1862, the first real battle of the war was fought by the greenest of recruits. These northern soldiers, romantic in the thoughts of easy glory who had converged on Washington to the call to service, were all 90 day men, whose 3 month tour of duty was about to end. So though the Union generals did not think they were ready to fight, President Lincoln insisted that the battle be fought, the better to quickly start and end the struggle as soon as possible.
Indeed, politicians came down to Centreville about 6 miles away to experience this battle that they thought would be a decisive snup to Rebel insurgency. They couldn't see the fighting itself, but could follow the action as the cheers and yelps volleyed back and forth, smoke rising from the plateau on Henry Hill.
This was no picnic for anyone on the field or off. The innocent eager northern men who went onto the fields in their various uniforms mimicking the French colonials of Northern Africa
finished this day in utter disbelief, beaten as much by the sight of their comrades mowed down as the defeat itself.
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A general rides out in front, solid atop his horse.
General B. E. Bee in an attempt to rally his fearful southern recruits calls out "Form, form, there stands Jackson like a Stone Wall. Rally behind the Virginians" And those Virginians were to become known as the vaunted Stonewall Brigade loyal to their leader "Stonewall" Jackson.
Let's go back a hundred years from the Civil War to Christmas Eve 1776. Just up the road on the border of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, a hungry barefoot band of soldiers and their general are planning a daring early morning attack on the Hessian soldiers settled in across the river. Boats are readied in the evening, a cadre sent up river and the soldiers in total silence board long Durham boats to make the dangerous crossing.
