HIST Short Paper
Derrick Devon Worsley
HIST101 – American History to 1877 Sarah Hyde March 3, 2011
Battle of Bull Run In my opinion the Civil War is one of the most important events in American history. I’m specifically interested in the Battle of Bull Run. I first became interested when I attended a history seminar discussing the topic. Battle of Bull Run was the first major battle of the Civil War fought in Virginia, near the Manassas, Virginia railway junction. I actually travel and live in this area. The Armies in this first battle were not very large by later Civil War standards. The Federal forces under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell were organized into four divisions of about 30,000 men. These divisions were commanded by Tyler, Hunter, Heintzelman, and Miles. The Confederate command structure was somewhat more unwieldy, including two "armies", with no division structure and thirteen independent brigades under Bonham, Ewell, Jones, Longstreet, Cocke, Early, Holmes, Kershaw, Evans, Jackson, Bartow, Bee, Smith, and a cavalry brigade under Stuart. The Confederate Army of the Potomac was under the command of Brigadier General Pierre G. T. Beauregard, and the Army of the Shenandoah was commanded by Brigadier General Joseph E. Johnston. These two forces would equal McDowell 's strength. Interestingly enough, each commander had planned to initiate an attack on the other side with a feint attack on the enemy 's right flank and a massed attack on the opposite flank. Had this been done simultaneously, and both been successful in their purpose, the two armies would have simply pivoted around each other and ended up in each other 's rear, able to continue unopposed to Washington or Richmond, as the case may be. As it turned out, the general least successful in initiating this movement was the winner. McDowell had planned to use Tyler 's division as the diversionary attack at the Stone
HIST101 – American History to 1877 Sarah Hyde March 3, 2011
Battle of Bull Run In my opinion the Civil War is one of the most important events in American history. I’m specifically interested in the Battle of Bull Run. I first became interested when I attended a history seminar discussing the topic. Battle of Bull Run was the first major battle of the Civil War fought in Virginia, near the Manassas, Virginia railway junction. I actually travel and live in this area. The Armies in this first battle were not very large by later Civil War standards. The Federal forces under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell were organized into four divisions of about 30,000 men. These divisions were commanded by Tyler, Hunter, Heintzelman, and Miles. The Confederate command structure was somewhat more unwieldy, including two "armies", with no division structure and thirteen independent brigades under Bonham, Ewell, Jones, Longstreet, Cocke, Early, Holmes, Kershaw, Evans, Jackson, Bartow, Bee, Smith, and a cavalry brigade under Stuart. The Confederate Army of the Potomac was under the command of Brigadier General Pierre G. T. Beauregard, and the Army of the Shenandoah was commanded by Brigadier General Joseph E. Johnston. These two forces would equal McDowell 's strength. Interestingly enough, each commander had planned to initiate an attack on the other side with a feint attack on the enemy 's right flank and a massed attack on the opposite flank. Had this been done simultaneously, and both been successful in their purpose, the two armies would have simply pivoted around each other and ended up in each other 's rear, able to continue unopposed to Washington or Richmond, as the case may be. As it turned out, the general least successful in initiating this movement was the winner. McDowell had planned to use Tyler 's division as the diversionary attack at the Stone
Bibliography: of the Civil War. 4 vols, 1987. A listing of books published on Union and Confederate regiments, and personal narratives. 1987 is the latest update. An ideal way to track down the wartime experiences of a relative whose unit is known