War, The First Battle of Bull Run

The American Civil War was one of the most devastating wars in the history of mankind, it was a war that divided brothers from fathers and ripped families apart. The Battle of Bull Run was the first major land conflict to occur during the American Civil War while the armies that engaged in this battle were pretty small compared to later Civil War standards it was still a huge battle. While the federal forces initially held the upper hand with numerical superiority the spirit of the Rebel army made it enough for the confederates to gain a tactical advantage and route the federals. At the beginning of the battle the federal forces were comprised in grand of one army with four divisions where as the Confederate army was massed up of two different armies with much smaller regional brigades. At the days start the two rebel forces led feint attacks on the federal armies center while their outside flanks were crushed into by the main rebel attack forces. Initially the federal artillery batteries were able to keep the rebel forces bogged down, but eventually when the rebel infantry regiments came into the close fire zone with the federal lines the federal lines began to route. After a long day of fighting the rebel troops had broken the federal lines, but were far to torn up to order a productive following attack on the enemy. The Federal general McDowell was quoted as saying, "It is my firm belief that a great deal of the misfortune of the day at Bull Run is due to the fact that the troops knew very little of the principles and practice of firing. In every case I believe that the firing of the rebels was better than ours." The site I found my article on is named Civil War Home and here is a link provided, http://www.civilwarhome.com/bullrunconclusion.htm . here is the mla Johnston, R.M. "1st Bull Run, A Conclusion." The American Civil War Home Page. 2003. 22 Mar. 2009 .