THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN The First Battle of Bull Run and the impact on the confederacy and the war in general. To understand the First Battle of Bull Run you must know why the battle took place. You must appreciate both sides of the battle, the situations they faced, and how they thought they needed to overcome them. Before the Battle of Bull Run began there were states that was arguing over political power with the federal government which was later referred to as states’ rights. The federal government was trying to tell states to get rid of slavery without knowing if they could legally even tell them that. One of these disputes was caused by the Dred Scott Decision in 1834 (www.history.com 1of 2). Dred Scott was a slave that …show more content…
The Unions territory was the Northern states but there were some Southerners that fought with the Union. The Union was comprised of 20 free states that fought with them in pursuit of their beliefs. The Confederacy was led by President Jefferson Davis and Vice-President Alexander H. Stephens (“The First Battle of Manassas” 3 of 4). Even though the war was basically over slavery the Southern states had slaves to fight with them because they felt like the North was attacking their homeland too. The Confederacy was never recognized as a country even though they had 11 states on their side with the same beliefs and goals. The First Battle of Bull Run start at Mathews Hill on July 21,1861 at about 5:30 A.M. (“The First Battle of Manassas” 3 of 4). General McDowell orders the Union army to attack but since his army was inexperienced their tactics did not work but luckily for them neither did the souths due to their untrained soldiers, lack of communication, and just the sheer size of the Union Army. The Union army begins to push the Confederacy back until the point of which they had to retreat to Henry House Hill at 11:30 A.M. (“The First Battle of Manassas” 3 of