"The Battles Begin " a Manassas National Battlefield Park Travel Page by mrclay2000

In 1861 not far from Washington DC, the first important battle of the Civil War began at Manassas Junction as it was known in the South, or Bull Run as it was known in the North. Considering the safety of Washington as paramount, the military high command attempted to direct the Federal attack from headquarters rather than on the field, which partly resulted in the Confederate forces overturning the Federal assault. The humiliating rout and flight of the Union line woke the nation that the war would not conclude in a matter of months, but would rather take a number of years. Five thousand casualties were left on the field, an appalling number at the time. The following summer at the same place, the Second Manassas caused 25,000 casualties. As Sherman would later say, "War is All Hell."