What was the first major land battle of the Civil War?

The First Battle of Bull Run was the first major land battle of the American Civil War. Fought on July 21, 1861, near Manassas, Virginia, it was also known as the First Battle of Manassas by the Confederacy.

The battle followed intense pressure in the North for a quick advance on Richmond, the Confederate capital. Union forces under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell initially pushed back Confederate troops commanded by P. G. T. Beauregard, but Confederate reinforcements led by Joseph E. Johnston arrived from the Shenandoah Valley by rail.

The Confederate counterattack drove the Union army into a chaotic retreat toward Washington, D.C. Brigadier General Thomas J. Jackson earned the nickname “Stonewall” during the fighting. Bull Run shattered hopes that the war would end quickly and showed both sides that the conflict would be longer, larger, and bloodier than expected. It should not be confused with the Second Battle of Bull Run, fought in August 1862.