American History - Part 094 - Lincoln - Union Disaster at Bull Run - Fighting starts
Channel: ListenAndReadAlong
Date: 06/06/2013

Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION-- American history in VOA Special English.
So far, though, the fighting had not claimed many lives. But very soon, the battle would become fierce.
This week in our series, Frank Oliver and Jack Weitzel continue the story of the American Civil War.
The old general who commanded the Union forces, Winfield Scott, did not want to rush his men into battle.
Northern newspapers took up the cry, "On to Richmond!" Political leaders began pressing for a quick northern victory. Public pressure forced the army to act.
For more than a month, General Irvin McDowell had been building a Union army in northern Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington. He had more than thirty thousand men at bases in Arlington and Alexandria. Late in June, McDowell received orders: "March against the Confederate Army of General Pierre Beauregard."
Beauregard had twenty thousand soldiers at Manassas Junction, a railroad village in Virginia less than fifty kilometers from Washington. McDowell planned to move on Manassas Junction July ninth, but was delayed for more than a week.
He planned the attack carefully. McDowell was worried that another large Confederate force west of Manassas Junction might join Beauregard's army.
This force, led by General Joe Johnston, was in the Shenandoah Valley near Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Across from Harpers Ferry, in Maryland, was a Union army almost twice the size of Johnston's. It was ordered to put pressure on Johnston's force to prevent it from helping Beauregard.
General Beauregard received early warning from Confederate spies that McDowell would attack. Much of his information came from a woman, Mrs. Rose O'Neal Greenhow. Mrs. Greenhow, a widow, was an important woman in Washington. She knew almost all the top government officials. And she had friends in almost every department of the government.
Then, on the morning of July sixteenth, Mrs. Greenhow wrote a nine-word message. She gave it to a man to carry to Beauregard. The Confederate general received it that evening. It said: "Order given for McDowell to march upon Manassas tonight."
Beauregard sent a telegram to Richmond. He told the Confederate government that McDowell was on the way. He asked that Johnston's ten thousand-man force in the Shenandoah Valley join him for battle. He was told to expect Johnston's help.
But Johnston's army was threatened by a large Union force that entered Virginia from Maryland. Led by General Robert Patterson, the Union troops moved toward the smaller Confederate force. They were not really interested in fighting Johnston. But they did want to prevent him from reaching Beauregard.
Johnston knew he could not defeat Patterson. So he decided to trick him.
While most of his army withdrew and prepared to join Beauregard, Johnston sent a small force to attack Patterson's army. Patterson believed Johnston was attacking with all his troops. He stopped moving forward and prepared to defend against what seemed to be a strong Confederate attack.
By the time the trick was discovered, Johnston and most of his troops were at Manassas.
From time to time, Union officers would ride up the hill to report what a great victory their troops were winning.
In the first few hours of the battle, Union forces were winning. McDowell had moved most of his men to the left side of Beauregard's army. They attacked with artillery and pushed the Confederate forces back. It seemed that the Confederate defense would break. Some of the southern soldiers began to run. But others stood and fought.
One Confederate officer, trying to prevent his troops from moving back, pointed to a group led by General T. J. Jackson of Virginia. "Look!" He shouted. "There is Jackson, standing like a stone wall! Fight like the Virginians!"
The Confederate troops refused to break.
The fighting was fierce. The air was full of flying bullets. A newsman wrote that the whole valley was boiling with dust and smoke. A Confederate soldier told his friend, "Them Yankees are just marching up and being shot to hell."
Neither side would give up. Then, a large group of Johnston's troops arrived by train and joined in the fight. Suddenly, Union soldiers stopped fighting and began pulling back. General McDowell and his officers tried to stop the retreat, but failed. Their men wanted no more fighting.
The fleeing Union soldiers threw down their guns and equipment, thinking only of escape. Many did not stop until they reached Washington.
It was a bitter defeat. But it made the North recognize the need for a real army -- one trained and equipped for war. President Abraham Lincoln gave the job of building such an army to General George McClellan.
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