page_title: First Battle of Bull Run
section_title: Military and political situation
hierarchical_section_title: First Battle of Bull Run / Background / Military and political situation
caption_attribution_description: Scott's great snake. Cartoon map illustrating Gen. Winfield Scott's plan to crush the Confederacy, economically. It is sometimes called the "Anaconda plan." The tail of the snake is wrapped around the flagpole at Washington D.C., with U.S. flag and liberty cap. New York has winged cap of "FREE TRADE" and a colorful soldier from one of its Zouave regiments; ships are entering the port of New York (unlike the blockaded southern ports). New Jersey has "Trenton 76 + 61" written. Delaware has "Union Peaches" written. Maryland has "We give in MD" written. Virginia has beehive with Stars and Bars flag (representing Richmond) and burning railroad bridge. West Virginia (separated from Virginia by dotted line) has man flying U.S. flag and waving sword. North Carolina has sketch of a man eating from a barrel labeled "Rosin" with the caption "POOR EATING". South Carolina has "CONTRABANDS" (runaway slaves) fleeing for Tennessee. Georgia has dilapidated "COTTON FACTORY" building falling apart. Alabama is complaining "DAM OLD VIRGINIA TOOK OUR CAPITOL" (the Confederate capital was moved from Montgomery to Richmond). Mississippi has sketch of "BURNING MASSA OUT". Louisiana shows idle men lying on barrels saying "Can't ship now" and a lynched "UNION MAN" hanging from gallows. Texas has sketch of "COSTLY SHOOTING $1000.00 A HEAD" (a Confederate man firing at fleeing slaves). Indian Territory shows Indian smoking pipe in front of teepees, cradleboard hanging from tree in background. The head of the snake is in Missouri, driving "Jackson &amp; Co." into Arkansas. "Kanzas"[sic] shows "Union Music" (sketch of advancing troops under U.S. flag). Iowa similarly shows "HAWK-EYE MARKSMEN" advancing. Illinois, Indiana and Ohio show corn, pork and wheat being speeded eastward by railroad. A cannon in southern Illinois (next to flagpole with U.S. flag) is pointed southwestward. Kentucky shows soldier with coonskin hat sitting on fence in name of "ARMED NUTRALITY"[sic]. Eastern Tennessee (separated by a dotted line from the rest of the state) shows "KNOCKSVILLE WHIG" in pugilistic attitude, next to flagpole flying U.S. flag. There are several engraving errors (due to fact that the plate had to be engraved in mirror-image form): the dollar sign and the "S" of "South Carolina" are backwards.
context_page_description: The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the First Battle of Manassas, was the first major battle of the American Civil War and was a Confederate victory. The battle was fought on July 21, 1861 in Prince William County, Virginia, just north of the city of Manassas and about 30 miles west-southwest of Washington, D.C. The Union's forces were slow in positioning themselves, allowing Confederate reinforcements time to arrive by rail. Each side had about 18,000 poorly trained and poorly led troops in their first battle. It was a Confederate victory, followed by a disorganized retreat of the Union forces.
  Just months after the start of the war at Fort Sumter, the Northern public clamored for a march against the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, which was expected to bring an early end to the Confederacy. Yielding to political pressure, Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell led his unseasoned Union Army across Bull Run against the equally inexperienced Confederate Army of Brig. Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard camped near Manassas Junction.
context_section_description: On April 15, 1861, the day after South Carolina military forces attacked and captured Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring an insurrection against the laws of the United States. Earlier, South Carolina and seven other
  Southern states had declared their secession from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America.
  To suppress the Confederacy and restore Federal law in the Southern states, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers with ninety-day enlistments to augment the existing U.S. Army of about 15,000. He later accepted an additional 40,000 volunteers with three-year enlistments and increased the strength of the U.S. Army to almost 200,000. Lincoln's actions caused four more Southern states, including Virginia, to secede and join the Confederacy, and by 1 June the Confederate capital had been moved from Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond, Virginia.
  In Washington, D.C., as thousands of volunteers rushed to defend the capital, General in Chief Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott laid out his strategy to subdue the Confederate States. He proposed that an army of 80,000 men be organized to sail down the Mississippi River and capture New Orleans. While the Army "strangled" the Confederacy in the west, the U.S. Navy would blockade Southern ports along the eastern and Gulf coasts. The press ridiculed what they dubbed as Scott's "Anaconda Plan". Instead, many believed the capture of the Confederate capital at Richmond, only one hundred miles south of Washington, would quickly end the war.
  By July 1861 thousands of volunteers were camped in and around Washington. Since General Scott was seventy-five years old and physically unable to lead this force, the administration searched for a more suitable field commander.
caption: Cartoon map illustrating Gen. Winfield Scott's plan to crush the Confederacy, economically. It is sometimes called the "Anaconda plan".
exif: {}