Scores of high-spirited civilians carried picnic baskets and champagne to the battlefield to watch what would turn out to be the first major land engagement of the Civil War. Shown here is the ...

(WDBJ) - On this day in 1861, Union and Confederate troops clashed outside of Manassas, Virginia in the first major engagement of the Civil War. It began when Union General Irvin McDowell hoped to ...

The postwar period saw a sustained effort by both the North and South to commemorate and honor the troops. Despite Lincoln’s words at Gettysburg that nothing would hallow the ground more than ...

Mathew Brady and his legacy -- The first Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) -- Port Royal and Fort Pulaski -- The Federal Navy -- The Battle of the Ironclads -- The Peninsular campaign -- The second Battle ...

Bull Run has steep banks and is deep in spots, and would have slowed even experienced troops. The soldiers of 1861, and many of their officers, were still novices. McDowell was 42 years old, a ...