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blueridge

Greetings,

You posted:

"nobody had expereinced casualties like that YET so they were shocked by such loss of life and bloodshed. The army was green and that added to the panic that occured as the battle turned against them.........the "beat down" was worse at 2nd Manassas but the "skedaddle" was worse after the 1st one."

My reply:

Excellent and succinct analysis, IMHO. The Union Army at First Bull Run was indeed whipped, and whipped badly. I think one has to look back to the battles for New York during the Revolutionary War to find an instance previous to First Bull Run where US troops paniced, turned and ran on such a scale as what happened at First Manasses. So complete was the rout, that had the Confederate forces not been so green and unorganized, they could have waltzed into Washington DC.

However, despite the "spanking" administered to it the Union Army was not destroyed, nor are you claiming it was. It would rise from the ashes of this ignoble affair and be molded into a feared and respected fighting force, but not for several weeks after First Bull Run could those efforts begin in earnest.

Your mention of the casualty figures and their effect in precipitating the eventual paniced retreat is on point, and if anything, may not have been emphasized strongly enough.

The scale of the casualties inflicted were also a factor in Longstreets successful skirmishes in the days leading up to First Bull Run.

The negative psychological effects resulting from the scale of the casualties during the first few month's of the fighting is often overlooked, so congratulations in pointing out the relationship.

For me, one of the interesting things about First Bull Run has to be the fact that although a through rout of the Union Army happened, there were in fact some Union elements which never broke and maintained their unit's integrity during the withdrawal back to Washington D.C.. However, such units were definately in the minority.

Regards,

MB