3.  That west of the Mississippi.

%431.  The Battle of “Bull Run” or Manassas%.—­General Winfield Scott was in command of the Union army.  Under him, in command of the troops about Washington, was General Irwin McDowell.  Further to the west, near Harpers Ferry, was a Union force under General Patterson.  In western Virginia, with an army raised largely in Ohio, was General George B. McClellan.  In Missouri was General Lyon, aided by all the Union people in the state, who were engaged in a desperate struggle to keep her in the Union.

In northern Virginia and opposed to the Union forces under General McDowell, was a Confederate army under General Beauregard, and these troops the people of the North demanded should be attacked.  “The Confederate Congress must not meet at Richmond!” “On to Richmond!  On to Richmond!” became the cries of the hour.  General McDowell, with 30,000 men, was therefore ordered to attack Beauregard.  McDowell found him near Manassas, some thirty miles southwest of Washington, and there, on the field of “Bull Run,” on Sunday, July 21, 1861, was fought a famous battle which ended with the defeat and flight of the Union army[1].

[Footnote 1:  Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol.  I., pp. 229-239.]

General George B. McClellan, who had defeated the Confederate forces in western Virginia in several battles, was now placed in command of the troops near Washington, and spent the rest of 1861 and part of 1862 in drilling and organizing his army.  Bull Run had taught the people two things:  1.  That the war was not to end in three months; 2.  That an army without discipline is not much better than a mob.

%432.  Fort Donelson and Fort Henry%.—­While McClellan was drilling his men along the Potomac, the Union forces drove back the Confederates in the West.  The Confederate line at first extended as shown by the heavy line on the map on p. 390.  In order to break it, General Buell sent a small force under General Thomas, in January, 1862, to drive back the Confederates near Mill Springs.  Next, in February, General Halleck authorized General U. S. Grant and Flag Officer Foote to make a joint expedition against Fort Henry on the Tennessee.  But Foote arrived first and captured the fort, whereupon Grant marched to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland, eleven miles away, and after three days of sharp fighting was asked by General Buckner what terms he would offer.  Grant promptly answered,

[Illustration:  Handwritten note of Grant]

No terms excepting unconditional and
immediate surrender can be accepted. 
I propose to receive immediately upon
your word. 
           I am Sir:  very respectfully
                   your ** **
                      U. S. Grant
                        Brig.  Gen.

Buckner at once surrendered (February 16, 1862), and Grant won the first great Union victory of the war.[1]

[Footnote 1:  Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol.  I., pp. 398-429; Grant’s Memoirs, Vol.  I., pp. 285-315.]