Edward Porter Alexander

On July 21, 1861, the Confederate and Union armies met for the first time at Manassas, Virginia, about twenty-five miles from Washington, D.C. Expecting a grand spectacle and a smashing defeat of the Confederates, the people of Washington turned out in force to witness this Battle of Bull Run from nearby hilltops. Unfortunately, after a confused melee lasting several hours, the Union forces were in headlong retreat back to the Potomac, sharing the roads with companies of panicked civilians now in fear for their lives.

Also onhand to witness the Confederate victory was Jefferson Davis and his leading generals, including Joseph Johnston, P.T. Beauregard, and Stonewall Jackson. As General E.P. Alexander recounts, these gentlemen committed a serious blunder in not following up their opportunity to pursue the Union army to the streets of the capital...