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A Great Day At The Site Of The Two Battles Of Bull Run…Or Is It The Two Battles of Manassas?

The Confederate army liked to use cities or towns as names for battles such as Manassas, while the Union army like to use geographical landmarks such as Bull Run. A run in this area is another name for a stream or creek. This naming is also apparent at the battle of Antietam (river), or the battle of Sharpsburg (city). This is a national park run by the NPS. From our travels we absolutely love how the NPS administers its parks. We took 5 separate hour long walking tours of the battlefields. After that, we temporarily considered ourselves experts on both the 1861 first Bull Run and the 1862 second Bull Run battles.

They had many vintage artillery pieces such as the one pictured above. There was actually one cannon missing as it was stolen back in the 1960s. They are still getting leads as to its whereabouts but no luck recovering it yet.
This style of farm fence was prevalent during the times of the battles. Soldiers from both sides often used them as a shield from flying musket balls. I don’t think I would have much faith in that protection but, what was option B?

We were very intrigued by the fact that most of the dead from the battles were simply buried in very shallow graves right where they fell.

Even months later dead were being discovered unburied. As recently as 2016 the remains of soldiers are still being found.
It took a number of years after each battle to find a proper place to bury all the dead from both sides. Being victorious, most Union soldiers were re-interred at Arlington National Cemetery but the Confederate burials were left to private organizations in the Southern States and often occurred at cemeteries like this one near the battlefield.
This structure is called “The Stone Building”. Go figure! It was a tavern turned into a makeshift hospital for both battles at Bull Run.
Much of the building is still original and authentic to the period. The docent pointed out the split in the floorboards here. The boards in the front have been replaced but the ones in the back are original and surely saw many bloody spills. It felt very strange standing on them.
There were many different styles of uniform used on both sides of the conflict.
We thought this entryway to a driveway in Virginia was excellent. Confederate soldier on the left and Union soldier on the right.
This is the uniform of the NY 5th Brigade.
Amazing and scary too. Could not imagine being involved in such a conflict.
This is the restored Henry House. Unfortunately for it’s owners the Henry family it was located on a hill of significant military strategy. Judith Henry was bedridden at 85 years old when a projectile crashed through the house taking off one of her legs. She died of complications due to infection the following day.
Judith is buried right in her front yard with her two sons that did not perish in the battle.
The tour guides were very good at discussing where exactly in the area the lines for each side formed and how the artillery was used.
Could not imagine having one of these aimed in my direction!
We found this to be amazing! Before being discharged from duty in 1865 the Union soldiers thought it important to honor their dead. They built a monument to honor the dead Union soldiers during the two battles a few years earlier.
No post regarding Bull Run would be complete without a picture of Stonewall Jackson. It says “Here Stands Jackson Like A Stonewall”.

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