With the sun finally out, I decided to skip out on farm living and instead drove to the Manassas Battlefield, commonly known as the Battle of Bull Run. The battlefields were still muddy, but I walked for miles following the military drama that unfolded here on July 21, 1861.
The Federal General McDowell had the Confederate troops outnumbered, and falling back from Mathew’s Hill, at a fast retreat. Confederate units had fallen out of line and were milling about in confusion feeling they had lost the battle. Confederate Generals Johnston, Beauregard and Bee quickly reformed the troops to make a final stand. Just then Confederate re enforcements appeared from the woods behind them. It was Jackson’s infamous Virginia Infantry. Brig. Gen. Barnard E. Bee, exhorted his own troops to re-form by shouting, “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer. Follow me.” General Bee was then shot dead. This stand with the unexpected re enforcements turned the battle, and earned Jackson a lasting name in history.
