July 18, 1861---The Battle of Blackburn's Ford

JULY 18, 1861:    

The Battle of Blackburn's Ford marks the initial skirmish in the larger Battle of Bull Run. At Blackburn's Ford, the army attempted to cross Bull Run but Confederate fire broke up the attack. Union commanders believed that the road to Manassas Junction was clear except for a brigade of troops, but failed to see Confederate brigades under the command of General James Longstreet concealed in the woods behind the ford. As the Union troops began to cross the Run, their assault fell apart as the 12th New York Infantry broke up under heavy fire, causing a wave of panic to spread through the Union line. C.S.A. Colonel Jubal A. Early arrived with his Confederate brigade after the firing began, and the availability of this additional firepower completed the Confederate victory, keeping the Union troops under fire as they retreated. Confederate morale was buoyed by this easy victory of a small force against a much larger one; Union morale was correspondingly deflated, a harbinger of the eventual resolution of the larger battle.