The
bloodshed at Manassas in July 1861 foreshadowed much
of the Civil War that would follow. Here, with hastily
assembled armies in mismatched uniforms, the United
States and the Confederacy struggled to establish
their purposes and their futures. The battle revealed
some of the defining features of the war to come:
the obliteration of the line between battlefield and
home front, the critical role of railroads and artillery,
the overconfidence of both sides, the allure of war
as spectacle, the cult of personality, and the impatience
of the press. One crucial aspect of the war to come,
however, remained invisible: emancipation. When war
returned to this very field a year later, an incipient
movement to freedom had begun to gather force, driven
by enslaved African Americans and a President looking
for a way to defeat a Confederacy that seemed to grow
only stronger.
The 150th anniversary of what would become known as
the First Battle of Manassas/Bull Run is a fitting
time to look forward, even as the nation revisits
and remembers the Civil War. Join the Virginia Sesquicentennial
of the American Civil War Commission and the National
Park Service for a program that will examine both
the profound impact of the Civil War and the rich
opportunities of the sesquicentennial.
Speakers included Robert F. McDonnell, Governor of
Virginia, along with local, state, and federal officials.
The keynote address was given by Dr. Edward L. Ayers,
president of the University of Richmond and historian
of the American South.
