Today's serene and peaceful fields belie the carnage which occured here on July 21, 1861, when Union and Confederate troops clashed at the first major land battle of the Civil War - the First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run). Te heaviest and most sustained fighting occured on this ground, resulting in over 5,000 American casualties.
Few had anticipated the devastation and ruin war would bring. Inexperienced soldiers on both sides had predicted a swift victory. Civilian spectators journeyed out to watch the battle from distant hills. The First Battle of Manassas challenged their naive expectations of war and exposed the sobering reality of the struggle ahead.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service