First Battle of Manassas

In the afternoon of 21 July 1861, after Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's and Brig. Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard's Confederates defeated Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell's Union army, the bridge over Cub Run was jammed with retreating Federal soldiers and civilians who had come to watch the battle. Capt. Delaware Kemper's Confederate artillery fired a few parting rounds toward the bridge, and one shell burst directly overhead. The crowd panicked and upset a wagon, blocking the bridge. Civilians and soldiers abandoned carriages, cannons, and caissons, splashed across the stream, and fled on foot to Alexandria.

Centreville, Virginia · United States