First Battle of Bull Run: The U.S Marines

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Speed was the key to the successful execution of McDowell’s complex plan. Unfortunately, in 1861 there were few units in the green Union Army that could move fast enough to make it work without a total loss of organization. Still, that was the plan, and the soldiers moved out as rapidly as possible, some of them singing Dixie as they moved into Virginia.Porter’s brigade and the Marines did their part, falling into marching order at 2 a.m. Despite the early start, the marchers suffered immediate delays and could not keep to the attack timetable. Columns became hopelessly disorganized, mixing with other units on the road and becoming confused in the dark; other regiments lost their way completely. It was not until midmorning on the 21st that the first Union elements actually crossed Bull Run.

Even as the congestion cleared, the Marines discovered another challenge to their march. Griffin’s battery contained six horse-drawn cannons that raced ahead of the brigade whenever they could to make up time. In Reynolds’ own words, The battery’s accelerated march was such as to keep my command more or less in double-quick time; consequently the men became fatigued or exhausted in strength. Double-quicking their way through the dark, the Marines lost much of their freshness, particularly as the morning turned into a typically hot July day in Virginia. Once the Marines crossed Bull Run, they rested half an hour while the remainder of Porter’s brigade caught up. Meanwhile, the first Union brigade to cross the creek, Brig. Gen. Ambrose Burnside’s, advanced toward the Confederate flank near Sudley Ford. Only a part of Colonel Nathan Shanks Evans’ Confederate brigade protected the left side of Beauregard’s army against the initial Union onslaught. McDowell’s plan just might work.

Burnside’s men engaged the Confederate line while Porter moved his men up on Burnside’s right. Griffin’s battery pushed ahead of Porter’s column, followed closely by the Marines, and started firing from a range of 1,000 yards. Griffin’s six guns, four rifled 10-pounders and two howitzers, quickly silenced a Confederate battery and then continued forward, advancing to the right as the Confederates started to yield under the intense pressure.

Griffin’s artillery again aggressively pushed forward, with the Marines close behind, while Burnside’s brigade forced the Confederates back. Still, the Confederate lines responded with intense and deadly fire as more Southern troops arrived to defend the flank. Burnside’s men, tiring after several hours of vicious combat, began to lose their initiative, faltering and withdrawing on their own to replenish their ammunition. The majority of Burnside’s brigade retreated to Sudley Ford and were no longer a factor on the battlefield. Porter’s men, however reluctantly, now were in the Union front.

Although one of Porter’s regiments followed Burnside’s exodus to the rear, the remainder of the brigade, including Griffin’s guns and the Marines, continued to fight ferociously. Additional Union brigades began to fill gaps as the battle progressed into the afternoon and the Confederate lines shifted about a mile to the rear. The Union army, despite its late start and early confusion, surged onward, ready to carry the day. Confederate resistance stiffened, however, as reinforcements from Johnston’s force arrived from Harpers Ferry by train. As they climbed down from the train, Beauregard hastily sent the new forces forward to bolster his left flank. Eventually the Confederates, under the implacable leadership of Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson, rallied on Henry House Hill in a stubborn defense that earned him the nickname Stonewall, and the hill became the focal point of the battle. At 2 p.m. Griffin’s battery and a second artillery battery, under Captain J.B. Ricketts, were ordered to occupy Henry House Hill, supported by infantry and Marines. Griffin’s cannons were not well to the front, but they fired harmlessly over the Confederates, who were sheltered on the opposite side of the hill. Meanwhile, the Union artillery was suffering under heavy Confederate return fire.

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Tags: 19th Century, America's Civil War, American Civil War, Historical Conflicts, Historical Figures

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