Stone Bridge - Manassas, VA - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

At the STONE BRIDGE (R), 24.5 m., the First Battle of Manassas began on July 21, 1861. Along the stream here - Bull Run - and the hills to the west, the first major battle of the War between the States was fought. Commanded by Generals Joseph E. Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard, the Confederate army was south of the bridge when General Irvin McDowell attacked here with one division and sent two other divisions three miles north to sweep down Bull Run in a flank attack. A Condederate observer six miles south signalled by wigwag and the Confederates were able to hold McDowell on Matthews Hill until late in the morning, when they fell back to the turnpike. There, reinforced, they held McDowell for two hours until forced to withdraw to Henry Hill. It was here that General Barnard E. Bee exclaimed, 'There stands Jackson like a stone wall.' The Confederates rallied, held their position while reinforcements were hurried forward, and two hours later drove the Federals from the hill. Again on the turnpike, McDowell's lines were broken and, in his own words, 'The retreat soon became a rout, and this degenerated into a panic.'