The First Battle of Manassas: Re-enacted

Internet problems kept these from going out yesterday, but fear not, the pictures taken at the 150th anniversary of the battle are here!  These are not really in any particular order of significance.  Comments of individual pictures are made below each one.

For much of the history of warfare, when armies met on the battlefield under organized conditions, they would often fight in formations and packed into boxes, shapes like diamonds and rectangles, and for the most part, at least since the advent of firearms, lines.  Even as technology improved and a hit from a gun pretty much meant you were going down, line warfare continued to be important.  Some wished for disputes, even those settled in war, to be engaged in with a sort of gentility, not wishing to see men mindlessly hacking away at each other on a battlefield.  More likely, tacticians wanted to control the situation and use formations to the best of their advantage so as to not have to resort to total war to achieve objectives.  Even if some of the enemy would survive, so would much of your side.

By the time of the Civil War, military technology had advanced to the point where this was no longer feasible.  First Manassas featured guns and artillery that could shred an opposing force apart with much more ease and rapidity than before, and those watching certainly got the clue.  Much of the rest of the war was a turning away from open-field line combat, and major battles instead focused on achieving objectives, like capturing ground for better artillery emplacements.

 Here we see some Marines.  For the most part, Manassas was fought by conscripts in the army on both sides.

 The red shirts were not actually uniforms.  Apparently they were common dress during the period for farmers, of whom most of the conscripts would have been drawn from.  Here we see some New Yorkers, along with many from Minnesota.  The actual composition of the armies could have included men from just about anywhere, as the railroad system allowed an ease of transit to the area from as far away as Minnesota and Iowa.  The Confederates used trains to their advantage in getting their men into the fighting, which allowed them to fight relatively fresh from not having to march, and got reinforcements into the fray rather quickly, even from the distant Shenandoah Valley.  The Union forces, on the other hand, did have to march under unpleasant conditions, despite having been mustered from far more vast distances through use of the railroads.  True to form, the men pictured sweated it out in full period dress.

 More of the brave Minnesotans.

 Here we see some Confederates engaging the Union lines at what is supposed to be Turkey Hill.  Obviously, it would be hard to stage a real re-enactment over the total area of the sites.  The only downside to this was the power lines in the background killing the realism.  Also of note, while some Confederates do have grey on, things were not yet color coded by this point in the war.  Men wore what they had available, which included Confederate officers wearing their blue uniforms with Union insignia removed.

 Slightly after Sherman makes a nice attack to turn the tide, the Union forces seem to be gaining the upper hand.  The battlefield is already looking a bit chaotic, with smoke everywhere and lines starting to waver a bit.

 Here we see the sons of South Carolina making a retreat.

 This just looked too impressive not to put up.  12 cannons shot in perfect sync!

 Stonewall Jackson (not pictured) is at this point standing under fire, earning his name.  Some of the officers and men take notice of this and also hold their ground.  A call goes out to rally behind the Virginians, and the retreat that South Carolina was making all of a sudden turns into some pretty decent volleys.  South Carolina really does have a nice flag, what with a Sabal Palmetto on it and all, which is probably why I took this shot in the first place.  Pictured further right is the original Confederate flag, which was in use until May of 1863, when it became replaced by the more familiar stars and bars.

Also at the battle were a number of "tourists" from nearby Washington.  Many were expecting a trouncing of the Confederate forces, and came to watch the battle as if it were a joke.  When things got a bit rough by the afternoon, many of these picnickers and tourists made a run for it, which was probably also the point at which the generals knew that the war was going to take longer than people figured.  The camera might be modern, but the action was pretty spot on.  People brought opera glasses with them to catch a better view of the carnage.  At the re-enactment, there were also women following the lines who tended to the wounded men.  Clara Barton and her teams were on hand to assist the wounded, in some cases even under fire.

All in all, a pretty impressive event.  Nearly all of the battles of the Civil War are going to be covered this way, apparently.