On This Day…

Civil War – First Battle of Bull Run

July 21, 1861

The first major battle of the war, and from which Stonewall Jackson received his nickname for delaying his attack. The Union, expecting a quick victory, was routed by the South. Confederate President Jefferson Davis credited the spy Rose O’Neal Greenhow for the victory due to the information she gathered. Some speculate she gathered the information from then Senator and future Vice President Henry Wilson, with whom she was having an affair.