Union soldiers charged the Confederate soldiers early in the morning on July 21, but the battle fell into chaos. The Confederacy began winning and Union troops retreated back to Washington D.C.

The Union Army had lost the first major battle of the Civil War.

A Confederate General named Thomas Jackson, famously earned his new name, "Stonewall Jackson," during the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas). They said he stood like a stone wall, with his troops, holding the hill and keeping it from the Union Army.

President Lincoln knew immediately that the war would not end quickly. The next day, he signed a bill to enlist 500,000 men, not for one year, but for three years of service to the Union Army. It became clear to everyone that the war would not be a quick one.