, July, 1861. _Source-Book_, 305-308.]

387. The Bull Run Campaign, July, 1861.--Northern soldiers crossed
the Potomac into Virginia and found the Confederates posted at Bull Run
near Manassas Junction. Other Northern soldiers pressed into the
Shenandoah Valley from Harper's Ferry. They, too, found a Confederate
army in front of them. The plan of the Union campaign is now clear:
General McDowell was to attack the Confederates at Bull Run, while
General Patterson attacked the Confederates in the Valley, and kept them
so busy that they could not go to the help of their comrades at Bull
Run. It fell out otherwise, for Patterson retreated and left the
Confederate general, Johnston, free to go to the aid of the sorely
pressed Confederates at Bull Run. McDowell attacked vigorously and broke
the Confederate line; but he could not maintain his position. The Union
troops at first retreated slowly. Then they became frightened and fled,
in all haste, back to Washington. The first campaign ended in disaster.

[Illustration: GENERAL MCCLELLAN.]

[Sidenote: The Army of the Potomac, 1862.]

388. The Army of the Potomac.--While the Bull Run campaign was
going on in eastern Virginia, Union soldiers had been winning victories
in western Virginia. These were led by General George B. McClellan. He
now came to Washington and took command of the troops operating in front
of the capital. During the autumn, winter, and spring he drilled his men
with great skill and care. In March, 1862, the Army of the Potomac left
its camps a splendidly drilled body of soldiers.

[Sidenote: Southern preparations. _Source-Book_, 308-311.]

[Sidenote: Richmond.]

[Sidenote: Army of Northern Virginia.]

389. The Army of Northern Virginia.--Meantime the government of the
Confederacy had gathered great masses of soldiers. There were not nearly
as many white men of fighting age in the South as there were in the
North. But what men there were could be placed in the fighting line,
because the negro slaves could produce the food needed by the armies and
do the hard labor of making forts. The capital of the Confederacy was
now established at Richmond, on the James River, in Virginia. The army
defending this capital was called the Army of Northern Virginia. It was
commanded by Joseph E. Johnston; but its ablest officers were Robert E.
Lee and Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson).

[Sidenote: McClellan's plan of campaign, 1862.]

[Sidenote: Objections to it.]