Historic Replicas

Hindsight, as they say, is 20-20, so it’s hard to believe that the Union and Confederate troops originally predicted a quick, neat end to the American Civil War. For their part, the rebels assumed that if they showed enough willingness and determination to break away from the United States, the North would accept that choice. The Union underestimated the South’s steely resolve and well-disciplined fighting force.

Any pretenses about the war ending early came to a screeching halt during the First Battle of Bull Run – known in the South as the Battle of Manassas – which took place in summer of 1861. Just a few months after the Confederacy fired on Fort Sumter, the Union was feeling overconfident. Several generals decided to march on Richmond and secure a quick victory. When the smoke from the cannons and Civil War guns cleared, several thousand troops on each side had been killed. The prospect of a short, tidy war vanished with that smoke.