Maneuvers and battles in Virginia prior to the Battle of First Manassas, July 21, 1861, were centered around control of major waterways. Virginia had three main waterways that defined its antebellum borders: the Ohio, Potomac, and Chesapeake rivers. While the men who fought in the Civil War wouldn’t have recognized these as “fronts” or used that terminology, I find it a convenient way to organize the military activity in Virginia during the first few months of the war.
Most maps of the military situation in late spring, early summer of 1861 focus almost exclusively on the action in front of Washington, DC, leading directly to the Battle of First Manassas (aka Bull Run). But, as you can see, the Union war effort in Virginia involved thrusts from three directions: west, north, and southeast.
Approximately 23,000 men under overall command of George B. McClellan crossed the Ohio River to push deep into the Trans-Allegheny region of Virginia. 53,800 men commanded by generals Irvin McDowell and Robert Patterson pushed south across the Potomac River. And, finally, Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler commanded approximately 9,000 men at Fort Monroe, where he attempted to push up the Virginia Peninsula.
These efforts were oftentimes uncoordinated or poorly coordinated. At the onset of the war, Union war planners were saddled with a hodgepodge of volunteer regiments led by inexperienced commanders with plenty of enthusiasm and little else. Many of the experienced regular Army officers had defected to the Confederacy.
While these efforts ultimately culminated in the disastrous loss at Bull Run, Union success in western Virginia can’t be discounted. McClellan’s early victories allowed West Virginia to gain statehood in 1863. Elsewhere, the footholds gained around Alexandria and Fort Monroe would never be seriously challenged for the remainder of the war.
Our map of Virginia’s Military Fronts, Spring-Summer 1861 shows roughly the military situation in late June to early July, but it is not meant to be an exact depiction of each campaign. They were fought in fits and starts, with advances and retreats and changes in command too complex to be displayed on one map. Instead, it is meant to illustrate the general orientation of military activity in Virginia during this short time period, and to show you, the reader, why we chose to organize it into three separate fronts.
Spirit of '61 