Donnybrook: the Battle of Bull Run, 1861
On July 21, 1861, near a stream called Bull Run, the Union and Confederate forces fought from early morning until after dark in the first great battle of the Civil War. America would never be quite the same. The first Battle of Bull Run introduced citizens of this country to the draft, the effects of heavy artillery, and the emotional violence of fighting your neighbor for an uncertain cause. It tested the character of men who would later dominate popular memory: Stonewall Jackson, James Longstreet, Irvin McDowell, William T. Sherman. Donnybrook is the first major history of Bull Run to detail the battle from its origins through its aftermath. David Detzer has created an epic account of a defining moment in American history.