Panic at Bull Run: Russell's Account of the Union Retreat

Panic at Bull Run is an excerpt from a longer article, The Battle of Bull Run, by the famous English journalist William H. Russell (1827 to 1907, also known as Sir William Howard Russell), one of the most widely read writers of his day. Russell was an eyewitness to the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) on 21 July 1861 during the American Civil War, but his article focused primarily on only one aspect: the disorderly Union retreat at the end of the day.