The tune Abe's Retreat refers to the rout of the Union Army at the first battle of Bull Run or first Manassas as it was known in the South.
On July 16, 1861 the Union army under Gen. Irvin McDowell began advancing on Confederate forces under Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard at Manassas Junction, Virginia.
The Union Army at Martinsburg, Virginia failed to stop the Confederates under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston from uniting with Beauregard. By July 20, Johnston's army began arriving at Manassas.
On July 21, McDowell, attacked the Confederates near the stone bridge over Bull Run and drove them back to the Henry House Hill. Confederate Gen. Thomas J. Jackson standing like a stone wall, checked the Union advance. With the arrival of Gen. E. Kirby Smith's brigade, the tide turned against the Union forces.
The poorly trained Union volunteers retreated along roads jammed by panicked civilians who had turned out in their Sunday finery to watch the battle. The retreat quickly became a rout.
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