ABOUT THE EVENT:
2012 Battle details to come.....
The 2011 re-enactment Battle of Bull Run was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. On July 16, 1861, the untried Union army under Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell marched from Washington against the Confederate army, which was drawn up behind Bull Run beyond Centreville. On the 21st, McDowell crossed at Sudley Ford and attacked the Confederate left flank on Matthews Hill. Fighting raged throughout the day as Confederate forces were driven back to Henry Hill. Late in the afternoon, Confederate reinforcements (one brigade arriving by rail from the Shenandoah Valley) extended and broke the Union right flank. The Federal retreat rapidly deteriorated into a rout. Although victorious, Confederate forces were too disorganized to pursue. Confederate Gen. Bee and Col. Bartow were killed. Thomas J. Jackson earned the nom de guerre “Stonewall.” By July 22, the shattered Union army reached the safety of Washington. This battle convinced the Lincoln administration that the war would be a long and costly affair. McDowell was relieved of command of the Union army and replaced by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, who set about reorganizing and training the troops.
VAN RAALTE FARM
Click here for directionsThe City of Holland purchased the historic 160-acre farm in 1983.
The farmhouse is one of the last structures remaining in Holland associated with the family of the founder, Reverend Albertus C. Van Raalte. Van Raalte purchased the property in 1847 and gave a good portion of the land to his son Ben after he returned from the war.
In 1989, eleven acres of the farm, including the original farmhouse and two barns built between 1865 and 1875, were listed in the National Register of Historic Places.