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The Battle of Bull Run was the first major land battle of the Civil War, and it drew a group of spectators to watch the action on July 21, 1861, near Manassas, Virginia. Onlookers gathered with something of a sporting atmosphere, as many Northerners expected the war to end in a swift Union victory. Describing the scene for The Times of London, Irish war reporter William Howard Russell wrote, “A lady with opera glasses shouted loudly at each discharge of cannon: ‘That is splendid. Oh my! Is not that first rate?’” Union Captain John Tidball later wrote that people came...

On July 21, 1861, the First Battle of Bull Run (or First Manassas, as the Confederates referred to it) was fought outside of Washington D.C. in Virginia. Expecting the war to be a brief conflict to put down the rebellion, the Union Army instead was defeated at Bull Run and retreated in shambles to Washington. After the battle, both sides realized the Civil War would be a longer, bloodier conflict than most had previously expected.

Americans who want to celebrate their First Amendment rights and thumb their noses at political correctness have a few upcoming opportunities to don an Obama mask while fleeing from bulls. One company offering Pamplona-style “Running of the Bulls” events in the U.S. says the masks, which prompted nationwide condemnation for one Missouri rodeo clown, are allowed at its events. “We have no problem with that,” Phil Immordino, an organizer for Running With the Bulls USA, told U.S. News. …

ATLANTA (AP) — Organizers of a new event planned for several U.S. cities plan to unleash bulls to sprint through fenced-in courses as daredevils try to avoid being trampled. The Great Bull Run is inspired by the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. It's set to kick off Aug. 24 at a drag-racing strip south of Richmond, Va. A second event is planned for Oct. 19 at an Atlanta-area horse park that hosted events for the 1996 Olympics. More events are planned later for Texas, Florida, California, Minnesota, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Bull runs — when the animals are...

<p>Alarmist, it may sound, but true it rings. America is one step away from a third national revolution (if one counts the 1960s as a second).</p> <p>Yesterday, the president of the United States began the first shot heard ‘round the world. With the sweep of a pen, Comrade Obama began the quickening march toward national disorder and a socialist tsunami of economic stagnation that our children are going to toil to pay for decades to come.</p>

Women in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona, world-famous for its ferocious bull-running festival, are demanding their own version complete with cows instead of bulls. A student Web site, www.estudiln.net, set the ball rolling with its campaign "Cows want to run" which asks for a separate encierro, as the bull-runs are known, where only women are allowed to take part. Women have been allowed to take part in the San Fermin bull-running for some years but they still represent a tiny minority of the thousands of runners who attempt to dodge 600-kilo bulls along an 800-metre course through the streets...

This Day In History | Civil War July 21 1861 First Battle of Bull Run The war erupts on a large scale in the east when Confederate forces under P. T. Beauregard turn back Union General Irvin McDowell's troops along Bull Run in Virginia. The inexperienced soldiers on both sides slugged it out in a chaotic battle that resulted in a humiliating retreat by the Yankees and signaled, for many, the true start of the war. At the insistence of President Lincoln, McDowell set out to make a quick offensive against Manassas Junction, a key rail center 30 miles from...

OIL PRICES will soar to well over US$100 a barrel and stay high as part of a sustained commodities bull run that has another 15 years to run, billionaire United States investor Jim Rogers told Reuters in an interview. One factor that could bring down the price would be a bird flu epidemic, which would send all asset classes plummeting, he said, although oil would probably fall less than other markets. "We're going to have high oil prices for a very long time. The surprise is going to be how high it goes," Rogers said. Reiterating earlier comment oil prices...

PAMPLONA, Spain (Reuters) - A French man running with Pamplona's fighting bulls was gored in the mouth on Saturday and three others were injured in the legs and buttocks by the bulls, officials said. It was the first day that people had been gored by the bulls since the festival, made famous by Ernest Hemingway, opened on Thursday. The six bulls sent thrill-seekers from all over the world tumbling and leaping over the protective barriers in the July 7 to 14 bull running, part of Pamplona's San Fermin festival. Hemingway's 1920s novel "The Sun Also Rises" made the fiesta famous...

Q: After having read many accounts of the Civil War, I still don’t understand why South Carolina fired on Ft. Sumter, galvanizing the North into war.  What do you think might have happened had the South continued to let these coastal forts be manned by the Union for a longer time? Hanson: I think conflict was inevitable, because the South had little appreciation of Northern industrial power nor of the competence of a number of formerly nondescript Union officers. The best officers of the Mexican War had joined the Confederacy and there was an erroneous general impression that all superior...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

PAMPLONA, Spain -- Bulls gored two Americans and an Australian Tuesday on the second day of Pamplona's annual runs with the bulls. One of the gored Americans, Al Chesson, 57, from Pittsburgh, Pa., spent a terrifying half-minute being thrown around in the narrow alley leading into the bull ring that marks the end of the run. "It was like King Kong tossing coins," the former U.S. Marine and marathon runner said in the hospital, as he awaited surgery. Chesson was gored twice in the right thigh and once in the groin. The other gored American was identified as Dallas Hatchcock,...

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. We hope to provide an ongoing source of information about issues and problems that are specific to Veterans and resources that are available to Veterans and their families. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood...