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Manassas

Battles
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Refers to the 1861 First Battle of Bull Run, the Civil War’s first major land battle, a Confederate victory.

Detailed Definition
Manassas shattered illusions of a short war and revealed the conflict’s grim reality. In poetry, it symbolizes the end of innocence and the birth of national tragedy—appearing in American verse as a moment when picnic spectators fled from the thunder of real war, marking the transition from rhetoric to bloodshed.
Example
Example in poetry:
Manassas (Bull Run), 1861 Confederate victory, appears in Southern poetry as illusion of quick war; A modern sonnet might frame Manassas’ railroad junction as war’s first shock; In a dramatic monologue, a civilian recalls picnicking before Manassas’ chaos; A free-verse elegy could mourn the green troops lost in Manassas’ summer heat; Contemporary poets use Manassas to reflect on war’s disillusionment; A haiku might capture cicadas singing over Manassas’ first battlefield.
Additional Notes
Manassas (1861), or First Bull Run, shattered illusions of a short Civil War; in American poetry, it symbolizes the rude awakening to modern war’s chaos, often contrasted with later battles to trace the nation’s descent into total conflict.
Also Known As
First Battle of Bull Run Second Battle of Bull Run
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