West Point trained Brigadier General Irvin McDowell assumed command of the Union Department of Northeast Virginia in May 1861. The abandoned Lee Mansion served as his headquarters preceding the Union defeat in the battle referred to in the North as “First Bull Run” and in the South as “First Manassas.” McDowell’s subsequent performance as a division and corps commander did little to redeem his reputation, and he was eventually placed in virtual isolation as commander of the Department of the Pacific.