first battle of bull run fired the first shots in the civil war.
who fired the first shots in the civil war?
first battle of bull run
john thompson brown (february 6, 1835 – may 6, 1864) was a confederate states army colonel and artillerist in the american civil war. he participated in the first exchange of cannon fire, in fact the first shots fired, between a confederate force and a union force in virginia during the civil war. brown's company of the virginia (soon to be confederate) richmond howitzers artillery regiment, with brown in command according to some sources, and a union force, the gunboat uss "yankee", had a minor engagement at the battle of gloucester point, virginia on may 7, 1861. neither side suffered casualties. brown is credited by some sources with firing the first shot of the civil war in virginia at that first, minor engagement in the state. during the war, he advanced from the rank of first lieutenant to the rank of colonel in charge of a division of artillery in the army of northern virginia. he was killed by a sharpshooter at the battle of the wilderness, may 6, 1864.
j. thompson brown
atf agents stated that they heard shots coming from within the compound, while branch davidian survivors claimed that the first shots came from the atf agents outside. a suggested reason may have been an accidental discharge of a weapon, possibly by an atf agent, causing the atf to respond with fire from automatic weapons. other reports claim the first shots were fired by the atf "dog team" sent to kill the dogs in the branch davidian kennel. three helicopters of the army national guard were used as aerial distraction, and all took incoming fire. during the first shots, koresh was wounded, shot in the hand and in the stomach. within a minute of the raid starting, branch davidian wayne martin called emergency services, pleading for them to stop shooting. the resident asked for a ceasefire, and audiotapes record him saying, "here they come again!" and, "that's them shooting! that's not us!"
waco siege