Irvin McDowell
Irvin McDowell was a career American army officer. He is best known for his defeat in the First Battle of Bull Run, the first largescale battle of the American Civil War. In 1862, he was given command of the I Corps of the Army of the Potomac. He fought unsuccessfully against Stonewall Jacksons troops during the Valley Campaign of 1862, and was blamed for contributing to the defeat of United States troops at the Second Battle of Bull Run in August.
McDowell was born in Columbus, Ohio, son of Abram Irvin McDowell and Eliza Seldon McDowell. He was a cousininlaw of John Buford, and his brother, John Adair McDowell, served as the first colonel of the 6th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. Irvin initially attended the College de Troyes in France before graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1838, where one of his classmates was P.G.T. Beauregard, his future adversary at First Bull Run. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and posted to the 1st U.S. Artillery. McDowell served as a tactics instructor at West Point, before becoming aidedecamp to General John E. Wool during the MexicanAmerican War. He was brevetted captain at Buena Vista and served in the Adjutant Generals department after the war. While in that department he was promoted to major on May 31, 1856.
Source: Wikipedia