A Year of Glory
June 1862 - June 1863
The Campaign of Second Manassas


Following the Seven Day's Battles, McClellan's Army, camped on the James River only 20 miles from Richmond, remained a threat to the Confederate capital. Nevertheless, in mid-July, Lee reorganized his army into two commands under Jackson and Longstreet and embarked on a series of daring moves that took the war north, back to the doorstep of Washington. Counting on McClellan's continuing lethargy, Lee first sent Jackson northward to block the advance of the Federal army from that quarter. Then he turned his back on McClellan entirely and launched an offensive with all his forces where the Federals least expected it, initiating a campaign that for a time reversed the tide of the war.
The Union army that Lee was out to attack was the newly formed Army of Virginia, made up of three corps stationed around Washington and the Shenandoah Valley. Lincoln, hoping to go on the offensive following McClellan's failure on the Peninsula, combined the forces of Irvin McDowell, Nathaniel Banks, and Franz Sigel, each of whom had been defeated by Stonewall Jackson in his famed Valley campaign, under the leadership of Major General John Pope. Pope, as commander of the Union Army of the Mississippi, had orchestrated the capture of Island Number Ten and Corinth, Mississippi. His new mission would be to protect Washington and the upper Shenandoah, and, if possible, sever Lee's connections with the valley.
Lee found himself faced with a dilemma. McClellan's army was still camped on the James River, threatening the Rebel capital. With the formation of the the new Federal army, Lee could easily be trapped between the two. But he also believed that McClellan wouldn't advance without sizable reinforcement, and decided to sieze the initiative. He began by sending Jackson's command to Gordonsville via the Virginia Central Railroad in mid-July.
Lincoln also had his eyes on Gordonsville. He recognized the strategic importance of the crossroads of the Virginia Central Railroad, Richmond's connection with the Shenandoah Valley, and the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. By moving on Gordonsville and Charlottesville, he hoped Pope would draw pressure off McClellan and back onto Richmond.
Pope initially concentrated his army on a line from Fredericksburg to Culpeper Court-House and Sperryville. Directing operations from Washington, on July 17, he ordered Brigadier General John P. Hatch to advance his cavalry and destroy the railroad around Gordonsville and in the direction of Charlottesville. Hatch, dragging along his infantry and artillery, got to Madison Court-House, some fifteen miles from his goal, before he realized that Ewell had moved faster, and arrived at Gordonsville ahead of him. Hatch declined to fight and retreated to Sperryville.
Pope next ordered cavalry commander Judson Kilpatrick to strike the Virginia Central Railroad near Beaver Dam Station, on July 19. In addition to burning the depot and tearing up the track, the regiment captured a young Confederate captain whom they later released. The captain, one John Singleton Mosby, would later gain great notoriety as the South's most feared partisan fighter.
The raid's minor success spurred a series of reconnaissance operations on July 21, 22, and 24. Hatch was again ordered to strike the Virginia Central Railroad and failed. He was relieved of command and replaced by General John Buford, who would become the hero of the first day at Gettysburg, in July, 1863. Although inconsequential, the cavalry actions did prove to Pope that Jackson indeed faced him with an estimated 30,000 troops.
As Pope watched Jackson, Lee watched McClellan. As July dragged on, and "Little Mac" did nothing, Lee sent more troops after Jackson. With the arrival of A.P. Hill's division on July 29, Jackson now felt ready to move against Pope. Coincidentally, on the 29th, Pope left Washington, to join his army in the field.
Pope, on August 6, ordered the army to concentrate on Culpeper. He intended to move against Jackson's left flank, and cut the railroad between Gordonsville and Charlottesville. He maintained a steady correspondence with Major General Henry W. Halleck, who had arrived in Washington in late July, to become General-in-Chief of all U.S. armies. Halleck wanted Pope to proceed with caution. Pope wanted McClellan to abandon the Peninsula and combine with his Army of Virginia. Halleck agreed, and on August 4, ordered the Army of the Potomac north, advising Pope that the move would be a slow, cumbersome one.
Jackson was apprised of Pope's advance on Culpeper on August 7, also learning that, of Pope's three corps, only Bank's had arrived. Jackson moved, and after a slow day of marching on the 8th, arrived within eight miles of Culpeper, at Cedar Mountain, on the 9th. Banks, although unsupported and outnumbered, struck first. He was initially successful and for two hours drove Jackson's troops back, but then the attack faltered, and the tide turned. Jackson counterattacked and drove Banks from the field.
Late in the day, and early on the 10th, the remainder of Pope's army arrived, evening the contest. Jackson, realizing he could do no more damage for the time being, ordered a retreat back across the Rapidan. In their discussions of the battle, Pope and Halleck frequently mentioned the Union Army's options should there be a need to retreat. The Rebels had the initiative and weren't about to give it up.
Lee was ready for the next step on August 13, when he ordered Longstreet's 28,000 man corps to join up with Jackson. Hood's division would follow close behind, as would Stuart, and the cavalry. Lee himself, left Richmond on the 15th to join the army at Gordonsville. From here on, Longstreet would command the army's "Right Wing" of five divisions totalling 30,000 men, while Jackson commanded the "Left Wing" of three divisions with 24,000 men.
The Battle of Second Manassas With the consolidation of his army complete following Cedar Mountain, General Lee wanted to strike General John Pope's Army of Virginia quickly. Lee and Jackson believed that Pope, currently camped between the Rapidan to the south and the Rappahannock to the north, could be trapped by a flank attack to Pope's left. Wanting to attack on August 16th, Lee quickly realized that all the pieces were not in place, particularly Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry brigade, currently 30 miles to the south. He decided, therefore, to move the army to the Rapidan on the 16th and 17th, then cross and attack on the 18th.
Unfortunately for Lee, his orders, through Stuart, to Fitzhugh Lee on the plan of battle, were unclear as to the timing of the attack. Lee's cavalry brigade was slow in reaching the Rapidan from it's previous location over thirty miles away. Needed to screen the army's movement, the cavalry's late arrival forced General Lee once again to delay the attack, this time to the the 20th.
The delays were costly. Since Cedar Mountain, Pope and Halleck had become overly cautious. Late on the 18th, a Union cavalry patrol, on a reconnaissance across the Rapidan, came upon General Stuart's aide with a satchel full of orders for Fitzhugh Lee. Upon seeing the correspondence, which outlined Lee's plan of attack, Pope had enough. He immediately put the Federal army in motion north across the Rappahannock.
Over the next week, both armies wrestled for position. Lee began to formulate his newest plan. He began by sending Stuart, with the Rebel cavalry, to raid the Federal supply depot at Manassas Junction. He then divided his army and sent Jackson off to the northwest to go through Thoroughfare Gap and approach Pope from behind. Pope, thinking that Jackson was on his way to the Shenandoah Valley, began to concentrate on Longstreet and devise a way to turn the Rebel flank.
Jackson arrived at the Orange and Alexandria railroad, seven miles from Manassas Junction, late on the 26th. His men feasted on the Union supplies Stuart had captured, then prepared for the approaching battle. Pope, finally realizing what had happened to Jackson, turned the army around and also headed north. Lee and Longstreet then marched off in Jackson's direction, intending to join up with him as quickly as possible.
Pope arrived at Manassas Junction on the 28th and searched in vain for Jackson, who had moved further north. That evening, as Brigadier General King's Federal division marched eastward down the Warrenton Turnpike, Jackson attacked John Gibbon's brigade, near Brawner's Farm. Despite losing nearly 1,300 men, Jackson managed to draw Pope's full attention. Pope, thinking he had Jackson right where he wanted him, ordered a Federal attack on his position the next day.
The Federal attack begank at dawn on the 29th. Jackson was established along a railroad embankment which provided excellent protection against the Union's piecemeal assault. Additionally, Fitz John Porter, who had finally arrived from the Peninsula, was fooled by Stuart's cavalry into thinking that a massive Rebel attack was about to overwhelm him, and failed to charge Jackson's right flank. This allowed Longstreet to slip into position on Pope's left and await his opportunity.
The Federal attacks on Jackson's position continued throughout the day. As night fell, Pope believed he had gotten the better of the Rebels, and determined to finish them off the next day. Early on the 30th, mistaking Confederate realignments for a general retreat, and still unaware of Longstreet's presence, Pope ordered a pursuit of Jackson's army. Jackson's men, now low on ammunition, hung on as long as possible, until Lee, realizing that Pope was fully committed to the attack, directed Longstreet's artillery to open on the Federal left flank. When the Union attack began to waver, Longstreet attacked. Jackson's exhausted men moved forward as well and drove Pope's army back across the old First Manassas battlefield.
Saving the Federals from complete disaster were brigades from the divisions of Reynolds, Sykes, Reno, and Schurz, who stubbornly held the Manassas- Sudley Road, then the slopes of Henry House Hill, preventing the Confederate right from reaching the Warrenton turnpike and cutting the Federal line of withdrawal. As dusk fell, the Confederate attack ended, and Pope's army made an orderly retreat. By midnight, all but a few stragglers were across Bull Run and trudging toward Centreville and Washington.
As Pope fell back on Centreville, he was reinforced by more of McClellan's troops arriving form the Peninsula. Some fighting occurred at Chantilly on September 1, but as the Union army fell back on the Washington defenses, the battle and the campaign came to an end.
As the campaign ended, so ended the short career of John Pope as Commander of the Army of Virginia. Lincoln, realizing he needed to bring in someone who could restore confidence and organization to the army, turned again to George McClellan. Initially given the task of organizing the defenses of Washington, McClellan soon found himself again the commander of the Army of the Potomac. Despite his failure on the Peninsula, the army loved him, and very soon he was leading them into battle in the Sharpsburg (Antietam) Campaign.

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