Bull Run, Second Battle of
1862 CE
The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas is fought August 28–30, 1862 in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War.
It is the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia, and a battle of much larger scale and numbers than the First Battle of Bull Run (or First Manassas) fought on July 21, 1861 on the same ground.
Following a wide-ranging flanking march, Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson captures the Union supply depot at Manassas Junction, threatening Pope's line of communications with Washington, D.C.
Withdrawing a few miles to the northwest, Jackson takes up strong concealed defensive positions on Stony Ridge and awaits the arrival of the wing of Lee's army commanded by Maj. Gen. James Longstreet.
On August 28, 1862, Jackson attacks a Union column just east of Gainesville, at Brawner's Farm, resulting in a stalemate but successfully getting Pope's attention.
On this same day, Longstreet breaks through light Union resistance in the Battle of Thoroughfare Gap and approaches the battlefield.
Pope becomes convinced that he has trapped Jackson and concentrates the bulk of his army against him.
On August 29, Pope launches a series of assaults against Jackson's position along an unfinished railroad grade.
The attacks are repulsed with heavy casualties on both sides.
At noon, Longstreet arrives on the field from Thoroughfare Gap and takes position on Jackson's right flank.
On August 30, Pope renews his attacks, seemingly unaware that Longstreet is on the field.
When massed Confederate artillery devastates a Union assault by Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter's V Corps, Longstreet's wing of twenty-five thousand men in five divisions counterattacks in the largest simultaneous mass assault of the war.
The Union left flank is crushed and the army is driven back to Bull Run.
Only an effective Union rear guard action preventa a replay of the First Manassas defeat.
Pope's retreat to Centreville is nonetheless precipitous.
Success in this battle emboldens Lee to initiate the ensuing Maryland Campaign.
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McClellan resists General-in-Chief Henry Halleck's orders to send reinforcements to John Pope's Union Army of Virginia, which makes it easier for Lee's Confederates to defeat twice the number of combined enemy troops.
In order to draw Pope's army into battle, Jackson orders an attack on a Federal column that is passing across his front on the Warrenton Turnpike on August 28.
The fighting at Brawner's Farm lasts several hours and results in a stalemate.
On August 29, Pope launches a series of assaults against Jackson's position along the unfinished railroad grade.
The attacks are repulsed with heavy casualties on both sides.
At noon, Longstreet arrives on the field from Thoroughfare Gap and takes position on Jackson's right flank.
When massed Confederate artillery devastates a Union assault by Porter's corps, Longstreet's wing of twenty-eight thousand men counterattacks in the largest simultaneous mass assault of the war.
The Union left flank is crushed and the army driven back to Bull Run.
Only an effective Union rearguard action prevents a replay of the First Bull Run disaster.
Pope's retreat to Centreville is precipitous, nonetheless.