The fighting 55Richmond campaign must be reckoned one
of the turning points of the war.
Yet victory in the Seven Days battles had
not removed the Union threat from Virginia.
McClellan's host remained just a few miles
below Richmond, and Major-General John
Pope commanded the newly consolidated
troops of Fremont, Banks, and McDowell in
north-central Virginia. Denominated the
Army of Virginia, Pope's force could operate
against the railroads between Warrenton and
Gordonsville, thus endangering the flow of
supplies from the Shenandoah valley to
Richmond and imperiling Lee's western flank.
Pope descended from a prominent family
in Kentucky, had collateral ties to George
Washington and was connected by marriage
to Mrs Lincoln's family. A West Pointer and
veteran of the war with Mexico, he had won
victories along the Mississippi river earlier in- Unlike most senior officers in
McClellan's army, Pope agreed with
Republicans who sought to wage a tougher
war against the rebels. Pope promised to
hang guerrillas, arrest citizens who aided
them, confiscate all rebel property, and
displace civilians who would not take the
oath of allegiance to the United States.
Although he neither engaged in mass
hangings nor drove many people from their
homes, his soldiers did seize or destroy an
enormous amount of property. Pope also
manifested personal arrogance in issuing
several bombastic statements about how he
would thrash Lee's army. His actions and
pronouncements earned the enmity of white
southerners and provoked Lee to write in
late July that he hoped to destroy 'the
miscreant Pope.'
Pope rather than McClellan emerged as
Lee's principal Union opponent in the next
campaign. This stemmed partly from Lee's
and Jefferson Davis's determination to
protect their fragile rail links to the
Shenandoah valley. But McClellan's behavior
also figured in the equation. Little Mac
showed no inclination to resume active
operations against Richmond, preferring to
whine about reinforcements and lecture
Lincoln on the need to refrain from seizing
rebel property or forcing emancipation on
the South. A visit to McClellan's
headquarters at Harrison's Landing on
8-9 July convinced Lincoln that he could
expect no aggressive action in that arena.
Later that month, McClellan received orders
to leave the Peninsula and unite in northern
Virginia with Pope's 55,000 men.
Lee kept an eye on both Pope and
McClellan throughout a tense July. During
this period, he reorganized his Army of
Northern Virginia, dividing the infantry into
two wings commanded by Stonewall Jackson
and Major-General James Longstreet. He sent
Jackson and 24,000 troops to Gordonsville
during July, granting his lieutenant wide
latitude in responding to any movement from
Pope. On 9 August, Jackson defeated part of
the Army of Virginia in the Battle of Cedar
Mountain, fought north of Culpeper between
the Rapidan and Rappahannock rivers. Shortly
thereafter, having decided that McClellan was
withdrawing from the Peninsula, Lee ordered
Longstreet's wing to join Jackson's near
Gordonsville. The Confederate chieftain
hoped to defeat the Army of Virginia before it
could unite with McClellan's Army of the
Potomac. A period of maneuvering and
probing along the Rappahannock river
ensued, during which Lee and Pope sought to
catch each other off guard.Battle of Second Manassas
or Bull RunLee took control of the campaign in late
August 1862 when he ordered Jackson to
make a sweeping march around Pope's right
flank. On 25-27 August, Jackson's infantry
covered 56 miles (90km) in brutal heat and
captured Pope's massive supply base at
Manassas Junction. Lee's army now offered a
tempting target, with its two main pieces
separated by Pope's army. Pope reacted to the
threat in his rear by concentrating against
Jackson, who formed a defensive line near
the Warrenton Turnpike on the battlefield of
First Manassas. The initial clash of the Battle
of Second Manassas or Bull Run took place