carried the day. The blow was far from
decisive, however, and the approach of
stronger Union forces saw Jackson
withdraw back to Gordonsville.
By mid-August, Lee had correctly
assessed the strategic situation. Despite
General George McClellan’s reluctance
to support his rival, General Pope, the
Army of the
Potomac was being
withdrawn from
the Peninsula to
support the Union
offensive in
northern Virginia.
The Confederates had a brief
opportunity to seize the initiative
before these reinforcements arrived.
Leaving only a small force in front of
Richmond, Lee moved most of his
Army of Northern Virginia and joined
Jackson at Gordonsville. After Pope’s
army fell back across the RappahannockRiver, the Confederates embarked
on a bold offensive. Facing a superior
enemy—the Confederates were
outnumbered by about 55,000 to
75,000—Lee divided his forces, gambling
that Pope would not attack. On August
25, Jackson led his 24,000-strong corps
on a march to the northwest and crossed
the Rappahannock,
swinging around
the right flank of
Pope’s army.
He then headed
east through
Thoroughfare Gap
in the Bull Run Mountains, following
the line of the railroad toward
Manassas. His men marched 50 miles
(80km) in two days. They captured
Bristoe Station, wrecking trains and
tearing up tracks, and then descended
upon Manassas Junction, the main
supply base for the Army of Virginia.The Second Battle
of Bull Run
The campaigns of summer 1862 had seen the Army of Northern Virginia achieve supremacy over Union
forces that seemed incapable of finding commanders to match Lee and Jackson. If a second clash near
Manassas Junction brought the Confederates victory, they could threaten Washington again.
T
he campaign opened in mid-July
1862, with General Stonewall
Jackson’s advance to the railroad
junction at Gordonsville, northwest of
Richmond, which was threatened by
the advance of General John Pope’s
Union Army of Virginia. Reinforced by
a division under General A. P. Hill,
Jackson set out to strike the center of
the Union army, hoping to gain the
upper hand by rapid maneuver.Lee’s audacious offensive
On August 9, Jackson’s troops
encountered Union forces under Major
General Nathaniel Banks in a strong
defensive position on a ridge near Cedar
Mountain. The battle began with much
of the Confederate column still marching
well to the rear. A Union counterattack
put some of Jackson’s army to flight,
but he rallied his troops in person and,
aided by Hill’s division, the ConfederatesBEFORE
After the defeat of General McClellan’s
Army of the Potomac in the Seven Days
Battles, President Lincoln launched a new
Union offensive in northern Virginia.
THE UNION ARMY OF VIRGINIA
While the Seven Days Battles ❮❮ 118 –19,
were being fought in late June 1862, a Union
Army of Virginia was formed. General John
Pope, a commander with a reputation for
aggression, was recalled from the Western
Theater to lead the new force southward from
Washington. In late July, McClellan was ordered
to bring his army back from the Peninsula to
defend Washington and reinforce Pope’s army.
CONFEDERATE ACTIVITY
Confederate General Robert E. Lee rested and
reorganized his Army of Northern Virginia,
dividing it into two corps under Stonewall
Jackson ❮❮ 112 –13 and James Longstreet
186–87 ❯❯. Lee warily watched McClellan’s
army, camped within striking distance of
Richmond, but dispatched Jackson to disrupt
Pope’s invasion of northern Virginia. On seeing
that McClellan was to remain inactive, Lee
contemplated an offensive of his own.
Troops at Bull Run
Edwin Forbes’s sketch shows the right wing of the
Confederate army under Longstreet advancing through
gunpowder smoke on General McDowell’s corps. Forbes
was the artist-correspondent for Frank Leslie’s magazines.
The estimated Union
casualties in five days’
fighting from August 27 to September 1,
1862—almost double the number of
casualties suffered by the Confederates.16,000