Manassas: A Battlefield Guide

Introduction

Introduction In July 1861 a Union army commanded by Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell marched out of its camps around Washington hoping to achieve a decisive victory over the army the Confederate States of America had assembled near Manassas Junction, Virginia. Both sides eagerly anticipated the first major clash of arms, were confident that they would achieve victory, and were hopeful that the outcome of the battle would be decisive enough to bring the Civil War to a quick end. The Confederacy was able at the end of the day on July 21 to claim a decisive victory in the hard-fought First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run), which ended with the Union army in full retreat back to Washington and the people of the South exulting in the triumph achieved by their soldiers and their commanders, above all Pierre G. T. Beauregard, Joseph E. Johnston, and Thomas J. “Stonewall ” Jackson. But the war did not end. Thirteen months later, the two armies found themselves conducting yet another great campaign in northern Virginia that, on August 28–30, 1862, would culminate in a battle at Manassas. Once again, when the fighting was over it was the Confederacy that could claim a decisive victory, with Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia having spectacularly defeated a Union army commanded by Maj. Gen. John Pope. Indeed rarely, if ever, has an American army operated with the boldness and brilliance the Army of Northern Virginia demonstrated during the Second Manassas Campaign. This guide is designed to provide visitors to the sites associated with the First and Second Manassas Campaigns with a better understanding of what happened in 1861 and 1862 and why events followed the course they did. It is written for those who have a day to devote to their visit to Manassas and provides detailed excursions for those who have more time to devote to their study of these great campaigns. Visitors need not do any previsit preparation but can simply pick up this book and immediately head out to the field for the main tour, which can be completed in about eight hours. For those with even more time, a number of excursions can add up to an additional day to your visit. On the way to Manassas. blcw 1:163. ...