Bull Run, Second Battle of

Bull Run, Second Battle of (1862).On 26 June 1862, Civil War Union Maj. Gen. John Pope assumed command of the Army of Virginia, a collection of three formerly independent armies that had recently suffered humiliating defeats at the hands of Maj. Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley. Pope brashly assured his troops that they would no longer be concerned with lines of retreat. He planned to attack Richmond from the north after receiving reinforcements from the Army of the Potomac, which was still on the Virginia Peninsula following an unsuccessful campaign.

The Federal plan put Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in a tough position. If the Federal armies united, he would be outnumbered two to one. With this in mind, he devised one of the most daring campaigns of the war: Leaving a small force to defend Richmond, Lee moved the rest of his army to join Jackson, who had clashed with an isolated Union corps at Cedar Mountain on 9 August. Lee hoped to destroy Pope's army before it could be reinforced.

Once in front of Pope, Lee divided his army. While Maj. Gen. James Longstreet faced Pope across the Rappahannock River, 24,000 men under Jackson would march around Pope's right and cut the Federal supply line along the Orange & Alexandria Railroad. Once Jackson accomplished his objective, Longstreet would march to join him. In two days, Jackson marched fifty miles and captured several hundred Federals and massive amounts of supplies at Manassas Junction. As Pope ordered his 66,000 men back and forth to find the Confederates, Jackson moved north of the old Bull Run battlefield and hid his men in an abandoned railroad cut.

On 28 August, Jackson revealed his position by fighting a Federal division to a stalemate at Groveton. The Federals converged on Jackson, determined to destroy his force. The next day, Jackson held his ground with great difficulty against several uncoordinated Federal attacks.

Unbeknownst to Pope, Longstreet had established contact with Jackson on the afternoon of 29 August. The next day Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter launched an unsuccessful attack that featured part of the Confederate line tossing rocks at the Federals after running out of ammunition. At 4:00 P.M., Longstreet began a massive attack on the lightly defended Federal left flank. His successful assault assured Confederate victory; a Federal attack at Chantilly on 1 September ended Jackson's attempt to cut off the Union retreat, but also resulted in the death of Maj. Gen. Philip Kearney.

The Second Bull Run campaign marked the emergence of Lee as an army commander. He inflicted 14,500 casualties on the Federals while suffering about 9,500 of his own. Although the campaign demonstrated Lee's operational brilliance, it did not reflect well on his Union counterpart. Often indecisive, Pope could not envision the campaign from his opponent's perspective. He blamed his failure on Porter, who was court‐martialed for disobeying orders. His cashiering inaugurated a battle of ink—before 1890, probably no battle, including Gettysburg, would receive more attention.
[See also Bull Run, First Battle of; Civil War: Military and Diplomatic Course.]

Bibliography

Otto Eisenschmil , The Celebrated Case of Fitz John Porter, 1950.
John J. Hennessy , Return to Bull Run, 1993.

Jonathan M. Berkey