Chapter Six, Section Four (pages 585-651)

The Battle of Second Manassas

This chapter primarily is about the Battle of Second Manassas which took place on August 28-30, 1862;  between Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee and Union forces under the command of General John Pope.

General John Pope

General Robert E. Lee

From what I have concluded from this chapter in Foote's novel is that this particular battle was caused by several different events, setting the stage for the battle to occur.  First and foremost, General Pope is promoted and is given command of the Army of Virginia.  He then requests that General George McClellan's Army of the Potomac which was located on the James River be consolidated into his army, because he believed that these two armies were open to be attacked by the Confederates with a possibility of them being destroyed.  Lee, however, would not be able to do this because he simply did not have enough forces to attack one of the armies without putting the Confederate capital of Richmond at risk of being attacked by the other Union army. 

General George McClellan

Pope's Army of Virginia had previously moved towards the town of Gordonsville.  According to Foote, if Pope took the this town, he would effectively cut the Confederate supply lines between Richmond and the Shenandoah valley, which was a very important supply line for the Confederates, especially right before the years harvest.  In order to put pressure on Pope's army,  Lee gave the order to General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson to lead several divisions to Lousia Courthouse, 15 miles away from Gordonsville, to engaged Pope if the opportunity arose. 

General "Stonewall" Jackson

In late July, Lee learns of the Union plan to merge the two Union armies, which allowed him to concentrate on attacking one of the Union armies.  He decided to focus on Pope's Army of Virginia and immediately began moving troops towards the Shenandoah Valley and informed Jackson of his plans.  Jackson was already ahead of Lee, as he had been told to engage Pope if the possibility arose, was already moving on Pope's position.

Jackson engages Union forces in what is known as the Battle of Cedar Mountain where the Confederates are victorious losing 1276 soldiers,while Union losses were marked at 2,385.

August 17th, the two Confederate officers Lee and Jackson meet and set out a battle plan to destroy Pope's army, which was currently located at Rappahannock Station near the town of Culpeper and the Rappahannock River.  Before the plan can be put into place though, Pope's army had retreated back across the Rappahannock River and was blocking any point of possible Confederate advancement.  Confederate calvary leader J.E.B. Staurt makes it behind enemy lines and skirmishes with the enemy but returns back to Lee and provides him valuable information on Union positions.

On 24th of August, Lee has Jackson march around the Union flank by marching around the Bull Run Mountains, which would allow Jackson to split the Union army in two.  Lee would then meet up with Jack in order to attack Pope's army.  Jackson finds Pope's supply depot to be unguarded and takes various supplies before he burns the rest before Union troops locate and attack his army.  Two of Jackson's divisions in all of the confusion head north in the wrong direction, toward the town of Centerville.  Their mistake causes Pope to order his army to pursue Jackson, because he believed that Jackson was retreating.  Jackson chooses a wise defensive position in front on an unfinished railroad with trees to his back and does all he can to draw the Union forces into battle, and it works.  Jackson and several Union divisions engage in battle, ending in a stalemate at the end of the day, however, Pope learns of Jackson's location and marches his entire army towards Jackson because he believes he has Jackson cornered.

On the 29th General Lee and his army arrive on the battlefield and Union officers spot a large Confederate force on the Confederate right flank, but Pope refuses to believe what he is told and continues to focus solely in on Jackson's position believing he is still trying to retreat.  The next day, Pope orders a full scale assault on Jackson's right flank, which is repulsed by Jackson's force.  After Pope's failed assault, Lee orders the attack on the Union left flank.  The attack on the Union left flank is extremely effective and Union forces retreat from the field under the cover of darkness but remained intact, meaning Lee was unsuccessful in his plans of destroying the Army of Northern Virginia.  Thus concluded the Battle of Second Manassas.

Lincoln, after hearing the news of another Union loss, replaces McClellen back in charge of the entire Union army and removes Pope from leadership of the Army of Virginia and assigns him to duty in Minnesota, where he remains for the duration of the war.
 

The following link is a battle animation of the Battle of Manassas and shows the movements of both armies.
http://civilwaranimated.com/ManassasTwoAnimation.html


This following link is a video of a historian explaining the conclusion of the Battle of Second Manassas and its significance. 

http://www.civilwar.org/video/second-manassas-conclusion.html