A decisive Confederate victory in Virginia that crushed Pope's Army of Virginia and enabled Lee to launch the Maryland campaign.
Key Facts
- Dates
- August 28–30, 1862
- Location
- Prince William County, Virginia
- Longstreet's assault force
- 25,000 men in five divisions
- Assault type
- Largest simultaneous mass assault of the war
- Campaign
- Northern Virginia campaign
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched the Northern Virginia campaign to neutralize Union Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia. Stonewall Jackson executed a flanking march, captured the Union supply depot at Manassas Junction, and took concealed defensive positions on Stony Ridge to draw Pope's attention while Longstreet moved to join him through Thoroughfare Gap.
Between August 28 and 30, 1862, Pope launched repeated assaults against Jackson's position along an unfinished railroad grade, all of which were repulsed. On August 30, Longstreet's wing of 25,000 men counterattacked in the war's largest simultaneous mass assault, devastating Porter's V Corps and collapsing the Union left flank, forcing Pope's army back to Bull Run and then into a hasty retreat toward Centreville.
The Confederate victory decisively ended Pope's effectiveness as a commander and shattered the Army of Virginia as an independent force. Only a determined Union rear guard prevented a rout comparable to First Bull Run. Emboldened by the success, Lee immediately initiated the Maryland campaign, carrying the war into Northern territory for the first time.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Maj. Gen. John Pope, Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter.
Side B
1 belligerent
Gen. Robert E. Lee, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. 'Stonewall' Jackson, Maj. Gen. James Longstreet.