|
U. S. CIVIL WAR PHOTOGRAPHS |
|
FIRST AND SECOND
MANASSAS (BULL RUN)
PAGE TWO
To see the location of a photograph in this section click on the circled letter,
,
at the photograph.
|
|
U. S. CIVIL WAR PHOTOGRAPHS |
|
,
at the photograph.
Introduction to First Manassas (July 21, 1861) This was to be the major battle of the war. Both the North and South thought that a decisive victory at Manassas would cause the rapid collapse of the other side and a rapid end to the War. To the Southerners, the Federal troops* marching down the Warrenton Turnpike in Virginia, represented an invasion of their land. To the Northerners, the troops were being sent to put down a rebellion, to keep the Union intact, and to show the Rebel Leaders the hopelessness of their situation. Hadn't President Lincoln bent over backwards to assuage the differences over slavery? Surely with his reassurances and a sound whipping at Manassas, the South would come back to its senses and to the fold. *At the battle of First Manassas, the two Confederate Armies  were called the "The Army of the Potomac" (under
Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard) and "The
Army of the Shenandoah (under General Joseph E. Johnston). The Union army
under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell was called "The Army of Northeastern
Virginia". Oddly enought, later in the war, "The Army of the Potomac" would
be a Union designation and the Confederate eastern army would be called the "Army
of Northern Virginia".
Introduction to Second Manassas (August 28-30, 1862) With Union Gen. George B. McClellan and the Army of the Potomac
bogged down on
the Virginia peninsula after the "Seven Days" battles, General John Pope was
placed in charge of an army composed of scattered Union units in Northern
Virginia. The new Union army was called "The Army of Virginia".
While McClellan was still on the Peninsula, Confederate General Robert E. Lee could not afford to uncover Richmond. So he sent Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Corps (with additional units from
James Longstreet's Corps) to
confront the new Army.
Jackson and Pope clashed at Cedar Mountain with indecisive results, but the battle shifted fighting in Virginia from the Peninsula to Northern Virginia. When Lee determined that McClellan was moving his army back to Northern Virginia via water, he ordered Longstreet and the rest of his army to join Jackson, in hopes that they could defeat Pope before McClellan's forces arrived. August found both armies eyeing each other across the Rappahannock River in Northern Virginia. However, Lee could not afford to wait until McClellan arrived to support Pope. Accordingly, Lee sent Jackson far around the right flank of
the Union army with the intention of destroying Pope's railroad supply lines at
Manassas Junction.
When Pope found out that Jackson was at Manassas Junction, he felt that if he acted quickly, he could overwhelm Jackson's Corps before Lee and the remainder of his army (Longstreet's Corps), which were still at the Rappahannock river, could provide support. Then, with Jackson's Corps gone, he could concentrate on defeating the rest of Lee's army. |
>
Civil War Photos
>
Manassas
>
Page 2
19th Century Photographs Notes
|
Except for the items provided with permission to the author of this Site, this
complete Site is Copyright  ; 2000 - 2017. All Rights are
Reserved. No portion of this site, including this
index page and any of the separate pages, may be copied, retransmitted,
reposted, duplicated or otherwise used without the express written permission of
USA Civil War.com.
|