Second Battle of Bull Run

Second Battle of Bull Run; (Battle of Second Manassas)
	Part of the American Civil War
	; Second Battle of Bull Run, fought Augt. 29th 1862, 1860s lithograph by Currier and Ives
Date	August 28–30, 1862
Location	Prince William County, Virginia38°48′45″N 77°31′17″W / 38.81246°N 77.52131°W
Result	Confederate victory
Belligerents
United States	Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
John Pope	Robert E. Lee
Units involved
Army of Virginia; Army of the Potomac: III Corps; V Corps; VI Corps; IX Corps; ; Kanawha Division (detachment);	Army of Northern Virginia
Strength
77,000 (estimated): 51,000 (Army of Virginia);; 26,000 (Army of the Potomac: III, V, VI, IX Corps; Kanawha Division);; 62,000 engaged (estimated)	50,000
Casualties and losses
14,462 1,747 killed; 8,452 wounded; 4,263 captured/missing	7,298 1,096 killed; 6,202 wounded

The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas^[1] was fought August 28–30, 1862,^[2] in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia, and a battle of much larger scale and numbers than the First Battle of Bull Run (or First Manassas) fought on July 21, 1861, on the same ground.

Following a wide-ranging flanking march, Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson captured the Union supply depot at Manassas Junction, threatening Pope's line of communications with Washington, D.C. Withdrawing a few miles to the northwest, Jackson took up strong concealed defensive positions on Stony Ridge and awaited the arrival of the wing of Lee's army commanded by Maj. Gen. James Longstreet. On August 28, 1862, Jackson attacked a Union column just east of Gainesville, at Brawner's Farm, resulting in a stalemate but successfully getting Pope's attention. On that same day, Longstreet broke through light Union resistance in the Battle of Thoroughfare Gap and approached the battlefield.

Pope became convinced that he had trapped Jackson and concentrated the bulk of his army against him. On August 29, Pope launched a series of assaults against Jackson's position along an unfinished railroad grade. The attacks were repulsed with heavy casualties on both sides. At noon, Longstreet arrived on the field from Thoroughfare Gap and took position on Jackson's right flank. On August 30, Pope renewed his attacks, seemingly unaware that Longstreet was on the field. When massed Confederate artillery devastated a Union assault by Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter's V Corps, Longstreet's wing of 25,000 men in five divisions counterattacked in the largest simultaneous mass assault of the war.^[15] The Union left flank was crushed and the army was driven back to Bull Run. Only an effective Union rear guard action prevented a replay of the First Manassas defeat. Pope's retreat to Centreville was nonetheless precipitous.^[16]

Success in this battle emboldened Lee to initiate the ensuing Maryland Campaign.

^ ^a ^b National Park Service.
^ ^a ^b The National Park Service has established these dates for the battle. The references by Greene, Hennessy, Salmon, and Kennedy (whose works are closely aligned with the NPS) adopt these dates as well. However, all of the other references to this article specify that the action on August 28 was a battle separate from the Second Battle of Bull Run. Some of these authors name the action on August 28 the Battle of Groveton, Brawner's Farm, or Gainesville.
^ National Park Service
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XII, Part 3, pages 581–588.
^ Only First Brigade from First Division. No other troops of the VI Corps were in action during the Northern Virginia Campaign.
^ Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XII, Part 2, pages, 546–551.
^ Cite error: The named reference UFstrength was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ 75,000 according to Ballard-Arthur, Second Bull Run Staff Ride – Briefing Book, p. 29.
^ Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XII, Part 3, page 523 and Official Records, Series I, Volume XII, Part 2, page 53.
^ Eicher, p. 327.
^ Eicher, p. 327; Ballard-Arthur, p. 29.
^ Further information: Return of Casualties in the Union forces, commanded by Maj. Gen. John Pope, during the operations August 16 – September 2, 1862 (Official Records, Series I, Volume XII, Part 2, page 262).
^ ^a ^b Union: 13,830; Confederate: 8,350, according to National Park Service. Greene, p. 54, cites ~ 10,000 Union casualties (killed/wounded); ~ 1,300 Confederates killed and ~ 7,000 wounded. Most published figures for casualties are for the entire Northern Virginia Campaign, including the significant battles of Cedar Mountain and Chantilly. The campaign casualties reported by Eicher (p. 334) are: Union 16,054 (1,724 killed, 8,372 wounded, 5,958 captured/missing); Confederate 9,197 (1,481 killed, 7,627 wounded, 89 captured/missing). See reference in: Northern Virginia Campaign, Casualties and losses.
^ Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XII, Part 2, pages 560–562 and 738.
^ National Park Service. There were Confederate offensives in the war that employed more men—57,000 at Gaines' Mill, for instance—but they involved multiple, piecemeal attacks over longer periods.
^ National Park Service

[2ndmanassas-1] National Park Service.

[dates-2] The National Park Service has established these dates for the battle. The references by Greene, Hennessy, Salmon, and Kennedy (whose works are closely aligned with the NPS) adopt these dates as well. However, all of the other references to this article specify that the action on August 28 was a battle separate from the Second Battle of Bull Run. Some of these authors name the action on August 28 the Battle of Groveton, Brawner's Farm, or Gainesville.

[3] National Park Service

[UF-4] Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XII, Part 3, pages 581–588.

[VIAC-5] Only First Brigade from First Division. No other troops of the VI Corps were in action during the Northern Virginia Campaign.

[6] Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XII, Part 2, pages, 546–551.

[UFstrength-7] Cite error: The named reference UFstrength was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[8] 75,000 according to Ballard-Arthur, Second Bull Run Staff Ride – Briefing Book, p. 29.

[9] Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XII, Part 3, page 523 and Official Records, Series I, Volume XII, Part 2, page 53.

[strength-10] Eicher, p. 327.

[11] Eicher, p. 327; Ballard-Arthur, p. 29.

[12] Further information: Return of Casualties in the Union forces, commanded by Maj. Gen. John Pope, during the operations August 16 – September 2, 1862 (Official Records, Series I, Volume XII, Part 2, page 262).

[casualties-13] Union: 13,830; Confederate: 8,350, according to National Park Service. Greene, p. 54, cites ~ 10,000 Union casualties (killed/wounded); ~ 1,300 Confederates killed and ~ 7,000 wounded. Most published figures for casualties are for the entire Northern Virginia Campaign, including the significant battles of Cedar Mountain and Chantilly. The campaign casualties reported by Eicher (p. 334) are: Union 16,054 (1,724 killed, 8,372 wounded, 5,958 captured/missing); Confederate 9,197 (1,481 killed, 7,627 wounded, 89 captured/missing). See reference in: Northern Virginia Campaign, Casualties and losses.

[14] Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XII, Part 2, pages 560–562 and 738.

[15] National Park Service. There were Confederate offensives in the war that employed more men—57,000 at Gaines' Mill, for instance—but they involved multiple, piecemeal attacks over longer periods.

[16] National Park Service

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