Second Manassas/Bull Run (1862)

One hundred fifty years ago today was fought one of the most decisive battles of the Civil War: the Battle of Second Manassas. Fought on roughly the same battlefield as the war's first battle, it pitted the newly-formed Federal Army of Virginia against the Southern forces. General John Pope, who had seen success in the Western theater of the war, was arrogant and cocky, telling his new Eastern troops that in the West "we had always seen the backs of our enemies." Unfortunately for Pope, this time he was up against the Confederate's First Team, led by the redoubtable Robert E. Lee. Pope's army was organized into three corps; the First Corps (formerly Fremont's) led by Major-General Franz Sigel, the Second Corps led by Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks, and the Third Corps led by the always-unlucky Major-General Irvin McDowell, the losing general in the First Battle of Manassas a year earlier. Two months earlier, General Robert E. Lee had thwarted the Union Army of the Potomac (under ... Read more