2nd Manassas Second Manassas/Bull Run

So who was the 5th New York Zouave - a NPS ranger?
Confused by what your comment is supposed to mean, I also walked the the entire Chinn Ridge and saw where those Regiments held the line and kept it from being a rout. I may not have mentioned specific units, I could if you would like, as my pictures also show the 5th New York Zouves exhibit in the brawner house, as well as the monuments
 
Confused by what your comment is supposed to mean, I also walked the the entire Chinn Ridge and saw where those Regiments held the line and kept it from being a rout. I may not have mentioned specific units, I could if you would like, as my pictures also show the 5th New York Zouves exhibit in the brawner house, as well as the monuments

15181134_10210766439784516_6389388501916994642_n.jpg


This fellow, but I suppose now he's just a mannequin. Unfortunately, at the time of my most recent visit mentioned above I didn't get down to the Brawner House where I take it this is.
 
Do you all feel that this battle if too overlooked? Personally, I think it was Lees greatest victory.


I agree. It is the campaign where we see the dynamic of Lee's command structure and the abilities and "trademarks" of Longstreet, Jackson, and Stuart all work together - Lee dividing his forces daringly and outwitting Pope, Jackson making flank marches into the enemy's rear and mystifying his opponents, Stuart gathering intelligence and making dashing raids, and Longstreet delivering a decisive and massive sledgehammer blow on the battlefield. It is not marred like Chancellorsville was in the loss of Jackson, and it represented Lee's greatest chance to destroy a Federal army in the field, unlike Fredericksburg.
 
I agree. It is the campaign where we see the dynamic of Lee's command structure and the abilities and "trademarks" of Longstreet, Jackson, and Stuart all work together - Lee dividing his forces daringly and outwitting Pope, Jackson making flank marches into the enemy's rear and mystifying his opponents, Stuart gathering intelligence and making dashing raids. and Longstreet delivering a decisive and massive sledgehammer blow on the battlefield. It is not marred like Chancellorsville was in the loss of Jackson, and it represented Lee's greatest chance to destroy a Federal army in the field, unlike Fredericksburg.

One of the best analyses I ever read of the battle was an article in the old Civil War Times by (I think) Otto Eisenshml that pointed out Stuart's excellent work covering both of Jackson's flanks using a brigade on each.
 
When I did the first Manassas tour in August, the Park Ranger emphasized that the second battle was much more significant and recommended we see that as well. I went up in Nov and hit the 2nd battle with a fierceness. It was windy as all getup, but to walk the Unfinished railroad and imagine the carnage, Brawner farm where the men of Gibbons Brigade stood toe to toe with a numerically superior force and gave as good as they got... It was awesome. The Cannon in my Avatar was from the ridge where the 14th NY monument is. I must have walked about 5-6 miles, and I took a ton of pictures to include some Panoramic ones. Here are some links for those interested
regular pictures
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...287.1073741846.1455744538&type=1&l=43876d7c9e
Panorama's
http://www.dermandar.com/user/noonanda/
well thank you for the reply.
 
In terms of books on the battle, John J. Hennessy's Return to Bull Run is the gold standard on the battle, though it is excellently supplemented by Scott Patchan's Second Manassas: Longstreet's Assault and the Struggle for Chinn Ridge, which shines a light on the critical fighting in Longstreet's assault on August 30. Recommended reading in my opinion. As for Cedar Mountain, Krick's study on Jackson at the battle is a good history, but I await the result of Mr. Wittenburg's labors with anticipation. There is a book on Chantilly by David Welker but I've not yet had the pleasure of reading it.
 
Last edited:
In terms of books on the battle, John J. Hennessy's Return to Bull Run is the gold standard on the battle, though it is excellently supplemented by Scott Patchan's Second Manassas: Longstreet's Assault and the Struggle for Chinn Ridge, which shins light on the critical fighting in Longstreet's assault on August 30. Recommended reading in my opinion. As for Cedar Mountain, Krick's study on Jackson at the battle is a good history, but I await the result of Mr. Wittenburg's labors with anticipation. There is a book on Chantilly by David Welker but I've not yet had the pleasure of reading it.
RTBR was great, I am now reading Summer lightning which has reports from the commanders as well as goes along with a tour type book
 
In terms of books on the battle, John J. Hennessy's Return to Bull Run is the gold standard on the battle, though it is excellently supplemented by Scott Patchan's Second Manassas: Longstreet's Assault and the Struggle for Chinn Ridge, which shins light on the critical fighting in Longstreet's assault on August 30. Recommended reading in my opinion. As for Cedar Mountain, Krick's study on Jackson at the battle is a good history, but I await the result of Mr. Wittenburg's labors with anticipation. There is a book on Chantilly by David Welker but I've not yet had the pleasure of reading it.

Krick's is good because it's about the only on that focuses on Cedar Mountain but it's told overwhelmingly from the Confederate side. Eric has said in the past his book would be much more balanced in sourced.
 
Pope seems to be one of those men that always need supervision, that and a muzzle perhaps.

General O. O. Howard's opinion of Pope, which he expressed privately to his wife after Pope' s defeat at Second Bull Run: "I have learned that Gen. Pope has the reputation of being a liar, a profane swearer, and he certainly is a braggart and a failure.... I am now glad he has gone overboard and I hope God may spare us from such men." God didn't.
 
I'm proud to say that my Grandfather, John Nelson Hubbard (Co. A 7th Indiana Infantry), did not flee in the face of the rebels.
Here's what happened.
Ricketts' division moved on to Thoroughfare Gap in the Bull Mountains and met Longstreet's corps coming through. We fought him there for some hours when our scouts brought us word that a part of Longstreet's corps was coming through another gap lower down and was about to gain our rear. We were ordered in retreat. Our rear guard said they could hear Longstreet's advance guard following us as we moved on.
We marched all night and arrived at Manassas Junction at daylight and found the ground strewn with dead bodies. Old "Fighting Jo" Hooker having come from the trenches before Richmond and debarked his command at Aquia Creek and come across met Jackson at Manassas and engaged him and turned him across to Bull Run.
We moved on and got on to the battle field of Bull Run about dark. We put our bayonets on our guns and stuck them in the ground and snapped our pup tents in the hammer of our guns as a screen of our fire from the rebs whilst getting our supper.
The next morning we marched entirely across the front of our lines to the right and went into line for battle and fought here all day and into the night. The left wing having broke that afternoon, the rebs would come up on their lines in mass and we would give them heavy volleys and break and drive their lines. They would reform and come again. Colonel John Cheek being in command of the regiment, Colonel Gavin having been wounded earlier in the action, gave us orders that when they came again for us to give them a deadly volley and then every man for himself.
They came up again in mass, we halted them and called "Who are you?"
They replied "Sturgis' men." We had heard of a division in our army under that command but had not seen them. A lieutenant in the 84th Pennsylvania said he would go and see. When he reached the rebel line he called out "Rebels!" We were down with our guns on our knees and fired as one man. This lieutenant said a man fell at our fire on each side. He was not touched which seemed a mystery.
Obeying Cheek's orders we started. The writer started towards the left of our line and crossed the Bull Run at the Stone Hospital. He crossed the run on a slippery log that many men had crossed that day making it very slippery about half over he slipped off into the water up to his chin. I waded out and into a small piece of cleared ground and into the rebel cavalry! I ran across this cleared space to a pine thicket a rebel cavalry man shooting at as I ran, but he missed me and I gained the thicket and plunged into it. I sat down and rested a few minutes, and went on through it and saw another thicket across a short distance and broke for it. I kept going this way for some time and came to a straw stack that the cattle had eat out the sides making a cave around the side. I crawled in there wet to the skin and lay down and was soon asleep.
The next morning I cautiously peeped out to see if any enemy was in sight. I kept crawling out a little at a time keeping a lookout for soldiers. I finally got completely out and scanned the country around but could see no one. I saw a farm house in the distance and made my way to it and inquired of a man if he could tell where the Union army was and he pointed in the opposite direction from what I had been going and said they were at Centreville about seven miles from there.
 
Obeying Cheek's orders we started. The writer started towards the left of our line and crossed the Bull Run at the Stone Hospital. He crossed the run on a slippery log that many men had crossed that day making it very slippery about half over he slipped off into the water up to his chin. I waded out and into a small piece of cleared ground and into the rebel cavalry! I ran across this cleared space to a pine thicket a rebel cavalry man shooting at as I ran, but he missed me and I gained the thicket and plunged into it. I sat down and rested a few minutes, and went on through it and saw another thicket across a short distance and broke for it. I kept going this way for some time and came to a straw stack that the cattle had eat out the sides making a cave around the side. I crawled in there wet to the skin and lay down and was soon asleep...

The Stone Hospital was likely the famous Stone House below which was used as a field hospital in both battles. Although not right on Bull Run it is only a short distance away from it on the Warrenton Turnpike where it intersects the road to Sudley Springs.

1550074097287.png
 
Back
Top