2nd Battle of Bull Run Info Hurrah!

The 2nd Battle of Bull Run happened about one year after the 1st Battle of Bull Run. The Battle lasted for 3 days, from August 28-30, 1862. The battle was also referred to as the Second Manassas.  

The battle took place in Prince William County, Virginia, and there weren’t many obstacles since the area where the battle was fought was just a big field. The objective of this battle for the Union was to hopefully protect the Shenandoah Valley and Washington D.C. For the Confederates, their main goal was to destroy Pope. The Union was led by Gen. John Pope, Major General Fitz John Porter, and Major General Irvin McDowell, and the Confederates were led by General Robert E. Lee, Major General James Longstreet, and Major General "Stonewall" Jackson. 

On the first day of the battle, August 28th, Stonewall Jackson attacked a Union column (a narrow military formation in which units follow behind each other) at Brawner’s Farm. After a lot of fighting, the battle ended on a stalemate and Jackson retreated to Stony Ridge. All the while though, Major General Longstreet from the South was approaching through Thoroughfare Gap with reinforcements. On August 29th, Union General John Pope decided to launch a series of attacks on Jackson’s position at Stony Ridge. Pope thought that Jackson was trapped on one side, and at the end of the day, both sides suffered many casualties. On the last day of the battle, Pope renewed his attempts to attack the Confederates, but he didn't know that on the noon of August 29th, Maj. General Longstreet and the reinforcements reached Jackson and were now on the battlefield. Confederate artillery destroyed Maj. General John Fitz Porter’s attempt at an assault. Then, Longstreet’s 25,000 men counterattacked the Union. This counterattack forced the Union to retreat back to Bull Run.

TOTAL LOSSES

Federal:

Killed – 1,724

Wounded – 8,372

Missing – 5,958

Total – 16,054

Confederate:

Killed – 1,481

Wounded – 7,627

Missing – 89

Total – 9,117