War Stories - The Second Battle of Bull Run, Part 1: A Year Later, Back to Manassas

A year after the First Battle of Bull Run, the summer of 1862 saw the situation on the Virginia front drastically changed. The Union Army, centered around the Army of the Potomac led by George McClellan, was pressuring the Confederate capital of Richmond but was held back by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in the Peninsula Campaign. The Lincoln administration, while maintaining pressure on Richmond, newly organized the Army of Virginia under John Pope to defend Washington. Pope aimed to create another axis of advance for the Union forces heading to Richmond by pressuring the Confederates in the Shenandoah Valley and northern Virginia. Lee, to counter Pope's army, moved Thomas J. Jackson's corps northward. Jackson rapidly maneuvered, outflanked Pope's right, and attacked the Union supply lines, destroying the massive supply depot at Manassas Junction by the end of August. Pope, pursuing the Confederates, marched back into the Bull Run area. Following the previous First Battle of Bull Run, we continue with the Second Battle of Bull Run, which opened the best opportunity for the Confederate Army~