TWO BATTLES, ONE BATTLE GROUND: DID MANASSAS MAKE BULL RUN?

During the American Civil War two significant battles were fought over the same ground. The lead into each was vastly different. In July 1861, the Federals expected the Confederates to wither as they advanced to the key ground near Manassas Junction, a key rail junction. Although casualties were relatively low, the one-day battle made “greens” on both sides battle-hardened veterans. A year later, after the Federal advance on Richmond was halted and Lee attempted to flank Pope, the Confederates had retaken Manassas Junction, burning the Federal supply depot. Over three days, Second Manassas ensued with another Federal retreat as its close. Pope, thinking Jackson had withdrawn, discovered quite the opposite. Casualties were nearly six times greater. Strength of forces and the employment of them are key factors in any battle. The ground over which it is fought has greatest significance when it is used to greater advantage by one force over the other. These two battles over the same ground gives a unique opportunity to not only compare the strategic and tactical employments of the two forces but also how the geology underneath, which dictates the “lay of the land,” influenced the deployment of those forces and favored one force or the other depending on who used it and how. The area lies in the Triassic Culpeper Basin, where folded and faulted, predominantly red, shales and sandstones are cut by more resistant diabase dikes. These are the ridges that provide dominating terrain. The areas in between are the sites of the streams and gullies.