Battle of Thoroughfare Gap

Battle of Thoroughfare Gap
Part of the American Civil War
Date August 28, 1862 (1862-08-28) Location Fauquier County and Prince William County, Virginia Result Confederate victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
James B. Ricketts	James Longstreet
Units involved
Union Army of Virginia	Confederate Army of Northern Virginia
Strength
5,000	28,000
Casualties and losses
100
Location of the battle in Virginia

The Battle of Thoroughfare Gap, also known as Chapman's Mill, took place on August 28, 1862, in Fauquier County and Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the Northern Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. James Longstreet successfully drove back Union forces under Brig. Gen. James B. Ricketts and Col. Percy Wyndham, allowing his corps to unite with that of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson prior to the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas).

On August 26, Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson led his corps of the Army of Northern Virginia through Thoroughfare Gap on his way to raiding the Union supply depot at the Manassas Junction. In response to the raid, the following day Union Maj. Gen. Irwin McDowell set out from Warrenton to Manassas Junction to engage Jackson. In order to protect his army's left flank, he dispatched Brig. Gen. James B. Ricketts's brigade and the 1st New Jersey Cavalry under Sir Percy Wyndham towards the Gap. Ricketts stopped at Gainesville, 6 miles (9.7 km) to the east, while Wyndham occupied the gap. Maj. Gen. James Longstreet's corps, meanwhile, followed in the path of Jackson's march and was approaching the gap from the west late on the evening of August 27.