Manassas Station Operations (Stonewall Jackson)

Manassas Station Operations
Part of the American Civil War
Train derailed by Confederate cavalry on August 26, 1862, during the Manassas Station Operations.
Date August 25, 1862 (1862-08-25) – August 27, 1862 (1862-08-27) Location Prince William County, Virginia Result Confederate victory
Belligerents
United States	Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
George W. Taylor Joseph Hooker	Stonewall Jackson Richard S. Ewell
Units involved
Detachments, Army of Virginia	Left Wing, Army of Northern Virginia
Casualties and losses
400-450	173

The Manassas Station Operations included the operations known as Bristoe Station, Kettle Run, Bull Run Bridge, or Union Mills. It took place August 25–27, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the Northern Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War.

On the evening of August 26, after passing around Union Maj. Gen. John Pope's right flank via Thoroughfare Gap, Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's wing of the army struck the Orange & Alexandria Railroad at Bristoe Station and before daybreak August 27 marched to capture and destroy the massive Union supply depot at Manassas Junction. This surprise movement forced Pope's Army of Virginia into an abrupt retreat from his defensive line along the Rappahannock River.

On August 27, Jackson routed a Union brigade near Union Mills (Bull Run Bridge), inflicting several hundred casualties and mortally wounding Union Brig. Gen. George W. Taylor. Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Confederate division fought a brisk rearguard action against Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's Union division at Kettle Run, resulting in about 600 casualties. Ewell held back Union forces until dark. That night, Jackson marched his divisions north to the Bull Run battlefield, where he took position behind an unfinished railroad grade.

In mid-August 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee attempted to cut the supply and communications lines of the Union Army of Virginia, commanded by Major General John Pope, but the Confederate offensive was stalled following the First Battle of Rappahannock Station. To break the stalemate, Lee sent the Left Wing of the army under Major General Thomas J. Jackson around the right of the Union army, through Thoroughfare Gap, and cut the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, breaking the Union supply line. The other Confederate wing commanded by Major General James Longstreet would hold Pope's attention along the Rappahannock and then follow Jackson after thirty six hours. Jackson started his march at 3 a.m. on August 25.

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