Sequel to Second Manassas

After the Confederate victory at Second Manassas on August 28-30, 1862, Union General John Pope’s Army of Virginia retreated to the heights of Centreville. Seeking to dislodge Pope from these strong positions, Confederate General Robert E. Lee ordered General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s 17,000 troops on a flank march to cut off Pope’s army from Washington. Heavy rains delayed Jackson on August 31, but by the afternoon of September 1 his column was advancing toward Fairfax Court House on the Little River Turnpike. Pope, alerted to the threat, assembled a force at Jermantown to block Jackson and sent the IX Corps, about 4,000 troops, toward Jackson’s right flank. Fighting broke out when General Isaac Stevens’ division struck Jackson’s column at Ox Hill, and Stevens was killed while leading an attack into the woods. As a violent thunderstorm swept in, the lead brigade of General Philip Kearny’s division arrived with 2,000 more troops and renewed the assault, but Kearny rode into Confederate lines in the downpour and was killed trying to escape. With ammunition soaked and both sides battered, the fighting continued until darkness ended the indecisive struggle. During the night Union forces withdrew and eventually reached the defenses of Washington, while Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia marched toward Leesburg and on September 4 began crossing the Potomac River, opening the Maryland Campaign.

Fair Oaks, Virginia · United States