In July 1861, Confederate soldiers arrived by train at Manassas Junction as Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army came from the Shenandoah Valley on the Manassas Gap Railroad to join Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard's army, arriving just in time to tip the balance of the battle. Around the junction stood a small collection of railroad shops, a telegraph office, a hotel, and a few farms, where the lives of the few residents had revolved more around the rhythm of the seasons than the train schedule. One-third of Prince William County's population was enslaved—men, women, and children whose labor brought comfort and profit to their owners. Except for the occasional train, life here had been quiet, but war changed that as the intersecting rail lines made Manassas strategically important. The Orange & Alexandria Railroad linked Manassas by roundabout route to Richmond and also offered the Union army a promising avenue of advance into Virginia from Washington, D.C. The Manassas Gap Railroad connected Manassas Junction to the Shenandoah Valley, Breadbasket of the Confederacy. The quiet times were over.
