During the summer of 1862, Manassas Junction became a major supply hub for Union armies operating in Virginia, making it a Confederate target. On August 27, Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson sent 24,000 troops against the depot there, where soldiers found both staples and delicacies, more than they could eat or carry, and often burned what they could not take away. Jackson's dash to Manassas forced the Union army to retreat from the Rappahannock in pursuit, but when federal forces arrived they found only smoldering ruins at the Junction. Five miles north, on the First Manassas battlefield, Jackson lured the Union army into battle on August 28. Two days later, Lee's Army of Northern Virginia won a stunning victory at Second Manassas, and the Union army retreated toward Washington.
