The Battle of Cedar Mountain

In the summer of 1862, General John Pope formed the Federal Army of Virginia. While elements of this new 63,000-man army were converging upon Culpeper, Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson saw that part of the Union army, 12,000 men led by Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, had become isolated beside Cedar Mountain. Jackson took the opportunity to attack. On the blistering hot afternoon of August 9, the armies clashed in a mismanaged battle, but in the end Jackson's 24,000 soldiers prevailed. As the battle subsided in the twilight, Confederates learned that Pope's army had been reinforced by the arrival of troops under Gen. Irvin McDowell. Though Jackson had won the battle, he had little choice but to retreat. Soon Robert E. Lee's entire Confederate Army of Northern Virginia gathered at Clark's Mountain to launch the campaign that ended in the Second Battle of Manassas, August 28-30, where Jackson once again defeated Pope.

Virginia · United States