The battle of Groveton or Second Bull Run. Between the Union army commanded by Genl. Pope and the Confederate army under Genl. Robert E. Lee. Sketched from Baldface Hill, looking towards the village of Groveton.
160 Years Ago – August 17, 1862 – September 6, 1862
By Phil Kohn
Phil Kohn can be reached at USCW160@yahoo.com.
August 17, 1862, marks the beginning of an uprising in Minnesota by the Sioux tribe, protesting near-starvation conditions on its reservations. Between 450 and 600 settlers and townspeople are killed before the revolt is put down in September.
Having bypassed Cumberland Gap — leaving 9,000 soldiers as a rear guard to protect against the 8,000 Union troops holding the position — Maj. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith leads the remainder of his Confederate force northwestward and surprises and defeats the small Federal garrison at Barboursville, Tennessee, on August 18. In Kentucky, partisans led by former civilian scout Adam “Stovepipe” Johnson, now colonel of the 10th Kentucky Partisan Rangers in the Confederate Army, overwhelms the Federal garrison at Clarksville, in the northwestern part of the state.
On August 19, Horace Greeley, editor of the influential New York Tribune newspaper, publishes a criticism of President Lincoln’s stance on slavery: “All attempts to put down the Rebellion and at the same time uphold its inciting cause are preposterous and futile.”
Troops of Maj. Gen. John Pope’s Army of Virginia begin encountering Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s Confederates on August 20 at various points between Culpeper, Virginia, and the Rappahannock River. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac, intended to support the Federal Army of Virginia, is still making its way northward from the Virginia Peninsula.
On August 21, at Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, in Indian Territory, Cherokee chief John Ross is deposed and replaced as chief by Stand Watie, colonel of the Confederate Cherokee Mounted Rifles. Ross had been arrested and removed from the Cherokee Nation by Federal troops who occupied Tahlequah in July. (Ross was arrested for signing a treaty with the Confederacy. Ross, although himself a staunch Unionist [one of his sons serves in the Union army], had signed the treaty reluctantly under pressure from Confederate sympathizers in the tribe, followers of his strong and popular rival, Stand Watie.) In Virginia, Confederate troops attempting to cross the Rappahannock River encounter strong resistance from Union forces. Over 700 Confederates are killed and almost 2,000 are captured. Farther south, Gen. Braxton Bragg moves his Confederate forces to a position above Chattanooga, Tennessee.
President Lincoln, on August 22, responds to the criticism published by Horace Greeley, editor of the influential New York Tribune, that he is not aggressive enough on the slavery issue. Lincoln retorts that his focus is on saving the Union, adding: “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that . . .” Confederate cavalry led by Maj. Gen. “Jeb” Stuart attacks a Union encampment at Catlett Station, Virginia, destroying the camp, cutting telegraph lines and capturing 300 Federal soldiers as well as supplies. The biggest prize, however, is the capture of orders from Maj. Gen. John Pope containing detailed and critical information about Pope’s planned campaign. In New Orleans, Louisiana, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler authorizes the enlistment of free Negroes as Federal soldiers.
On August 23, after six weeks of traversing the hot, arid West Texas desert, harassed by Comanches and Kiowas, Confederate Col. William Steele and roughly 300 of his Arizona rear guard reach San Antonio. Initial plans are made for another New Mexico invasion, but it never occurs. From this time forward, West Texas between Ft. Bliss and just west of San Antonio becomes a “No Man’s Land” that is the domain of hostile Kiowas, Comanches and Mescalero Apaches. In Kentucky, Maj. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith’s Confederates capture Big Hill, some 45 miles southeast of Lexington.
In the Atlantic Ocean, near the Azores, CSS Alabama on August 24, 1862, is commissioned a cruiser in the Confederate Navy. She takes on armaments and supplies and heads out on a raiding career under the command of Capt. Raphael Semmes.
Edwin Stanton, U.S. Secretary of War, issues orders to the Federal Department of the South on August 25 authorizing the enlistment into the army of black soldiers “up to 5,000 in number and to train them as guards for plantations and settlements.”
Confederate troops under Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson seize Manassas Junction, Virginia, and the railroad there on August 26. Continuing to move in on Maj. Gen. Pope’s force, Jackson splits his troops to encircle Pope’s position. Seeming to not comprehend Jackson’s intent, Pope does little while Jackson’s men move into place.
Heavy skirmishing takes place between Union and Confederate forces at Kettle Run, Bull Run Bridge, Buckland Bridge and Waterford, Virginia, on August 27. The Confederates have now successfully interrupted communications between Washington, D.C., and Maj. Gen. Pope, with roughly half of the Confederate force between Pope and the Federal capital. Pope orders a pullback from positions along the Rappahannock River.
On August 28, Stonewall Jackson’s Confederates proceed to Groveton, Virginia, where they engage Federal troops there under Gen. Rufus King. Fighting is extremely fierce, and casualties are heavy on both sides. Maj. Gen. John Pope, mistakenly assuming that Jackson is retreating to the Shenandoah Valley, orders his troops toward Groveton, intending to rout the Confederates remaining there after the battle with King’s men.
In Virginia, on August 29, Maj. Gen. Pope’s Union troops attack Stonewall Jackson’s Confederates at Bull Run, near Manassas, Virginia (site of the war’s first major battle, in July 1861) to cut off Jackson’s “retreat.” Pope has no idea that the Confederates have no intention of withdrawing and have been anticipating and preparing for this action since Pope’s orders were captured on August 22. Pope squanders his numerical advantage (roughly 62,000 Federals against some 20,000 Confederates) by launching piecemeal attacks by his somewhat disorganized troops. Stalemated, Pope intends to continue the fight the next day. In Kentucky, Maj. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith launches attacks against Federal troops at Richmond, only 25 miles or so from Lexington. In Washington, D.C., Belle Boyd — arrested by Federal soldiers in Culpeper, Virginia, in July and charged with spying for the Confederacy — is released from Old Capital Prison for lack of evidence. She returns to Virginia — and resumes her role as a Confederate spy.
Maj. Gen. John Pope, on August 30, renews his attack on Stonewall Jackson’s Confederates at Manassas, oblivious to Maj. Gen. James Longstreet’s arrival on the field with 25,000 Confederate reinforcements. After Confederate artillery stops a Union attack against Jackson’s front, Longstreet launches a surprise mass counterattack by his five divisions, crushing Pope’s left flank and forcing a precipitous Union retreat to Bull Run. Only a strong Federal rear-guard action prevents a debacle such as happened at Bull Run in 1861. In Kentucky, Maj. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith’s 12,000 Confederates on the second day of the Battle of Richmond overwhelm the 7,000 Federals under Brig. Gen. William “Bull” Nelson. The Federals withdraw through Lexington and then westward towards Frankfort and Louisville. Kirby Smith’s victory opens up central Kentucky to the Confederates and convinces Gen. Braxton Bragg to switch his planned campaign from central Tennessee to central Kentucky.
There is scattered skirmishing in Virginia on August 31 in the aftermath of the Second Battle of Bull Run. Federal casualties number 14,462 dead, wounded and missing (of 62,000 engaged) versus 7,298 Confederate killed and wounded (of roughly 50,000 engaged). Maj. Gen. Pope begins consolidating his forces near Centreville, Virginia, where, finally, two fresh corps from McClellan’s Army of the Potomac arrive.
Closing out the Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), a portion of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia on September 1, 1862, attacks Federal forces at Chantilly, Virginia. Confederate casualties number around 800, while U.S. losses are about 1,300, including two of the Union Army’s most-promising officers: Major Generals Philip Kearny and Isaac Stevens. U.S. Maj. Gen. John Pope pulls his Army of Virginia back to Washington, D.C.
Union Brig. Gen. James Carleton, having gathered his 2,500-strong California Column around Mesilla, New Mexico, considers, then decides against, invading Texas. On September 2, he paroles the sick and wounded Confederates left behind at a hospital in Franklin, Texas, by Col. William Steele. He dispatches a doctor and a cavalry detachment to escort the sick and wounded to San Antonio. The Union force is not molested by hostile Indians on either leg of the round trip.
Over the objections of Cabinet members Edwin Stanton and Salmon Chase, President Lincoln on September 3 restores Maj. Gen. George McClellan to full command of Federal armies in Virginia and around Washington, D.C. Lincoln agrees that McClellan didn’t do enough to support Maj. Gen. John Pope at Bull Run/Manassas but restores him to command “for the sake of the army.” (Soldiers, almost to a man, love McClellan.) Maj. Gen. Pope is sent to the Northwest to deal with the Indian uprisings in Minnesota, which have now spread to the Dakotas. The Federal Army of Virginia is disbanded and incorporated into the Army of the Potomac. Frankfort, Kentucky, is occupied by Confederate troops led by Maj. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith. Plans are made to install a secessionist government in the state’s capital.
Having decided that he cannot successfully attack Washington, D.C., Gen. Lee, with about 50,000 Confederate troops, crosses into Maryland on September 4. He hopes to recruit sympathetic Marylanders to boost his army’s ranks and possibly invade Pennsylvania.
Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s 2nd Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia arrives at Frederick, Maryland, on September 6 but finds a total lack of the support expected from the citizenry. The remainder of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s army concentrates around the city the next day. A Confederate surprise attack on Washington, North Carolina, is successfully repulsed. In eastern Kansas, William Quantrill and his Confederate guerrillas attack Olathe. The action results in six deaths, and most of the town is destroyed.
