Never Such a Campaign: The Battle of Second Manassas, August 28–August 30, 1862 (Emerging Civil War Series)

In late June 1862, General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia repelled Major General George McClellan's Army of the Potomac from Richmond, securing the Confederate capital temporarily. A new threat soon emerged when Major General John Pope's Army of Virginia moved toward Fredericksburg, threatening Confederate communications, supply lines, and Richmond itself. Pope, known for a boastful reputation and previous victories at New Madrid and Island No. Ten along the Mississippi River, brought a harder approach to warfare that would pressure both Lee's army and Virginia's civilian population. Alarmed by Pope's presence, Lee moved part of his army north to counter the threat. Never Such a Campaign examines the Second Manassas battle of August 28–30, 1862, as Lee and Pope's forces converged on ground where First Bull Run (Manassas) had occurred thirteen months earlier. The armies had grown substantially in size and capability since that earlier engagement. For the second consecutive summer, Union and Confederate forces clashed on the Manassas plains, with far more devastating results than before.