The Battle of Second Manassas: August 29-30, 2005

This is the second year in a row that Ed Bearss conducted a tour on behalf of the Friends of the Manassas National Battlefield Park (an organization that Ed strongly supports). Last year Ed started the tour at the Battle of Cedar Mountain near Culpeper, Virginia, and ended up at the Brawner Farm for the opening day of the Battle of Second Manassas

For the start of the August 2005 tour, Ed took us to Thoroughfare Gap where the Beverly Mill is located. Sadly, this four-story grain mill was severely damaged by a pyromaniac in 1998 and a lot of work is going into solidifying the remaining structure-led for the most part by local preservationists with their Turn The Mill Around Campaign. We then revisited the Day 1 action (August 28th) at the Brawner Farm where the "Black Hats" in the Iron Brigade demonstrated their mettle during a surprise attack by Stonewall Jackson's corps.

Stonewall Jackson's line for the next two days of fighting covered a front of about one and a half miles along the "unfinished railroad." We crisscrossed Jackson's line to see the battle from both a Union and Confederate perspective (this was the first time that Ed ever interpreted the battle that way). In the August 29th maelstrom some of Jackson's men ran out of ammunition and had to throw rocks at the Yankees to defend themselves. At the "Deep Cut" on August 30th Jackson's beleaguered Rebels held back a vicious attack from Fitz John Porter's 5,000 troops.

Longstreet and his troops arrived in time for the second and third days of action, striking the Union's left flank. Along Chinn Ridge Union soldiers resisted Longstreet's attackers. During the afternoon of August 30th the 5th New York Regiment made a valiant stand there. However, nearly 300 men out of about 500 in the unit were killed or wounded within five minutes. After the battle the hillside was strewn with so many red and blue Zouave uniforms that a Confederate from Texas likened it to a field of wildflowers in his home state. This devastating loss is regarded as one of the worst experienced by any regiment during the war. Ed Bearss interpreted this part of the battle for us as he stood in front of the impressive monument that today recognizes the valor of the 5th New York on that day.

During that last day of action on another section of Chinn Ridge, Colonel Fletcher Webster, eldest son of Senator Daniel Webster, died while leading his 12th Massachusetts Infantry against Longstreet's soldiers. Ed took us to see the boulder—brought down after the war—that marks the spot where Colonel Webster was killed.

The fighting on the last day also extended to Henry Hill, made famous during the Battle of First Manassas when Thomas J. Jackson got his nom de guerre ("there stands Jackson like a stone wall"). The Union army held off the Confederates long enough for Pope's army to cross at the Stone Bridge and head for Centreville.