The Road to Antietam, August 31, 1862: "I am utterly tired out"

150 years ago today, the Confederate victory at Second Manassas was complete. John Pope’s Army of Virginia was slinking back toward Washington, and it appeared as though the end of the Union might soon be in sight. During the day on the 31^st, George McClellan wrote to Henry Halleck that his staff was reporting “our army as badly beaten: our losses very heavy… Some of the corps entirely broken up into stragglers.” It was becoming obvious that the situation was desperate for the Union. Several hours later, at 7:30 pm, McClellan again wrote to Halleck, reporting that as many as 20,000 stragglers littered the roads of Northern Virginia between Manassas and Washington (OR, Vol 12, Part 3, 771-773).

Late on the evening of August 31^st, General in Chief sent the following telegraph:

Aug 31, 1862

From Washington, 10:07 pm

To Maj. Genl McClellan

Since receiving your dispatch relating to command I have not been able to answer any note of absolute necessity. I have not seen the order as published but will write to you in the morning. You will retain the command of everything in this vicinity not temporarily to be Pope’s army in the field. I beg of you to assist me in this crisis with your ability and experience. I am utterly tired out.

H. W. Halleck, General in Chief

In the last hours of August, as the Union appeared to be crumbling before the victorious army of Robert E. Lee, Halleck was turning to George B. McClellan to pick up the pieces of defeat and attempt to salvage not only the army, but the country, from the mess. The above telegram is not in the Official Records exchange of dispatches sent back and forth on the 31^st, and is found in the McClellan papers (McClellan Papers, LOC, Box A75, Reel 30). 

McClellan’s response, which can be found in the O.R., simultaneously accepted his new role and showed uncertainty over to what that role would be: “I am ready to afford you any assistance in my power, but you will readily perceive how difficult an undefined position, such as I now hold, must be. At what hour in the morning can I see you alone, either at your own house or the office?” (OR, Vol 12, Part 3, 773).

Two days later, as the broken remnants of Federal forces seeped into Washington a few days later, it would be McClellan who greeted them on the outskirts of the city. McClellan had by then met with both Lincoln and Halleck, and had been officially placed in command of the Federal troops in and around Washington, tasked with defending the Capital from the menacing threat of Lee's victorious and triumphant Rebel army, just 30 miles away.


150 years ago today, Federal leaders were trying to understand just how bad the situation truly was. It was becoming readily apparent that Pope’s time in command was over. McClellan, uncertain of what his role was to be going forward, received the above dispatch from Halleck informing him that he was likely to have the command of not only his former army from the Peninsula, but the defeated remnants of John Pope’s force as well. Still, McClellan’s orders were not clear, nor was his understanding of his task facing him, or his understanding of the force he would command. In the days to come, the dire condition of his army, as well as the condition of the nation, would become known to McClellan, Halleck, and many others. Indeed, 150 years ago was a trying time not just for Henry Halleck, as he wrote to McClellan, but for the country as well. 

2nd Manassas 150th, Aug 28-30, 1862

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the final and climactic day of the Battle of Second Manassas. Yesterday, I had the fortune of traveling to the Manassas battlefield to do some hiking and take in a few ranger programs. My day consisted of spending a few hours on the trails around the Brawner Farm and in the famed Unfinished Railroad Cut. I went on a couple Ranger programs, and I must say that Ranger Hank Elliott's battle walk of the action in the late afternoon and early evening of the 29th, covering the Confederate brigade of Maxcy Gregg and the Union division of Phil Kearney, was an outstanding program. Very well done.



In many ways, Second Manassas was the battle which set the stage for the fight at Antietam just a few weeks later. The terrible defeat of John Pope and the Army of Virginia gave enormous strength and momentum to Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The Confederate victory at Second Manassas emboldened Lee to move north into Maryland, creating a moment of opportunity for the Confederacy and a moment of crisis for the Union. The fighting in Maryland would feature many of the same troops from Second Manassas. Nearly all of Lee's army was the same, and out of the amalgamation of forces which McClellan took into Maryland, over 50% of the divisinos in his army were present at Second Manassas or were involved in the campaign. It always amazes me to think that, for example, some of the Union soldiers moving south in the Cornfield at Antietam were the same troops who were hit by Stonewall Jackson at Brawner's Farm on the evening of August 28th, on the eve of Second Manassas, in what could be called the first day of the battle there. Barely two and a half weeks separated these two climactic battles. In fact, that makes the Union victory at Antietam all the more remarkable, considering the terrible defeat many of those soldiers had suffered just two and a half weeks prior, as 1st Corps artillery officer Charles Wainwright pointed out.


Anyways, my goal here isn't to provide a full history of the battle. You can certainly find far more qualified historians for that than myself. I am not nearly as familiar with the action at Second Manassas as I am with the Maryland Campaign. Today, I simply wanted to post to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the final day of the terrible fight at Manassas. Overall, there were over 22,000 casualties during that several day fight. 150 years ago today, John Pope would continue to slam into Jackson's lines along the Unfinished Railroad Cut, and late in the day, James Longstreet would launch his destructive assault into the Federal flank, sweeping across Chinn Ridge and driving the Federals from the plains of Manassas for the second time in two years.

Gun on Battery Heights, signifying the location of Battery B, 4th US Artillery

5th New York monument

Small US flag at the 5th New York monument

Federal artillery position

Small US flag next to the 14th Brooklyn monument

14th Brooklyn monument

The fields near the Deep Cut in the Unfinished Railroad at Manassas

The fields near the Deep Cut in the Unfinished Railroad at Manassas

Second Manassas, 149 years later...

With today marking the last of the three days marking the 149th anniversary of the Battle of Second Manassas, I decided to utilize my weekend (I have Tuesdays and Wednesdays off) to take a day trip to Manassas National Battlefield Park. While a largely overlooked and misunderstood fight, Second Manassas had implications which were more wide ranging than the first. For me, perhaps, the most significant consequence of this battle was that it was the precursor to Lee's invasion of Maryland and the Antietam Campaign.

As I drove around the park and did some hiking today, I was struck by the tranquility of the place. When I was there for the 150th of First Manassas in July, I didn't have much time amid the craziness to see the park, and I certainly did not have any time to view the Second Manassas sites. Today, visiting Brawner Farm in particular, I was actually surprised by the sparse numbers of visitors on such an historic occasion. As with the sparse crowds at the 150th of First Manassas in July, seeing so few people at the park today reminded me of how important it is to teach younger generations, especially mine, of the importance of these places.

Certainly, it being a weekday when many are heading back to school limited the number of visitors. At Antietam, we have been seeing fewer folks as of late as well. However, while it may be that interest in the Civil War is as high as it has ever been since the veterans of it passed away, we must work to make sure it stays that way. My trip today got me thinking about the hurdles facing Civil War historians in the years of the sesquicentennial and beyond. Civil War historians cannot assume that the general public knows about the importance of these places, and they certainly cannot assume that the general public can tell good history from bad.

It is up to those who are tasked with interpreting and preserving those fields to generate interest and teach others of the importance of these places. That is where battlefield preservation and GOOD historians come into play. On both accounts, I am extremely glad to say I work at Antietam, where a dedication to preservation and good history is a shared trait among my outstanding colleagues. Our task is not only to get people interested in history, but also to lead them beyond the history books and out into the fields themselves.

Now, back to my visit today.

On August 30, 1862, James Longstreet's men swept through onto the Union flank along Chinn Ridge, nearly destroying John Pope's Army of Virginia and securing a stunning Confederate victory. This afternoon, I was out on Chinn Ridge almost to the hour that this massive attack was occuring. Much to my surprise, I was alone. Well, almost alone...

Of course, this southerner wasn't intent on driving this Yankee from the battlefield today. Despite being a Confederate deer, I decided to let this fella wander in peace. He does help to illustrate my point though. 149 years to the day after one of the greatest Confederate victories of the Civil War was won, it was only myself, a few deer, and a few other visitors happening to drive past out on that part of the field from time to time.


While I wish that there would have been a few more folks at the battlefield today, it was a nice day to visit. The park was quite peaceful 149 years after Second Manassas. Let's hope that the mass of fast food places, shopping centers, and highways goes no further so as to keep it that way. If you are interested in helping with battlefield preservation, check out the link for the Civil War Trust on the right side of the screen under favorite sites. They do some greatly needed work on that front.


Let's also hope that the future years see a greater interest in not just reading about the Civil War in books, but in actually getting out onto the fields where our nation's character was tested in a fiery ordeal 150 years ago.