Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas
Books / Hardcover
Books › History › United States › 19th Century
ISBN: 0671793683 / Publisher: Simon & Schuster, November 1992
A comprehensive examination of the Second Manassas Campaign chronicles Lee's army, describing Stonewall Jackson, James Longstreet, and others. 15,000 first printing.
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In one of the best Civil War campaign histories ever written, John Hennessy presents the most comprehensive account of Second Manassas, August 29-30, 1862. Return to Bull Run tells the compelling story of the men - from privates to generals - who responded to an awesome challenge. Making superb use of primary sources, including diaries, letters, and official communications, Hennessy reveals the personalities of the leaders on both sides and details the background of every event.The summer of 1862 marked a dramatic change in fortunes for both sides in the Civil War. Robert E. Lee had rebuffed George McClellan's assault on Richmond, leaving a demoralized and exhausted Army of the Potomac stalled twenty miles outside the city. For Lincoln, the stalemate in Virginia was a stark milestone: hopes for an easy Northern victory shattered as losses mounted throughout the state; confidence among leaders and soldiers alike was falling precipitously. Angered by McClellan's conservatism and eager to extend the dimensions of the war and bring its hard edge to the Southern populace, Lincoln established a new army in northern Virginia, entrusting command to John Pope, fresh from victories in the West. The repercussions of Pope's appointment would extend far beyond the brutal two-day conflict at Manassas.From the move of McClellan's troops northward, giving Lee a military opportunity, to Pope's arrogant boast that he would "bag" Stonewall Jackson, to the dangerous disaffection of Pope's subordinates, Hennessy traces the misjudgments, scapegoating, and ill-conceived tactics that led to Union disaster.Lee's brilliance as a strategist, his ability to see beyond the "rules" of war and accurately appraise the enemy, and his confidence in Jackson, James Longstreet, and J. E. B. Stuart, emerge in striking contrast to Pope's bumbling efforts. Jackson's daring and obstinacy held firm in the face of relentless assaults on August 29; Longstreet's surprise counterattack the following day sent Federal troops on the road to retreat. At Bull Run, the Confederate forces displayed the true strengths of an army: organization, cohesion, and morale; by September 4, they were poised for a decisive thrust into the North.Shedding new light on the month-long campaign often overshadowed in other histories by the confrontation at Richmond that preceded it and the Antietam campaign that followed it, Return to Bull Run is a compelling narrative of one of the most intense and telling dramas of America's bloodiest conflict.
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