The Battle of Manassas (2nd Bull Run): Account of the Battle from "The Army Under Pope"

John Codman Ropes (18361899) was an American military historian and lawyer and was the co-founder of law firm Ropes & Gray. After the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Ropes turned his attention principally to military history. He ceaselessly assisted with business and personal help and friendship the officers and men of the 20th Massachusetts regiment, in which his brother, Henry Ropes, was killed in action at Gettysburg, and after the war he devoted himself to the collection and elucidation of all obtainable evidence as to its incidents and events. Ropes went on to found the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts and began writing an unfinished Story of the Civil War, to which he devoted most of his later years; this covers the years 1861-62. The Army under Pope is a detailed narration of the Virginia campaign of August-September 1862, which played a great part in reversing contemporary judgment on the events of those operations, notably as regards the unjustly-condemned General Fitz John Porter. In this excerpt from Ropes book, he discusses the climactic Battle of Second Bull Run, a decisive Confederate victory in August 1862 that paved the way for General Lees invasion of Maryland the following month. The defeat permanently tarnished the career of General John Pope as well. This edition includes pictures of important generals on both sides, including Lee, Longstreet, Stonewall Jackson and Pope.