Editing Second Battle of Bull Run (section)

===August 30: Longstreet counterattack, Union retreat===
{{more citations needed section|date=August 2021}}

The final element of Longstreet's command, the division of Maj. Gen. [[Richard H. Anderson (general)|Richard H. Anderson]], marched {{convert|17|mi|km}} and arrived on the battlefield at 3 a.m., August 30. Exhausted and unfamiliar with the area, they halted on a ridge east of Groveton. At dawn, they realized they were in an isolated position too close to the enemy and fell back. Pope's belief that the Confederate army was in retreat was reinforced by this movement, which came after the withdrawal of Hood's troops the night before.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Pope thus directed McDowell to move his entire corps up the Sudley Road and hit the Confederate right flank. McDowell however protested this order, stating that he had no idea what was happening down on the Confederate left and he would much prefer to have his troops on Chinn Ridge. He then said that it would make more sense to attack the Confederate right with Heintzelman's troops, since they were closer to this area. Pope gave in, but decided to detach King's division to support Heintzelman.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

[[File:Manassas, Henry Hill, Jackson's canons.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1|Stonewall Jackson's cannons on Henry House Hill]]

At an 8 a.m. [[council of war]] at Pope's headquarters, his subordinates attempted to convince their commander to move cautiously. Probes of the Confederate line on Stony Ridge around 10 a.m. indicated that Stonewall Jackson's men were still firmly in their defensive positions. John F. Reynolds indicated that the Confederates were in great strength south of the turnpike. Fitz John Porter arrived later with similar intelligence. However, Heintzelman and McDowell conducted a personal reconnaissance that somehow failed to find Jackson's defensive line, and Pope finally made up his mind to attack the retreating Southerners.<ref>Hennessy, pp. 311–12, 323–24; Martin, p. 209; Greene, p. 39.</ref>

While Porter was bringing his corps up, a further mix-up in orders resulted in the loss of two brigades. [[Abram Sanders Piatt]]'s small brigade, which had been detached from the defenses of Washington, D.C., and temporarily attached to the V Corps, and [[Charles Griffin]]'s brigade both pulled out of Porter's main column, marched back down to Manassas Junction, and then up to Centreville. Morell, using an outdated set of orders from a day earlier, had assumed Pope was at Centreville and he was expected to join him there. Piatt eventually realized that something was amiss and turned back around towards the battlefield, arriving on Henry House Hill at about 4 p.m. Griffin and his division commander Maj. Gen [[George W. Morell]] however stayed at Centreville despite their discovery that Pope was not there. Eventually, at 4 p.m., Griffin began moving his brigade towards the action, but by this point, Pope's army was in full retreat and a mass of wagons and stragglers were blocking the roadway. Additionally, the bridge over Cub Run was broken, making it impossible for him to move any further west.<ref>"Fitz-John Porter, Scapegoat of Second Manassas: The Rise, Fall, and Rise of the General Accused of Disobedience." Donald R. Jermann 2008 pp. 117–118</ref>

[[File:Henry House Ruins (2) 1862 (5926531700).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1|Soldiers stand next to a completely destroyed Henry House in 1862]]

As Ricketts's division approached the Confederate lines, it became clear that the enemy was still there in force and was showing no sign of retreating. Pope, unnerved by these reports, contemplated waiting for McClellan to arrive with the II and VI Corps, but then worried that McClellan would take credit for any victory in the battle, so he decided to attack immediately rather than wait. Shortly after noon, Pope issued orders for Porter's corps, supported by Hatch and Reynolds, to advance west along the turnpike. At the same time, Ricketts, Kearny, and Hooker were to advance on the Confederate left. This dual movement would potentially crush the retreating Confederates. But the Confederates were not retreating, and were in fact hoping to be attacked. Lee was still waiting for an opportunity to counterattack with Longstreet's force. Although he was not certain that Pope would attack that day, Lee positioned 18 artillery pieces under Col. [[Stephen D. Lee]] on high ground northeast of the Brawner Farm, ideally situated to bombard the open fields in front of Jackson's position.<ref>Greene, pp. 39–40; Eicher, p. 329; Hennessy, pp. 313–16.</ref>

Porter's corps was actually not in position to pursue west on the turnpike, but was in the woods north of the turnpike near Groveton. It took about two hours to prepare the assault on Jackson's line, ten brigades numbering roughly 10,000 men, with 28 artillery pieces on Dogan Ridge to support them. On the right, Ricketts' division would support Heintzelman while Sigel's corps remained in reserve to the rear. Reynolds' division was stationed near Henry House Hill, with King's division on its right. Porter would strike Jackson's right flank with his 1st Division. Since General Morell was not present, command of the remaining troops fell to Brig. Gen [[Daniel Butterfield]], the ranking brigadier in the division. George Sykes' division of regular army troops was held in reserve. As noon approached and the sun climbed high up in the sky, temperatures on the battlefield topped 90&nbsp;°F.<ref>Hennessy, p. 318; Greene, p. 40.</ref>

The Confederates, however, attempted to strike the first blow. Elements of Hill's and Ewell's divisions came charging out of the woods and surprised some of Ricketts' men with a volley or two, but once again the Union artillery on Dogan Ridge was too much for them and after being blasted by shellfire, they withdrew back to the line of the unfinished railroad.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

[[File:Second Bull Run Aug30 1500.png|thumb|upright=1.5|August 30, 3 p.m., Porter's attack]]

The Union men faced a formidable task. Butterfield's division had to cross {{convert|600|yd}} of open pasture, land owned by widow Lucinda Dogan, the final {{convert|150|yd}} of which were steeply uphill, to attack a strong position behind the unfinished railroad. Porter then ordered John Hatch's division to support Butterfield's right flank. Hatch formed his four brigades into a line of battle, the attack being spearheaded by his own brigade, now commanded by Col. Timothy Sullivan since he assumed division command the day earlier. Hatch's division had only {{convert|300|yd}} to traverse, but was required to perform a complex right wheel maneuver under fire to hit the Confederate position squarely in its front. They experienced devastating fire from Stephen Lee's batteries and then withering volleys from the infantrymen in the line. In the confusion, Hatch was knocked from his horse by an artillery shell and taken off the field unconscious. Nevertheless, they were able to break the Confederate line, routing the [[48th Virginia Infantry]]. The Stonewall Brigade rushed in to restore the line, taking heavy casualties, including its commander, Col. Baylor. In what was arguably the most famous incident of the battle, Confederates in Col. Bradley T. Johnson's and Col. [[Leroy Augustus Stafford|Leroy A. Stafford]]'s brigades fired so much that they ran out of ammunition and resorted to throwing large rocks at the 24th New York, causing occasional damage, and prompting some of the surprised New Yorkers to throw them back. To support Jackson's exhausted defense, which was stretched to the breaking point, Longstreet's artillery added to the barrage against Union reinforcements attempting to move in, cutting them to pieces. Hatch's brigade fell back in confusion, the men running into Patrick's brigade and causing them to also panic. The mob quickly contacted Gibbon's brigade, which remained some distance to the rear, while Doubleday's brigade had inexplicably wandered away from the field of action. Meanwhile, Butterfield's hard-pressed division was buckling under heavy Confederate musketry and artillery blasts and coming near to disintegrating.<ref>Salmon, p. 150; Hennessy, pp. 339–57; Greene, pp. 41–43.</ref>

Trying to shore up Butterfield's faltering attack, Porter ordered Lt. Col [[Robert C. Buchanan]]'s brigade of regulars into action, but Longstreet's attack on the Union left interrupted him. The withdrawal was also a costly operation. Some of the jubilant Confederates in Starke's brigade attempted a pursuit, but were beaten back by the Union reserves posted along the Groveton-Sudley Road. Overall, Jackson's command was too depleted to counterattack, allowing Porter to stabilize the situation north of the turnpike. Concerned about Porter's situation, however, Irvin McDowell ordered Reynolds's division to leave Chinn Ridge and come to Porter's support. This may have been the worst tactical decision of the day because it left only 2,200 Union troops south of the turnpike, where they would soon face ten times their number of Confederates.<ref>Martin, pp. 219–20; Hennessy, pp. 358–61; Greene, pp. 43–44.</ref>

[[File:Second Bull Run Aug30 1600.png|thumb|upright=1.5|August 30, 4 p.m.: Start of Longstreet's attack]]

Lee and Longstreet agreed that the time was right for the long-awaited assault and that the objective would be Henry House Hill, which had been the key terrain in the First Battle of Bull Run, and which, if captured, would dominate the potential Union line of retreat. Longstreet's command of 25,000 men in five divisions stretched nearly a mile and a half from the Brawner Farm in the north to the Manassas Gap Railroad in the south. To reach the hill, they would have to traverse 1.5 to {{convert|2|mi|km}} of ground containing ridges, streams, and some heavily wooded areas. Longstreet knew that he would not be able to project a well-coordinated battle line across this terrain, so he had to rely on the drive and initiative of his division commanders. The lead division, on the left, closest to the turnpike, was [[Texas Brigade|John Bell Hood's Texans]], supported by Brig. Gen. [[Nathan George Evans|Nathan G. "Shanks" Evans's]] South Carolinians. On Hood's right were Kemper's and Jones's divisions. Anderson's division was held in reserve. Just before the attack, Lee signaled to Jackson: "General Longstreet is advancing; look out for and protect his left flank."<ref>Esposito, map 63; Eicher, p. 331; Martin, pp. 223–24; Greene, p. 45; Hennessy, pp. 362–65.</ref>

Realizing what was happening down on the left, Porter told Buchanan to instead move in that direction to stem the Confederate onslaught and then also sent a messenger to find the other regular brigade, commanded by Col. [[Charles W. Roberts]] and get it into action. The Union defenders south of the turnpike consisted of only two brigades, commanded by Cols. [[Nathaniel McLean|Nathaniel C. McLean]] (Schenck's division, Sigel's I Corps) and [[Gouverneur K. Warren]] (Sykes's division, Porter's V Corps). McLean held Chinn Ridge, Warren was near Groveton, about {{convert|800|yd}} further west. Hood's men began the assault at 4 p.m., immediately overwhelming Warren's two regiments, the [[5th New York Volunteer Infantry|5th New York]] ([[Abram Duryée|Duryée's]] [[Zouave]]s) and 10th New York (the National Zouaves). Within the first 10 minutes of contact, the 500 men of the 5th New York had suffered almost 300 casualties, 120 of them mortally wounded. This was the largest loss of life of any infantry regiment in a single battle during the entire war. The Zouave regiments had been wearing bright red and blue uniforms, and one of Hood's officers wrote that the bodies lying on the hill reminded him of the Texas countryside when the wildflowers were in bloom.<ref>Hennessy, pp. 366–73; Greene, p. 45; Martin, pp. 223–26. Martin claims that this was the largest ''Union'' infantry regiment loss of the war.</ref>

While all this was going on, Pope was at his headquarters behind Dogan Ridge, oblivious to the chaos unfurling to the south. Instead, he was focused on a message he had just received from Henry Halleck announcing that the II and VI Corps, plus Brig. Gen [[Darius Couch]]'s division of the IV Corps, were on the way to reinforce him, and moreover, McClellan had been ordered to stay behind in Washington, D.C. This would give Pope 41 brigades, all of them completely under his command and with no interference from McClellan whatsoever. Only after Warren had collapsed and McLean was being driven from the field did Pope finally realize what was happening.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

[[File:Second Bull Run Aug30 1630.png|thumb|upright=1.5|August 30, 4:30 p.m.: Union defense of Chinn Ridge]]

McDowell ordered Ricketts' division to disengage from its attack on the Confederate left, which had also failed to achieve any breakthrough, and reinforce the Union left. McDowell rode out with Reynolds to supervise the construction of the new line of defense on Chinn Ridge, just as Porter's shattered troops came running out of the woods to the west. Reynolds protested the order to move to Chinn Ridge, arguing that his division was needed to prevent a Confederate attack from the woods. McDowell, however, told Reynolds that the Confederate attack was not coming from that direction, but from the south and to move his division there immediately. Even before this happened, one of Reynolds' brigade commanders, Col. Martin Hardin (commanding Brig. Gen [[Conrad F. Jackson's]] brigade after Jackson had called in sick the previous day), took the initiative by himself and marched down to stem the Confederate onslaught. Taking with him Battery G of the 1st Pennsylvania Artillery, Hardin's brigade unleashed a volley of musket fire that stunned the 1st and 4th Texas regiments, but the 5th Texas to the right kept coming on and quickly shot down most of the gunners of Battery G. Nathan Evans' South Carolina brigade now arrived to reinforce the Texans and got in the rear of Hardin's brigade. Hardin fell wounded and command of the brigade devolved on Col. James Kirk of the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves. Kirk was shot down within minutes and a lieutenant colonel took over. The crumbling remains of the brigade fell back, some soldiers pausing to take shots at the oncoming Confederates. Nathaniel McLean's brigade of Ohioans arrived on the scene, but was assailed on three sides by the brigades of Law, Wilcox, and Evans, and soon joined the survivors of Hardin's brigade in a disorganized mob on Henry House Hill.<ref>Hennessy, pp. 373–93; Greene, p. 46.</ref>

The first two Union brigades to arrive were from Ricketts's division, commanded by Brig. Gen. [[Zealous Bates Tower|Zealous B. Tower]] and Col. Fletcher Webster, temporarily commanding Col. John Stiles' brigade. James Ricketts had been at the same battlefield a year earlier, at First Bull Run, where he had commanded a regular gun battery and had been captured at the fight for Henry Hill. Tower's brigade slammed Wilcox's Alabamians in the flank and sent them reeling, but was then immediately confronted with the fresh Confederate division of [[David Rumph Jones|David R. Jones]]. Webster lined up his four regiments to face the Confederate attackers, but was struck by an artillery shell and collapsed dead on the field. Disheartened by Webster's death, his men began to fall back. Meanwhile, Tower was shot from his horse and carried off the field unconscious. Robert Schenck then ordered Col. John Koltes' brigade, which had been held in reserve during Sigel's attack on the Confederate left the previous day and was fresh, into action, along with [[Wlodzimierz Krzyzanowski]]'s brigade, which had been heavily engaged and was tired. Koltes however was quickly struck by an artillery shell and killed. Overall command devolved onto Col. Richard Coulter of the [[11th Pennsylvania Infantry|11th Pennsylvania]], the highest-ranking officer remaining on the field, and a [[Mexican–American War|Mexican War]] veteran. Although Koltes and Krzyzanowski's six regiments held their ground for a little while, they were quickly overwhelmed by yet more fresh Confederates in the brigades of [[Lewis Armistead]], [[Montgomery Corse]], and [[Eppa Hunton]] and started to fall back in disorder.<ref>Hennessy, pp. 393–406; Martin, pp. 231–37; Greene, pp. 47–49.</ref>

{{Quote box
|align  = right
|width  = 25%
|quote  = R.H. Anderson failed to avail himself of the most significant advantage three hours of fighting on Chinn Ridge and Henry Hill had forged. Because he did not, the Confederates' last opportunity to destroy Pope's army dwindled with the day's light.
|source = John J. Hennessy, ''Return to Bull Run''<ref>Hennessy, p.  421.</ref>
}}

During the first two hours of the Confederate assault, McDowell had constructed a new line of defense consisting of Reynolds' and Sykes' divisions. Longstreet's last fresh troops,
Richard Anderson's division now took the offensive. The regulars of George Sykes's division along with Meade and Seymour's brigades, plus Piatt's brigade, formed a line on Henry House Hill that held off this final Confederate attack long enough to give the rest of the army time to withdraw across Bull Run Creek to Centreville.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

[[File:Second Bull Run Aug30 1700.png|thumb|upright=1.5|August 30, 5 p.m.: Final Confederate attacks, beginning of the Union retreat]]

Stonewall Jackson, under relatively ambiguous orders from Lee to support Longstreet, launched an attack north of the turnpike at 6 p.m., probably as soon as his exhausted forces could be mustered. Historian John J. Hennessy called Jackson's delays "one of the battle's great puzzles" and "one of the most significant Confederate failures" of the battle, greatly reducing the value of his advance.<ref>Hennessy, p. 427.</ref> The attack coincided with Pope's ordered withdrawal of units north of the turnpike to assist in the Henry House Hill defense and the Confederates were able to overrun a number of artillery and infantry units in their fierce assault. By 7 p.m., however, Pope had established a strong defensive line that aligned with the units on Henry House Hill. At 8 p.m., he ordered a general withdrawal on the turnpike to Centreville. Unlike the calamitous retreat at the First Battle of Bull Run, the Union movement was quiet and orderly. The Confederates, weary from battle and low on ammunition, did not pursue in the darkness. Although Lee had won a great victory, he had not achieved his objective of destroying Pope's army.<ref>Eicher, p. 331; Martin, pp. 246–48; Greene, p. 52; Hennessy, pp. 424–38.</ref>

[[File:Retreat after Second Bull Run.jpg|thumb|left|Union troops retreat after the battle]]

The final significant action of the battle occurred around 7:00 PM as Lee directed J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry to go around the Union flank and cut off their retreat. Brig. Gen [[Beverly Robertson]]'s cavalry brigade, accompanied by Col. [[Thomas Rosser]]'s [[5th Virginia Cavalry]] headed for Lewis Ford, a crossing in Bull Run Creek that would enable them to get in the rear of the Union army. However, Robertson and Rosser found the crossing blocked by John Buford's cavalry and after a short, but fierce engagement, Buford's superior numbers won out and the Confederate horsemen pulled back. The cavalry clash lasted only about ten minutes, but resulted in Col. [[Thomas Munford]] of the [[2nd Virginia Cavalry]] being wounded. Col. [[Thornton Brodhead]] of the [[1st Michigan Cavalry]] was shot dead, and John Buford was also wounded. The Union army's retreat however had been safeguarded.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

[[File:The photographic history of the Civil War - thousands of scenes photographed 1861-65, with text by many special authorities (1911) (14759520711).jpg|thumb|left|Bridge crossed by the Union troops retreating to Centreville]]