Editing Second Battle of Bull Run (section)

===Prelude to battle===
[[File:ATLAS OR BATTLEFIELD MANASSAS.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Battlefield of Manassas (right side)]]

From August 22 to 25, the two armies fought a series of minor actions along the [[Rappahannock River]]. Heavy rains had swollen the river and Lee was unable to force a crossing. By this time, reinforcements from the Army of the Potomac were arriving from the Peninsula. Lee's new plan in the face of all these additional forces outnumbering him was to send Jackson and Stuart with half of the army on a flanking march to cut Pope's line of communication, the [[Orange & Alexandria Railroad]]. Pope would be forced to retreat and could be defeated while moving and vulnerable. Jackson departed on August 25 and reached Salem (present-day [[Marshall, Virginia|Marshall]]) that night.<ref>Salmon, pp. 127–28; Eicher, pp. 322–23; Esposito, Map 58.</ref>

On the evening of August 26, after passing around Pope's right flank via Thoroughfare Gap, Jackson's wing of the army struck the Orange & Alexandria Railroad at [[Bristow, Virginia|Bristoe Station]] and before daybreak on August 27 marched to capture and destroy the massive Union supply depot at Manassas Junction. This surprise movement forced Pope into an abrupt retreat from his defensive line along the Rappahannock. During the night of August 27–28, Jackson marched his divisions north to the First Bull Run (Manassas) battlefield, where he took position behind an unfinished railroad grade below Stony Ridge.<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/battles/va024.htm NPS Manassas Station Operations summary].</ref> The defensive position was a good one. The heavy woods allowed the Confederates to conceal themselves, while maintaining good observation points of the Warrenton Turnpike, the likely avenue of Union movement, only a few hundred yards to the south. There were good approach roads for Longstreet to join Jackson, or for Jackson to retreat to the Bull Run Mountains if he could not be reinforced in time. Finally, the unfinished railroad grade offered cuts and fills that could be used as ready-made entrenchments.<ref>Hennessy, pp. 145, 200–201; Greene, p. 17.</ref>

In the [[Battle of Thoroughfare Gap]] on August 28, Longstreet's wing broke through light Union resistance and marched through the gap to join Jackson. This seemingly inconsequential action virtually ensured Pope's defeat during the coming battles because it allowed the two wings of Lee's army to unite on the Manassas battlefield.<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/battles/va025.htm NPS Thoroughfare Gap summary].</ref>
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