The second battle of Bull Run, or Manassas, opened early on August 29th and lasted until dusk. The fighting was desperate, Jackson standing mainly on the defensive and waiting for Longstreet, who was hurrying forward through Thoroughfare Gap. At night Jackson withdrew so as to connect with Longstreet. Believing the movement meant a retreat, Pope telegraphed to that effect to Washington. But he was grievously mistaken, for the Confederates were rapidly reinforced, as was discovered the next day, when the battle was renewed and pressed resistlessly against the Federals. In the afternoon Lee arrived on the ground, and, taking command, ordered an advance. Pope retreated, and that night crossed Bull Run and took position behind the field works at Centreville. Other corps joined him, and on the 1st of September Lee made a demonstration against the Union right flank. Pope now became terrified, as he saw that Washington was threatened, and he began a tumultuous retreat toward the capital, pursued and harassed by the Confederates, until at last the whole disorganized army found rest and safety behind the fortifications at Washington. Pope had been disastrously defeated, and the second campaign against Richmond was one of the worst failures conceivable.
McCLELLAN RECALLED TO COMMAND.
Pope had done the best he knew how, but the task was beyond his ability, and he was glad enough to be relieved of his command, which was assumed once more by McClellan, who still retained a great deal of his popularity with the rank and file. Pope's division had been styled the Army of Virginia, but the name was now dropped, and the consolidated forces adopted the title of the Army of the Potomac, by which it was known to the close of the war.
The success of the Confederates had been so decisive that the Richmond authorities now decided to assume the aggressive and invade the North. It was a bold plan thus to send their principal army so far from its base, and General Lee did not favor it, but the opportunity was too tempting for his superiors to disregard. One great incentive was the well-founded belief that if the Confederacy gained a marked advantage, England and France would intervene and thus secure the independence of the South.
The neighboring State of Maryland was viewed with longing and hopeful eyes by Lee and his army. It was a slave State, had furnished a good many men to the Confederate armies, and, had it been left to itself, probably would have seceded. What more likely, therefore, than that its people would hasten to link their fortunes with the Confederacy on the very hour that its most powerful army crossed her border?
THE CONFEDERATE ADVANCE INTO MARYLAND.
The Confederate army began fording the Potomac at a point nearly opposite the Monocacy, and by the 5th of September all of it was on Maryland soil. The bands struck up the popular air, "Maryland, my Maryland," the exultant thousands joining in the tremendous chorus, as they swung off, all in high spirits at the belief that they were entering a land "flowing with milk and honey," where they would find abundant food and be received with outspread arms.
Frederick City was reached on the 6th, and two days later Lee issued an address to the people of Maryland, inviting them to unite with the South, but insisting that they should follow their free-will in every respect. The document was a temperate one, and the discipline of the troops was so excellent that nothing in the nature of plundering occurred.
But it did not take Lee long to discover he had made a grievous mistake by invading Maryland. If the people were sympathetic, they did not show it by anything more than words and looks. They refused to enlist in the rebel army, gave Lee the "cold shoulder," and left no doubt that their greatest pleasure would be to see the last of the ragged horde.
While at Frederick, Lee learned that the Union Colonel Miles was at Harper's Ferry with 12,000 troops, held there by the direct order of General Halleck, who was the acting commander-in-chief of the United States forces. Lee determined to capture the whole body, and, detaching Stonewall Jackson with three divisions, ordered him to do so and return to him with the least possible delay.