by Caroline E. Janney and and Kathryn Shively, editors
Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2025. Pp. x, 170.
Illus., maps, notes, biblio., index. $34.95. ISBN:1469685361
Fresh Light on an Often Overlooked Campaign
This volume in the UNC’s well-regarded series “Military Campaigns of the Civil War,” comprises an introduction by the editors and nine papers on various aspects of the campaign.
The introduction and papers are by a mix of veteran scholars and talented new comers. The essays frequently make use of different way to approach the analysis of primary sources.
The first essay, by Kathryn Shivel, examines the logistical failures of John Pope as head of the Army of Virginia and Henry Halleck as General-in-Chief of the U.S. Army. There follows a paper by John Hennessy suggesting that the Second Manassas Campaign (August 27 – 30, 1862) has been rather ignored due partly to it falling between the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days’ battles (June 25-July 1) and the Maryland-Antietam Campaign (September 4–20). Gary Gallagher’s “The Tide Of War Has Been Rolled Back: Second Manassas in Confederate Perspective,” argues that that the campaign proved “transformative” for Lee, the ANV, and the fighting by the Confederacy. (p. 90)
The fourth paper, by Cecily Zander, takes a look at how John Pope’s braggadocio and its appeal to Republican congressional leaders, proved of very little value on the battlefield. Peter Luebke looks at the Army of Northern Virginia, and makes an important point that Robert E. Lee did well by using an offensive strategy against the Federals, emulating the “energetic marching and fighting” style of Frederick the Great (p. 11) in order to overwhelm Northern morale and overcome superior numbers and resources.
Perhaps the best paper in the book is by James Marten, who examines of experience of the 6th Wisconsin of the Iron Brigade at Brawner Farm during the battle, which created a culture of confidence that was demonstrated in future battles by untested officers and soldiers of the Army of the Potomac.
The final papers focus on two particular commanders. Keith Bohannon’s essay on Confederate Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood’s actions on August 29-30, stresses how he helped the Army of Northern Virginia secure victory as a rising star in the army, while William Marvel persuasively argues that President Lincoln’s relief of John Pope, caused many to believe that Fitz John Porter’s actions during the fighting had a treasonous motivation, which led to “the administration's crackdown on officers critical of government policy.” (p. 204)
The final paper, by Caroline Janney, addresses the battle over the preservation and memorialization of the battle, which she argues was strongly influenced by the advocates of the “Lost Cause.”
The Second Manassas Campaign offers several fresh perspective on an overlooked campaign, revising some interpretations of events, and proposing new areas of inquiry in Civil War scholarship. An important read for anyone interested in the Civil War, and particularly the Eastern Theatre, as well as the problems of the army and the vagaries of historical memory.
---///---
Our Reviewer: David Marshall has been a high school American history teacher in the Miami-Dade School district for more than three decades. A life-long Civil War enthusiast, David is president of the Miami Civil War Round Table Book Club. In addition to numerous reviews in Civil War News and other publications, he has given presentations to Civil War Round Tables on Joshua Chamberlain, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the common soldier. His previous reviews here include, We Shall Conquer or Die, Dranesville, The Civil War in the Age of Nationalism, “Over a Wide, Hot . . . Crimson Plain", The Atlanta Campaign, Volume 1, Dalton to Cassville, Thunder in the Harbor, All Roads Led to Gettysburg, The Traitor's Homecoming, A Tempest of Iron and Lead, The Cassville Affairs, Holding Charleston by the Bridle, The Maps of Second Bull Run, Hell by the Acre, Chorus of the Union, Digging All Night and Fighting All Day, The Confederate Resurgence of 1864, Building a House Divided, Feeding Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, A Grand Opening Squandered, “No One Wants to be the Last to Die”, A Campaign of Giants, The Battle for Petersburg, Vol. 2, The Sixth Wisconsin and the Long Civil War, and Gettysburg: The Tide Turns .
---///---
Note: The Second Manassas Campaign is also available in e-editions.
StrategyPage reviews are published in cooperation with The New York Military Affairs Symposium
www.nymas.org