Second Manassas, Antietam,
and the Emancipation
Proclamation
Lsn 10
End of the Peninsula Campaign
• Even though McClellan had been defeated, his army
was still in a strategic location, just 25 miles from
Richmond and on a supply line it could keep open (it
would be 1864 before the Federals got this close to
Richmond again)
• One course would have been for Lincoln to keep the
army where it was and remove the commander
• Instead, Lincoln ordered the Army of the Potomac to
withdraw from the Peninsula
• Ultimately, most of the Army of the Potomac would come
under the command of John Pope as the Army of
Virginia
Pope’s General Orders
• When Pope assumed command he
issued an abrasive and boastful
address on July 14 which served to
alienate and insult many in his new
command
• Then issued a series of General
Orders that certainly enraged the
Confederacy and showed he had
an aggressive and hostile policy
toward civilians and private
property
• That Lincoln acquiesced to these
orders showed that perhaps he
was shifting away from the mild,
conciliatory approach to something
more authoritarian
Pope’s General Orders
• General Order Number 5 stated that the army
should live off the land.
• General Order Number 7 outlined how Pope
planned to deal with the local citizenry.
• General Order Number 11 called for the
immediate arrest of all disloyal male citizens
and compelled them to either take an oath of
allegiance to the United States or be deported
further south.
– Pope appeared naively surprised when he learned
that soldiers had taken his orders as a license to
plunder and maraud, and he attempted to correct
this situation with General Order Number 19.
Pope’s General Orders
GENERAL POPE: “Well, Sir; who are
you, and what do you want?”
STRANGER. “I am—aw—Aid-de-Camp
to GENERAL STONEWALL JACKSON.
The GENERAL sends his—aw—
Compliments, and wishes to know if you
can let him have a few Bottles of RoseWater?”
GENERAL POPE. “Tell the GENERAL
that this Concern has changed hands;
and the present Head of the Firm has
given up the Rose-Water Branch of
Business, as he finds it don't pay!”
Cartoon from Harper’s Weekly Aug 9, 1862 reflecting Pope’s new policies
End of the Peninsula Campaign
and Lee’s Offensive
• As soon as Lee ascertained
the army was withdrawing
from the Peninsula, he went
after Pope in northern Virginia
• Lee was able to operate within
his enemy’s decision cycle
• Lee ordered his army to move
the day of the Federal
withdraw and before the first
divisions of the Army of the
Potomac had landed at Aquia
Creek, Lee had raced north
and had Pope surrounded just
south of Manassas
Lee and the Turning Movement
• The Peninsula confirmed Lee’s belief in the
turning movement and was the beginning of his
partnership with Jackson
– Lee learned during the Seven Days the wisdom of
“not attacking [the Federals] in their strong and
chosen positions. They ought always to be turned.”
– He told Jackson, it was “to save you the abundance
of hard fighting that I ventured to suggest for your
consideration not to attack the enemy’s strong points,
but to turn his position… I would rather you have easy
fighting and heavy victories.”
• Pope would be the first victim of this wisdom
Second Manassas
• Pope had been trying to relieve
pressure on McClellan by
operating against Confederate
rail communications at
Gordonsville and Charlottesville
• His forces were largely in
defensive positions along the
Rappahannock River
• When Lee realized McClellan
was withdrawing, he boldly
ordered Jackson to break things
open by leading his 24,000 men
on a wide swing around Pope’s
right to strike his supply lines and
cut his communications with
Washington
Second Manassas
• Jackson marched 51 miles in two days and
struck Manassas Junction with fury, burning
Federal supplies
• Then Jackson withdrew to a position north of the
Warrenton Turnpike near the First Manassas
battlefield and waited for Lee to arrive with the
rest of the army
• Pope ordered his scattered forces to concentrate
near Centreville to counter Jackson and to be
ready to receive McClellan’s reinforcements
Second Manassas
• On Aug 28, 1862 Jackson observed Federals
moving eastward toward Centreville
• Jackson had to choose:
– Attacking might bring the full weight of Pope’s army
against him before Lee could join him
– Waiting might allow Pope and McClellan to unite
before the Confederates could bring about a battle
• Jackson chose to attack ordering his division
commanders to “Bring out your men, gentlemen”
Second Manassas
• There was a fierce fight and
as darkness closed the
Federals slowly withdrew
• By dawn on the 29th Jackson
had adjusted his three
divisions along a 2 ½ mile
section of an unfinished
railroad bed
• Pope thought Jackson was
retreating and ordered a full
scale attack
Second Manassas
• Pope launched a series of uncoordinated and
unsuccessful attacks and Jackson’s line held
• At around noon, Longstreet arrived with 28,000
men and took positions on Jackson’s right
• Pope began receiving reinforcements from the
Peninsula which, instead of massing for one big
attack, he continued to commit piecemeal
• Although big gaps were torn in the Confederate
line, Jackson was able to shift his forces to meet
each threat
Second Manassas
• On Aug 30, Pope attacked
with 7,000 men he expected
to use to finish off Jackson
(who he thought was
beaten and withdrawing)
• In reality, Pope was
advancing into the jaws of a
trap
• Jackson had not retreated
at all but was standing fast
with 18,000 men
• Concealed at a right angle
was Longstreet with 28,000
fresh soldiers
Second Manassas
• Jackson not only
held but forced
the Federals to
fall back
• Lee unleashed
Longstreet and
the jaws of the
Confederate trap
closed on Pope
Second Manassas
• The Federals suffered 14,462 casualties
(the Confederates 9,474)
• Pope was transferred to Minnesota and
the Army of Virginia was disbanded and
incorporated into McClellan’s Army of the
Potomac
• Lee proceeded to build on this victory to
invade Maryland
Second Manassas
• Discuss in terms of maneuver
Antietam
• In desperation, Lincoln
restored McClellan to
command
• As Lee marched into
Maryland he expected the
Federals to abandon their
12,000-man garrison at
Harper’s Ferry
• When they didn’t, Lee
was forced to divide his
army in order to deal with
this threat to his rear
Harper’s Ferry sits at the
confluence of the
Potomac and
Shenandoah Rivers
Antietam
• Lee divided his
army into four
parts
– Three of them
under Jackson
headed toward
Harper’s Ferry
– A fourth under
Longstreet
headed for
Boonsboro
Antietam
• Lee’s army was now
scattered and McClellan
had time to organize his
forces
– He was aided by finding a
copy of Lee’s plan
• Still McClellan lacked the
killer instinct necessary to
take full advantage of the
situation
The “Lost Order”
Antietam
• In the actual battle,
McClellan moved slowly and
committed his forces
piecemeal which allowed Lee
to shift his outnumbered
forces from one threatened
point to another
– Neither the Federal V or
VI Corps, some 22,000
men, would play a
significant role in the
battle
Antietam
• At “Burnside’s Bridge,”
Ambrose Burnside’s IX
Corps of some 12,000
was held in check from
9:30 to 1:00 by only 450
Confederates after
Burnside launched
several attacks
• When he finally crossed
the creek, Burnside
spent two hours resting
and reorganizing on the
other side before
continuing toward
Sharpsburg
Burnside’s Bridge
Antietam
• Once Burnside got moving and
started to push the
Confederates back, A. P. Hill
arrived with his division from
Harper’s Ferry and
counterattacked into Burnside’s
unprotected left flank
• Burnside was driven back to
the heights near Burnside’s
Bridge
• Longstreet later wrote, “We
were so badly crushed that at
the close of the day ten
thousand fresh troops could
have come in and taken Lee's
army and everything in it.”
– Still McClellan held the V
Corps and VI Corps in
reserve
Antietam
• Antietam was the bloodiest
single day of the war
– The Confederates
suffered 13,700
casualties out of 40,000
engaged
– The Federals lost 12,350
out of 87,000
• The battle ended as a
tactical draw, but a strategic
victory for the Federals
because Lee was forced to
withdraw back to Virginia
• It was enough of a victory
for Lincoln to issue his
Emancipation Proclamation
Confederate dead in
the Bloody Lane
Antietam
• Discuss in terms of mass
The End of Conciliation
• Many Federal generals had sought to wage war
consistent with Winfield Scott’s limited approach
in Mexico
• The idea was to practice a conciliatory policy
that held that mild treatment of Southerners,
their property, and their institutions would
ultimately result in their returning their allegiance
to the US
• McClellan argued for this practice in a letter he
gave Lincoln on July 8 stating “A declaration of
radical views, especially upon slavery, will
rapidly disintegrate our present armies.”
Moves toward Emancipation
• A few generals such as Ben Butler, John
Fremont, and David Hunter however were
pushing for emancipation
• Lincoln too was beginning to move in that
direction and on July 22, 1862 he showed his
cabinet a preliminary draft of the Emancipation
Proclamation
– But Lincoln needed a battlefield victory to give him an
opportunity to make the Proclamation public
– Antietam accomplished that
Emancipation Proclamation
• Issued September 22, 1862
• “That on the first day of January,
in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three, all persons held as
slaves within any State or
designated part of a State, the
people whereof shall then be in
rebellion against the United
States, shall be then,
thenceforward, and forever
free…”
Emancipation Proclamation
• The Emancipation Proclamation changed the
very nature of the war, giving it a completely new
objective
• Conciliation was no longer an option
• Represented a move toward total war
– The North was now not merely fighting to restore a
union it thought was never legitimately separated. It
was fighting for freedom of a race.
– The South was no longer fighting merely for
independence. It was fighting for survival of its way of
life.
Impact of Emancipation Proclamation
• Jefferson Davis
– labeled REBELLION on
chain.
• Defeated
– seated figure with small
hammer labeled
COMPROMISE.
• Henry W. Halleck
– wields mallet labeled SKILL.
• George McClellan
– wields mallet labeled
STRATEGY.
• Edwin M. Stanton
– holds mallet labeled DRAFT.
• Lincoln
– shoulders an axe labeled
EMANCIPATION
PROCLAMATION.
Stanton: Halleck may use his skill and Mac
his strategy, but this draft will do the
business.
Lincoln: You can try him with that, but I'm
afraid this axe of mine is the only thing that
will fetch him.
Diplomatic Impact
• The South had longed
hoped for European
recognition and intervention
• The Emancipation
Proclamation made that
virtually impossible because
England had abolished
slavery in 1833 and France
in 1848
John Slidell represented the
Confederacy in France
Impact of Emancipation Proclamation on
Confederate Diplomatic Efforts
• “… the feeling against slavery in England
is so strong that no public man there dares
extend a hand to help us… There is no
government in Europe that dares help us
in a struggle which can be suspected of
having for its result, directly or indirectly,
the fortification or perpetuation of slavery.
Of that I am certain”
– William Yancey, Confederate politician
Emancipation Proclamation
• Discuss in terms of objective
Next Lesson
• Fredericksburg and
Chancellorsville