Battle of Bull Run Bridge
“Let this not become another Bull Run”
In August 1862, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee ordered Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson from the Rappahannock River to keep Gen. John Pope’s and Gen. George B. McClellan’s Union armies from uniting. Jackson marched on Aug. 25, and Lee followed the next day with the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia. When Jackson captured Manassas Junction on Aug. 26, Pope thought it was one of Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry raids and ordered Gen. George W. Taylor’s reinforced infantry brigade to attack. Jackson’s men, entrenched here in a line between Liberia and Fort Mayfield, greeted Taylor’s command with a “storm of lead” when it arrived about 8:30 the next morning. Taylor fell mortally wounded as his men retreated to the Orange and Alexandria Railroad and the Bull Run Bridge. He turned over command to Col. Eliakim P. Scammon, saying, “Please, let this not become another Bull Run.” After a three-hour-long fight, the surviving Federals fled or surrendered. The Confederates lost only 5 killed and 20 wounded, while Union casualties totaled 23 killed, 176 wounded and 246 missing or captured.
When word of the defeat reached Washington, McClellan (whose army protected the capital) told President Abraham Lincoln that he would not send two divisions to support Pope, as he was uncertain of Pope’s location and the size of the Confederate force. McClellan detested Pope and hoped to replace him if he failed. His refusal contributed to Pope’s defeat at the Second Battle of Manassas (Aug. 28-30), and Lincoln replaced Pope with McClellan on Sept. 2.
Marker is on Connor Drive.
Courtesy hmdb.org
