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One is given Directions on exactly how to drive or walk to a particular place an Orientation telling one exactly where to stand and face in order to understand the events that unfolded there a What Happened section that provides a just the facts summary of events an Analysis section in which historian Rafuse evaluates how well or poorly the Union and Confederate leaders and soldiers performed their duties at that site a Vignette in which people of the time set forth their memories of those events and a list of suggestions for further reading This system of organization provides a fine way for the battlefield visitor to better understand the events of First Bull Run First Manassas and Second Bull Run Second Manassas Here is an example of how detailed the Directions are When leading the reader toward Blackburn s Ford.

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Along with expert analysis and precise directions for armchair traveler and battlefield visitor alike The July 1861 Battle of First Manassas and the August 1862 Battle of Second Manassas unequivocally influenced the course and outcome of the Civil War The first battle dealt a decisive blow to hopes that the inexperienced armies of the North and the South could bring about a quick military resolution of the secession crisis The second battle was the climactic engagement of a spectacular campaign that carried the war to the outskirts of Washington DC and marked the coming of age of Robert E Lee s Army of Northern Virginia Manassas A Battlefield Guide presents readers with a clear.

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Excellent Overview of Battles Maps are helpful Wish I had read before tour but even months later the descriptions are vivid Read alongside campaign Histories and it greatly facilitated understanding of the Battles Paperback Hiking tomorrow Paperback Manassas Virginia is the town that I call home Today it is a pleasant and prosperous Northern Virginia suburb of Washington D. Manassas social security office C It is also the site of two of the most significant battles of the American Civil War All of these factors provide reasons for my interest in Ethan Rafuse s Manassas A Battlefield Guide. Manassas mall Rafuse a Civil War historian whose works include a study of Union General George McClellan has made other contributions to the University of Nebraska Press s This Hallowed Ground series of Civil War battlefield guides I read his guide to the battle sites of Harper s Ferry South Mountain and Antietam the last time I was touring sites of the Maryland Campaign and learned much from his insights Accordingly I took up Manassas A Battlefield Guide expecting to learn much about the two campaigns that eventuated in two major Civil War battles in 1861 and 1862 and in that expectation I was not disappointed. Manassas full Books in the This Hallowed Ground series are generally organized around the tour stops that the National Park Service has established for travellers and tourists visits to Civil War battlefields Rafuse follows that practice for the walking tour of the First Battle of Bull Run or First Battle of Manassas July 21 1861 and for the driving tour of the Second Battle of Bull Run or Second Battle of Manassas August 28 30 1862 At each stop a site of early fighting along Bull Run southeast of the battlefield park Rafuse sets forth his directions as follows After driving 2. Manassas baptist church facebook 3 miles on Centreville Road Virginia Route 28 to a side road and a parking area on the north bank of Bull Run As you enter the trail leading from the parking area you will immediately see two Virginia Civil War Trails markers Blackburn s Ford Guarding the Fords and Blackburn s Ford Humming Like a Bee Hive You can either walk over to the signs and do the stand there or follow the trail down to the creek there Face toward Bull Run pp 144 45 All true and valid but what Rafuse leaves out is that along this busy stretch of Centreville Road that is home to modern businesses like a U Haul dealership and a Megamart it may be particularly challenging to get in touch with the historical moment. Manassas indoor water park The way the What Happened sections work is well exemplified by Rafuse s description of what happened at Thoroughfare Gap on August 28 as the stage was being set for Second Bull Run Second Manassas In the gap Union General James B Ricketts understandably worried about his command s isolation and the obvious superiority of the forces in front of him decided to pull all the way back to Bristoe Station clearing the way for Lee to reunite Longstreet s and Jackson s commands on August 29 p 204 Please note the manner in which Rafuse helpfully puts the names of the Confederates in italics so that readers who are not already familiar with these participants in Civil War history will have no trouble telling the Yankees from the Rebels. Manassas gap railroad map The Vignette sections may be most evocative for readers of this guide One vignette that really stood out for me in a sad way relates to the moving letter that Union Major Sullivan Ballou wrote to his wife before First Bull Run First Manassas The letter was highlighted in Ken Burns s 1990 television documentary The Civil War against the melancholy strains of Jay Ungar s violin composition Ashokan Farewell viewers of the documentary heard Ballou anticipate his own death and write home to his wife Sarah Sarah do not mourn me dead think I am gone and wait for thee for we shall meet again It is a moving moment a highlight of the documentary and a reader of Manassas A Battlefield Guide will easily find the spot on Matthews Hill where Ballou was fatally wounded at First Bull Run First Manassas Yet the story has a sad coda one that filmmaker Ken Burns in his wish to emphasize in a non partisan manner the death and loss that the war brought to so many households North and South omitted from his fine documentary Lamentably when officials from Rhode Island arrived in the area in March 1862 to recover Ballou s body they learned that Confederate soldiers had exhumed mutilated and burned it With the assistance of local residents though they were able to locate a few of Ballou s remains to send back to Rhode Island along with reports of what they had learned which sparked outrage throughout the North p 50 This detail one that I had not heard before put to say the least a new spin on the story for me and made me think of how recent works like Charles Royster s The Destructive War 1991 have sought to demolish the enduring myth of the American Civil War as a gallant conflict fought by high minded gentlemen and to emphasize in its place the reality of the war as a harsh and brutal conflict with plenty of cruel behavior on both sides. Book manassas city The Analysis sections are comparably helpful as well I found Rafuse s analytical insights helpful in addressing one of the questions that I have always had regarding Second Bull Run Second Manassas why did Union General John Pope commanding the Union s Army of Virginia seemingly disregard the evidence of his own eyes and ears in insisting that Stonewall Jackson s Confederate corps was on its own and ready to be bagged while in fact Longstreet s Confederate corps was close by and ready to strike Rafuse s response to this question is compelling and persuasive Pope had won the hearts of the Lincoln administration and Republicans in Congress by publicly disparaging the officer corps of the eastern armies for their lack of aggressiveness. Book manassas city To retreat across Bull Run after pulling back from Culpeper to the Rappahannock and then from the Rappahannock would have been a severe blow to Pope s prestige and that of the administration pp 101 02. Manassas park pd va Rafuse also provides details regarding Campaign Excursions extensive road trips that relate to events surrounding First Bull Run First Manassas Second Bull Run Second Manassas and the subsequent Battle of Chantilly September 1 1862 in which the victorious Confederates tried in vain to stop the Union Army s successful retreat back to under the protection of the Washington fortifications Events like the Battle of Cedar Mountain August 9 1862 three weeks before Second Bull Run Second Manassas are covered there. Manassas hair Also helpful are two appendices on Orders of Battle and Organization Weapons and Tactics Relative newcomers to Civil War studies who may not be comfortable with the casual way in which so many works throw around terms like corps and division and brigade will no doubt find this information helpful and illuminating. Manassas baptist church facebook The illustrations for this book come only from the Battles and Leaders of the Civil War series published by the Century Magazine in the 1880 s readers who want photographs or a wider variety of illustrations may want to look at some of the many fine campaign studies of the two Bull Run Manassas battles The maps by contrast are first rate and visitors to the battlefields will no doubt find them helpful. Second manassas book As a Manassas resident I visit the battlefields once a week when time permits and from my familiarity with the battlefields I can testify that Rafuse s Manassas A Battlefield Guide provides an excellent way for the battlefield visitor to learn about these two crucial battles of the American Civil War Paperback

Manassas: A Battlefield Guide (This Hallowed Ground: Guides to Civil War Battlefields) By Ethan S. Rafuse

0803236433

9780803236431

English

274

Paperback

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This volume is the essential guide to the Manassas battlefields site of two of the Civil War s critical campaigns Ethan S Rafuse a distinguished scholar of the Civil War provides a clearly organized thorough and uniquely insightful account of both campaigns convenient guide to the sites in northern and central Virginia that shaped the course and outcome of these campaigns Lucid concise narratives give readers a better understanding of the events that took place on these battlefields and of the terrain personalities and decisions that shaped them Manassas A Battlefield Guide This Hallowed Ground Guides to Civil War Battlefields .