HIGHLY IMPORTANT NEWS: A Desperate Battle Fought Between Gen. Banks and Stonewall Jackson; HEAVY LOSSES ON BOTH SIDES (8/11/1862)

Later advices fully confirm the statements forwarded last night, concerning the movements of POPE's army from Culpepper Court-house to the Rapidan.

It appears that HARTSUFF's and CRAWFORD's Brigades of MCDOWELL'S Corps moved promptly forward from Culpepper on Friday, as soon as word arrived that our pickets had been driven back across the Rapidan, and arriving in the afternoon, promptly engaged the enemy. A sharp little skirmish followed, which resulted in driving the enemy back to the south side of the Rapidan, and dislodging them from some positions there.

As surmised in last night's dispatches, the affair was not pushed so as to lead to a general engagement, but our troops contented themselves with dislodging the rebels and securing a position on the Rapidan.

The remainder of MCDOWELL's corps, and the whole of BANKS' got up to the same position that evening, while SIGEL's followed promptly, so that at last advices the greater part of POPE's army was massed at Raccoon Ford on the Rapidan, and ready to be hurled against the enemy whenever other preparations of the commanders were completed. The belief in the army yesterday, was that they would move forward promptly, and marching orders were eagerly anticipated.

Gov. SPRAGUE was roused this morning at daylight by a special messenger, and started immediately for Gen. BURNSIDE's army. It has been believed for some time that BURNSIDE and POPE were in some way to cooperate in present movements, and this sudden sending for SPRAGUE is interpreted as indicating speedy activity.

One hundred and twenty prisoners have arrived here from POPE's army. A part of them were taken in Friday's skirmish at Raccoon Ford, on the Rapidan.

Free Republic University, Department of History presents U.S. History, 1861-1865: Seminar and Discussion Forum
The American Civil War, as seen through news reports of the time and later historical accounts

First session: November 21, 2015. Last date to add: May 2025.
Reading: Self-assigned. Recommendations made and welcomed.

Posting history, in reverse order

https://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:homerjsimpson/index?tab=articles

To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by reply or freepmail.

Link to previous New York Times thread

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4084527/posts

Highly Important News: A Desperate Battle Fought Between Gen. Banks and Stonewall Jackson – 2-3
Another Rebel Ram Gone: The Arkansas Abandoned and Blown Up – 3
The Guerrillas in Missouri: The Rebel Porter’s Forces Twice Defeated and Finally Broken Up – 3
New-Orleans and Key West: Affairs at New-Orleans Unchanged – 3-4
The War in the Southwest – 4-5
News from Washington: Probable Modification of the Recent Orders of the War Department – 5
Concerning Composition: A New Era in Type Setting – 5-6
Editorial: Present Designs of the Rebels – 6
Editorial: The End of the Rebel Ram Arkansas – 6-7
Rebel Perfidy in the Exchange of Prisoners – Refusal to Give Up the Union Officers – 7
Editorial: Will the South Arm Its Slaves? – 7
A New Line to California – Nicaragua Reopened – 7
Death of Lieut. Webster, of the Fifteenth New-York – 7
Arrival of the United States Steam-Transport Albany from Newbern, N.C. – 7

The Virginia Campaigns - March-August 1962

Analysis

During the spring and summer of 1862, the Union Army
fought some of its largest battles to date in Virginia. The Union
soldiers often fought well, but erratic senior leadership hobbled
their operations and led to defeat. Poor coordination and communication hampered Federal efforts in the Shenandoah Valley, while
McClellan’s unsteady direction of the Richmond campaign had
created opportunities for Confederate victory. “We are at a loss to
imagine whether this is strategy or defeat,” mused a Massachusetts
sergeant after the Seven Days Battles. Nevertheless, the Army of the
Potomac generally remained confident in McClellan. In contrast,
Pope received near-universal condemnation after his failure at Bull
Run. “All the fatigues of the campaign were endured by the men . . .
without confidence in the leading generals,” stated a Massachusetts
officer. Pope’s strong pronouncements upon his ascension to
command had made him look foolish. Perhaps the best that can be
said for his performance is that the Army of Virginia had reached
Washington despite several Confederate attempts to destroy it.

Lincoln’s tenure as commander in chief from 11 March to 22
July stands as one of the few times in American history when a
president has exercised direct operational control over U.S. forces.
It proved to be a failure, as Jackson skillfully eluded the Federal
net and distracted the War Department during a critical phase of
McClellan’s advance on Richmond, with negative effects on the
Army of the Potomac’s operations and McClellan’s state of mind.
To his credit, Lincoln realized his limitations and, in July, found a
new general in chief of the U.S. Army, General Halleck.

Politically, the Virginia defeats demoralized the United
States. “For the first time,” stated the New York Tribune’s
Washington bureau chief on 1 September, “I believe it possible that
Washington may be taken.” The seventy-day period from 26 June
to 2 September, in which the Confederates wiped out all Federal
gains in Virginia since March, stunned the nation. News of Second
Bull Run provoked serious debate in London and Paris about
whether the time was right for Britain and France to recognize the
Confederacy’s independence and mediate an end to the war. By
late summer the country’s spirits had sunk to a low point.

The Virginia campaigns in 1862 also showed that victory
over the Confederacy would not be quick or easy, and that
tougher measures would be required. Although not officially
announced until the fall, President Lincoln had come to accept
the need for more radical policies—to include the emancipation
of slaves in Confederate territory—largely because of the battles
that had occurred in Virginia in the summer of 1862. The nature
of the conflict was beginning to evolve from the gentleman’s war
of McClellan to the hard war of Pope that ultimately found its
most determined practitioners in Ulysses S. Grant and William
T. Sherman. The Virginia 1862 campaigns thus represent a key
military and political turning point in the Civil War.

https://history.army.mil/html/books/075/75-5/cmhPub_75-5.pdf

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