Manassas ended a long campaign in northern Virginia. The campaign had begun when Union forces attempting to invade the Southern capital at Richmond were defeated just miles from the city. After the defeat near Richmond, the scattered Union forces under Major General John Pope clashed repeatedly with the Southern troops under Major General "Stonewall" Jackson. At the August 9 Battle of Cedar Mountain, Jackson's Confederates outnumbered the Union troops two-to-one. After his easy victory there, Jackson retired from the field as Union reinforcements arrived.
While Pope's Union army was engaged in fighting against General Robert E. Lee's forces along the Rappahannock River, Jackson attempted to maneuver around to Pope's rear in order to cut off his supply lines.
Weary from inconclusive fighting along the Rappahannock, Pope decided to concentrate his forces and march on Jackson, who had succeeded in cutting off Pope's supplies. A race was on for Pope to find and destroy Jackson before Lee could march his men to Jackson's aid.
The Second Battle of Manassas began on August 28, when Pope marched his men right into Jackson's waiting forces near the town of Manassas. Jackson had set up his defenses at the site of the First Battle of Manassas which had ended in Confederate victory just one year earlier. After some rough skirmishes, darkness fell, and both sides retired for the night.
Throughout the day of August 29, fighting raged up and down the line without a decisive victory. Pope's Northerners broke through the Confederate defenses several times but were always pushed back. Throughout that night, Confederate movement to the west convinced Pope that the Southerners were preparing to retreat.
On the morning of August 30, Pope attacked the Confederates to the west, hoping to destroy the escaping Southern troops. Instead, he found 30,000 newly-arrived reinforcements under General Robert E. Lee. The day was spent in fierce fighting; in the end, the Northerners were forced to retreat to nearby Centreville and, eventually, to the safety of Washington, D.C.
