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Second Manassas might have been Robert E. Lee's Greatest Victory as author John Langellier asserts, but it is often neglected in Civil War history as "the other" battle fought at Bull Run rather than as a seminal event. This addition to the Osprey Campaign series is a solid overview of the campaign of Lee versus Pope in the summer of 1862 in north-central Virginia. In accordance with the standard Osprey format, the book begins with a short section on the origins of the campaign and a campaign chronology. In a welcome departure from the short-shrift methods of other recent Osprey campaign titles, Dr. Langellier actually puts some meat on the bone concerning opposing commanders. A full 9 excellent pages are spent discussing Generals Pope, Halleck, Banks, McDowell, Sigel, Lee, Longstreet, and Jackson. The section on opposing plans is a bit short at two pages, but adequate. Likewise, the section on opposing armies is somewhat brief at three pages, but covers aspects specific to the campaign, like Duryee's Zouaves and the Iron Brigade. The campaign narrative begins with two short chapters on the preliminary actions at Cedar Mountain and Brawner's Farm. The actual Battle of Second Manassas is covered in 25 pages, followed by a short postscript and notes on the battlefield today. An excellent order of battle is provided for both armies in the final appendix. There are five 2-D maps (Virginia in July 1862, the Battle of Cedar Mountain, the road to Second Manassas, the Battle of Groveton, and Lee's flanking movement to Chantilly) and three 3-D "Bird's Eye View" maps of the Battle of Second Manassas. Three battle scenes depict the truce at Cedar Mountain, the Iron Brigade at Brawner's Farm and the stand of Starke's Louisiana brigade at the Railroad cut. The photographs are decent - particularly if one likes portraits of civil war generals and scenes of torn-up railroads - but rather bland, given the level of civil war illustrations and artwork available. Dr. Langellier's campaign narrative is solid and hits all the main points. Certainly, the inept performance of Union General John Pope was clearly the proximate cause of the Federal defeat at Second Manassas. There is no attempt at analysis in this account, although certainly not necessary from the command angle. In terms of the principles of war, the Confederates enjoyed the virtues of the offensive, maneuver, security and surprise, while the Union leaders seemed content to ignore the threat until too late. However, a bit more analysis on the role of supporting units, particularly artillery, would have been helpful. Overall, Second Manassas provides a decent overview of this often-neglected campaign. |
