Background
In mid-August 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee attempted to cut the supply and communications lines of the Union Army of Virginia, commanded by Major General John Pope, but the Confederate offensive was stalled following the First Battle of Rappahannock Station. To break the stalemate, Lee sent the Left Wing of the army under Major General Thomas J. Jackson around the right of the Union army, through Thoroughfare Gap, and cut the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, breaking the Union supply line. The other Confederate wing commanded by Major General James Longstreet would hold Pope's attention along the Rappahannock and then follow Jackson after thirty six hours. Jackson started his march at 3 a.m. on August 25.
Jackson's movement was observed by the Union army about 9 a.m. but Pope thought Jackson was marching to the Shenandoah Valley. Consequently, he turned his attention to Longstreet's wing, which was demonstrating along the Rappahannock River during the day. Pope's orders throughout the day were contradictory and the Union army was unable to mount an attack across the river as Pope intended. When Union cavalry spotted Jackson coming through Thoroughfare Gap, Pope pulled his forces back from the river and attempted to locate Jackson's force.
Read more about this topic: Manassas Station Operations (Stonewall Jackson)
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“They were more than hostile. In the first place, I was a south Georgian and I was looked upon as a fiscal conservative, and the Atlanta newspapers quite erroneously, because they didn’t know anything about me or my background here in Plains, decided that I was also a racial conservative.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“In the true sense one’s native land, with its background of tradition, early impressions, reminiscences and other things dear to one, is not enough to make sensitive human beings feel at home.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)