Sunday, September 2, 2012

150 years ago; the Battle of Chantilly and the return of Gen. McClelland

Kearney
Sept 1, 1862; Battle of Chantilly (Ox Hill)  "Making a wide flank march, Jackson hoped to cut off the Union retreat from Bull Run. On September 1, beyond Chantilly Plantation on the Little River Turnpike near Ox Hill, Jackson sent his divisions against two Union divisions under Kearny and Stevens. Confederate attacks were stopped by fierce fighting during a severe thunderstorm. Union generals Stevens and Kearny were both killed. Recognizing that his army was still in danger at Fairfax Courthouse, Maj. Gen. Pope ordered the retreat to continue to Washington. With Pope no longer a threat, Lee turned his army west and north to invade Maryland, initiating the Maryland Campaign and the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan assumed command of Union forces around Washington."

The Battle of Chantilly  "General Pope summed up the situation fairly enough, though with a certain amount of favorable coloring, in his despatch to Halleck on the evening of the battle. He says:"....

The prima donna McClelland relishes the defeat of his colleague Pope. 
Such an inconsistency from a general who purported to love his troops so much.
McClelland

Interactive battle map. As you view this map, you can easily see how little of the battlefield was preserved from development

Sept 2, 1862; Union General George B. McClellan restored to command in Virginia

With Northern armies driven out of Virginia, Lee begins the Maryland campaign.


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