Pope attempted to turn Jackson's left with a division of his army and
the wily Southerner fell on his moving columns with sudden savage
energy, fought until nine o'clock at night and drove him back with heavy
loss.
When Pope moved to the attack next day at two o'clock Longstreet had
reached Jackson's side. The attack failed and his men fell back through
pools of blood. The Federal Commander was still sending pompous messages
to Washington announcing his marvelous achievements while his army had
steadily retreated from Culpeper Court House beyond the Rappahannock,
back to Manassas where the first battle of the war was fought.
At dawn on August 30, the high spirited troops of the South were under
arms standing with clinched muskets within a few hundred yards of the
pickets of Pope. Their far flung battle line stretched for five miles
from Sudley Springs on the left to the Warrenton road and on obliquely
to the southwest.
The artillery opened the action and for eight hours the heavens shook
with its roar. At three o'clock in the afternoon Pope determined to hurl
the flower of his army against Jackson's corps and smash it. His first
division pressed forward and engaged the Confederates at close
quarters. A fierce and bloody conflict followed, Jackson's troops
refusing to yield an inch.
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