Overview
The Battle of Thoroughfare Gap took place on August 28, 1862, during the Northern Virginia Campaign. Earlier that summer, Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had forced George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac to retreat from Richmond during the Seven Days Battles. Lee then turned his attention toward John Pope and the newly organized Army of Virginia.
On July 13, Lee sent 14,000 soldiers under Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson toward the Shenandoah Valley. Later that month, he reinforced Jackson with 12,000 soldiers under A.P. Hill. Jackson defeated part of Pope’s army at the Battle of Cedar Mountain on August 9. On August 26, Lee sent Jackson and roughly half of the Army of Northern Virginia through Thoroughfare Gap and around Pope’s right flank.
Jackson passed through the gap without opposition and captured the Union supply depot at Manassas Junction early on August 27. His position threatened Washington, D.C., but also left his force separated from the rest of Lee’s army. Lee needed James Longstreet’s wing to pass through Thoroughfare Gap and reunite with Jackson before Pope could concentrate his army against him.
Union commander Irvin McDowell sent Colonel Sir Percy Wyndham’s 1st New Jersey Cavalry to block Thoroughfare Gap. General James B. Ricketts’ division also moved toward the area. On August 28, Longstreet’s 9th Georgia Infantry drove Wyndham’s cavalry away and encountered Ricketts’ approaching division.
As additional Confederate troops arrived, Union forces continued blocking the passage. Lee responded by sending Cadmus M. Wilcox toward Hopewell Gap to threaten Ricketts’ right flank while Henry Benning’s brigade moved toward his left. Fearing he could be surrounded, Ricketts withdrew toward Gainesville and Manassas Junction.
The withdrawal opened Thoroughfare Gap to Longstreet. His troops moved east and reunited with Jackson near Manassas Junction on August 29. The reunification of Lee’s army helped produce the Confederate victory at the Second Battle of Bull Run.
Essential Facts
- Also Known As: Battle of Chapman’s Mill.
- Date: August 28, 1862.
- Location: Fauquier County and Prince William County, Virginia.
- Participants: The United States of America (USA) and the Confederate States of America (CSA).
- USA Commanders: Irvin McDowell, Percy Wyndham, James B. Ricketts.
- CSA Commanders: James Longstreet, G.T. Anderson, Cadmus M. Wilcox, Henry Benning.
- Who Won: The Confederate States won the Battle of Thoroughfare Gap.
- Campaign: Northern Virginia Campaign.
- Era: Civil War, July–December, 1862.
Statistics
United States of America
- Casualties: Fewer than 100 killed, wounded, missing, or captured.
- Forces Engaged: 1st New Jersey Cavalry Regiment, Ricketts’ Division.
- Troop Strength: Undetermined.
Confederate States of America
- Casualties: Fewer than 100 killed, wounded, missing, or captured.
- Forces Engaged: 9th Georgia Infantry Regiment, Longstreet’s Wing.
- Troop Strength: Undetermined.
Significance
The Battle of Thoroughfare Gap is important to American History because it allowed Robert E. Lee to reunite the Army of Northern Virginia during the Northern Virginia Campaign. Stonewall Jackson had moved around John Pope’s army and captured the Union supply depot at Manassas Junction, but his force remained separated from James Longstreet’s wing. Union forces tried to block Longstreet at Thoroughfare Gap, but Confederate movements threatened both of their flanks and forced them to withdraw. Longstreet passed through the gap and joined Jackson on August 29, placing Lee’s reunited army in a strong position for the Confederate victory at the Second Battle of Bull Run.
History
Despite their stunning victory at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, Confederate prospects were fading less than one year later. In the West, Ulysses S. Grant was having his way with Confederate defenders of vital river systems. In the East, George B. McClellan was inching his way up the Virginia Peninsula, threatening the Confederate capital at Richmond with the largest army ever assembled in North America. In addition, three Union forces in central Virginia were poised to move south through the Shenandoah Valley to support McClellan’s invasion and hopefully bring the American Civil War to a quick conclusion.
Union Army of Virginia
By June 1862, President Abraham Lincoln lost patience with the uncoordinated federal setbacks in the Shenandoah Valley. On June 26, 1862, the President ordered the consolidation of forces commanded by major generals John C. Frémont, Nathaniel P. Banks, Irvin McDowell, and several smaller units in eastern Virginia to form the Army of Virginia. Lincoln appointed Major General John Pope to command the new army. The War Department later codified the President’s directive as General Order No. 103, dated August 12, 1862.
Pope’s Mission
Pope’s immediate mission comprised three key components:
- Aid McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign by drawing troops away from Richmond, or at least preventing Confederate troops in the Shenandoah Valley from reinforcing the Confederate soldiers defending Richmond,
- Secure the Federal control of the Shenandoah Valley, and
- Protect Washington, D.C. from a Confederate assault.
Lee Forces McClellan to Retreat
By the time McClellan reached the outskirts of the Confederate capital in June 1862, Robert E. Lee had replaced Joseph E. Johnston as commander of the forces protecting Richmond. Lee boldly went on the offensive, halting the Union advance during a series of encounters collectively known as the Seven Days Battles. As Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia forced McClellan’s Army of the Potomac to withdraw down the peninsula in July, the Confederate general turned his attention to Pope’s Army of Virginia.
Lee Splits His Army
On July 13, 1862, Lee split the Army of Northern Virginia and dispatched 14,000 soldiers under the command of Major General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson to secure Confederate railroad links with the Shenandoah Valley. Later that month, Lee sent 12,000 more men, commanded by Major General A. P. Hill, to support Jackson.
Jackson spent the next several weeks bedeviling Pope as the Union general tried to merge his forces in northern Virginia. On August 9, 1862, Jackson scored a major victory over the center of Pope’s army at the Battle of Cedar Mountain.
Later that month, on August 26, Lee daringly sent Jackson and half of the Army of Northern Virginia on a march through Thoroughfare Gap, outflanking Pope’s right wing.
Thoroughfare Gap Geography
About twenty-five miles east of Manassas, Virginia, Thoroughfare Gap is a cleft in the Bull Run Mountains between Pond Mountain and Mother Leather Coat Mountain. In 1862, a turnpike (modern-day Interstate 66) and the Manassas Gap Railroad roughly paralleled a turbid stream named Broad Run as all three traversed the opening between the mountains.
Jackson Surprises Pope
After passing through the gap unmolested, Jackson’s soldiers surprised Pope’s forces along the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, capturing a massive Union supply depot at Manassas Junction early in the morning of August 27, 1862. Overnight, Jackson pushed his soldiers north to the site of the Confederate victory at the First Battle of Bull Run the previous year.
Jackson’s success left him positioned to threaten Washington, D.C. However, it also created an opportunity for Pope to turn his entire army against Jackson’s wing while it was isolated from the rest of Lee’s army. Therefore, it became imperative for Lee to push Major General James Longstreet’s wing through the Thoroughfare Gap, reunifying the Army of Northern Virginia before Pope could attack Jackson’s force.
Thoroughfare Gap Battle
As Pope focused on Jackson’s isolated wing, controlling the gaps through the Bull Run Mountains became almost an afterthought. Major General Irvin McDowell, commander of Pope’s 3rd Corps, dispatched Colonel Sir Percy Wyndham’s 1st New Jersey Cavalry to Thoroughfare Gap to fell trees to impede Longstreet’s progress. Brigadier General James B. Ricketts’ division soon followed but stopped at Gainesville, Virginia, about six miles east of the gap.
When Union pickets observed Longstreet’s vanguard entering the gap from the west at about 9:30 on the morning of August 28, Wyndham sent word back to Ricketts. After receiving word of Longstreet’s advance, Ricketts hurried forward reaching Haymarket, Virginia, (roughly three miles east of the gap) just after 2 pm. By then, Longstreet’s 9th Georgia Infantry Regiment had driven Wyndham’s cavalry back and taken control of the divide.
As the Georgians fanned out of the gap, they encountered Ricketts’ division approaching from the east. Greatly outnumbered, the Confederates slowly fell back to the cleft where Colonel G.T. Anderson’s brigade, arriving from the west, reinforced them. As more Confederates entered the gap, they began scaling the steep walls to secure the opening, but the Union forces had them bottled up.
With little room to maneuver, Lee ordered Brigadier General Cadmus M. Wilcox to march his division six miles north to Hopewell Gap (another pass through the mountains), turn Ricketts’ right flank, and then get to his rear, possibly cutting off any escape route. Simultaneously, Lee ordered Colonel Henry Benning’s brigade to scale Pond Mountain, to the south, and turn Ricketts’ left flank. As evening approached, Ricketts found himself in danger of being surrounded. After skirmishing near Chapman’s Mill, Ricketts fell back to Gainesville and then to Manassas Junction, assuring safe passage for Longstreet’s soldiers through the gap.
Timeline
- 1861, July — Confederate forces won the First Battle of Bull Run.
- 1862, June 26 — President Abraham Lincoln ordered several Union forces consolidated into the Army of Virginia under Major General John Pope.
- 1862, July — Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia forced George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac to retreat down the Virginia Peninsula.
- 1862, July 13 — Lee sent 14,000 soldiers under Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson to protect Confederate railroad connections with the Shenandoah Valley.
- 1862, August 9 — Jackson defeated part of Pope’s army at the Battle of Cedar Mountain.
- 1862, August 12 — The War Department formalized Lincoln’s directive creating the Army of Virginia as General Order No. 103.
- 1862, August 26 — Lee sent Jackson and roughly half of the Army of Northern Virginia through Thoroughfare Gap and around Pope’s right flank.
- 1862, August 27 — Jackson captured the Union supply depot at Manassas Junction.
- 1862, August 28 — Confederate forces defeated Union troops at the Battle of Thoroughfare Gap, forcing Ricketts to withdraw and opening the passage for Longstreet.
- 1862, August 29 — Longstreet reunited with Jackson’s forces near Manassas Junction.
- 1862, August 30 — Confederate forces won the Second Battle of Bull Run.
AP US History
Definition
Battle of Thoroughfare Gap (1862) — The Battle of Thoroughfare Gap was fought on August 28, 1862, during the Northern Virginia Campaign and resulted in a Confederate victory. Stonewall Jackson had already passed through the gap and moved around John Pope’s army. Union troops under James B. Ricketts tried to block James Longstreet’s advance through the Bull Run Mountains. Confederate troops threatened both Union flanks, forcing Ricketts to withdraw. Longstreet then passed through the gap and reunited with Jackson before the Second Battle of Bull Run.
Alignment
The Battle of Thoroughfare Gap is part of the following AP US History sections:
