Information Panel: Federal Breakthrough

Information Panel: Federal Breakthrough

Photo: NPS / Claire Hassler

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Second Battle of Manassas, Day Two, August 29, 3:15 p.m.

Although the unfinished railroad grade provided a formidable defensive position, weakness existed in the Confederate line, putting some troops at risk. The low and marshy ground on which you stand was meant to be spanned by a railroad trestle. Steep embankments flanked either side of the low-lying ground, and Rebel troops huddled there, leaving a vulnerable 125-yeard gap in their defensive line. 

Purely by accident, the right of Grover's battle line struck directly at this gap in the Confederate position. Caught off guard, the overwhelmed Georgians broke to the rear. Grover's men swarmed past the railroad bed in pursuit. "Here occurred the most desperate fighting of the day, a hand-to-hand melee with bayonets and clubbed muskets," write on New Englander. "Such a fight cannot last for long." 

This startling turn of events threatened to isolate General Maxcy Gregg's South Carolina brigade, located on a rocky knoll to the east. "We had no time to form a regular line to meet them," reported Major Edward McCrady of the 1st South Carolina, "the work of death was terrific, but as each man fell his place was filled by another." Frantically trying to stem the tide, the wavering Confederates battled to gain time for reinforcements. After approximately thirty minutes of desperate combat, the momentum began to shift.