Last updated: February 9, 2024
Place
Information Panel: Historic Landscape Restoration
Photo: NPS / Claire Hassler
Quick Facts
Amenities
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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
In 1997 the National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution began to develop a proposal at Manassas National Battlefield Park to mitigate the loss of wetlands resulting from construction of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, a National Air and Space Museum facility at Washington Dulles International Airport. The two agencies selected a heavily disturbed area here near Stuart's Hill, the site of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's headquarters during the Second Battle of Manassas in August 1862. A development company had graded nearly 125 acres for a proposed mixed-use project, but public outcry led the U. S. Congress to pass legislation in the fall of 1988, seizing the property and saving it from further development.
A 1993 study by the University of Georgia School of Environmental Design proposed restoring the land and its vegetative cover to 1860s conditions. Without funding for implementation, however, the study remained shelved for nearly a decade. Consultants for the Smithsonian used these earlier findings to refine plans for restoring the landscape and its wetlands. With funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia, restoration work began in 2003. Environmental Quality Resources, LLC, re-contoured more than 100 acres and restored drainage patterns, forming about 30 acres of emergent wetlands, 15 acres of forested wetlands, and native warm season grass meadows.The resulting project, completed in November 2003, represented a unique fusion of history and science meeting the resource management needs of both the Smithsonian and the park.
As Union forces prepared to attack General Jackson's Confederate line along the unfinished railroad to the north, Union General John F. Reynolds made a personal reconnaissance of the field beyond his skirmishers posted along the Groveton Road (Lewis' Lane). He immediately drew fire from a Confederate skirmish line deployed in this open ground, providing covering fire as General James Longstreet massed his five infantry divisions for an attack on the Union left flank.
Narrowly escaping injury, Reynolds reported his findings and received permission to shift his three brigades of Pennsylvania Reserves to the vicinity of the Chinn Farm (about a mile to the east) where theoretically they could better guard the Union left and rear. This movement created a dangerous gap in the Union lines south of the Warrenton Turnpike. To support Lt. Charles Hazlett's Battery D, 5th U.S. Artillery at Groveton, Colonel G.K. Warren moved his small brigade of New York Zouaves into the position previously occupied by Reynolds' entire division.
Longstreet's Confederates advanced at 4:00 p.m. smashing through Warren's two regiments east of the Groveton Road and gaining Chinn Ridge before meeting significant resistance. The attack on the Union left was not checked until Longstreet's lead brigades reached the Sudley Road 1-1/2 miles to the east where Union General John Pope had hastily formed a strong defensive position on Henry Hill. After dark, the Union army retreated across Bull Run, ending the battle.
Regiments, Brigades, and Divisions
The regiment was the basic organizational unit of Civil War armies. Soldiers identified with and took pride in their regiments. Volunteer regiments were designated by a number and by the state which raised it. A regiment was composed of a headquarters staff and ten companies identified by letters A-K (J not used to avoid confusion with I) initial muster each company would have 100 men with officers, but frequently effective strength was severely diminished by battle losses, disease, and desertions. To facilitate command and control, up to five regiments could be grouped together to form a brigade. Two to four brigades formed a division.
A 1993 study by the University of Georgia School of Environmental Design proposed restoring the land and its vegetative cover to 1860s conditions. Without funding for implementation, however, the study remained shelved for nearly a decade. Consultants for the Smithsonian used these earlier findings to refine plans for restoring the landscape and its wetlands. With funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia, restoration work began in 2003. Environmental Quality Resources, LLC, re-contoured more than 100 acres and restored drainage patterns, forming about 30 acres of emergent wetlands, 15 acres of forested wetlands, and native warm season grass meadows.The resulting project, completed in November 2003, represented a unique fusion of history and science meeting the resource management needs of both the Smithsonian and the park.
As Union forces prepared to attack General Jackson's Confederate line along the unfinished railroad to the north, Union General John F. Reynolds made a personal reconnaissance of the field beyond his skirmishers posted along the Groveton Road (Lewis' Lane). He immediately drew fire from a Confederate skirmish line deployed in this open ground, providing covering fire as General James Longstreet massed his five infantry divisions for an attack on the Union left flank.
Narrowly escaping injury, Reynolds reported his findings and received permission to shift his three brigades of Pennsylvania Reserves to the vicinity of the Chinn Farm (about a mile to the east) where theoretically they could better guard the Union left and rear. This movement created a dangerous gap in the Union lines south of the Warrenton Turnpike. To support Lt. Charles Hazlett's Battery D, 5th U.S. Artillery at Groveton, Colonel G.K. Warren moved his small brigade of New York Zouaves into the position previously occupied by Reynolds' entire division.
Longstreet's Confederates advanced at 4:00 p.m. smashing through Warren's two regiments east of the Groveton Road and gaining Chinn Ridge before meeting significant resistance. The attack on the Union left was not checked until Longstreet's lead brigades reached the Sudley Road 1-1/2 miles to the east where Union General John Pope had hastily formed a strong defensive position on Henry Hill. After dark, the Union army retreated across Bull Run, ending the battle.
Regiments, Brigades, and Divisions
The regiment was the basic organizational unit of Civil War armies. Soldiers identified with and took pride in their regiments. Volunteer regiments were designated by a number and by the state which raised it. A regiment was composed of a headquarters staff and ten companies identified by letters A-K (J not used to avoid confusion with I) initial muster each company would have 100 men with officers, but frequently effective strength was severely diminished by battle losses, disease, and desertions. To facilitate command and control, up to five regiments could be grouped together to form a brigade. Two to four brigades formed a division.