دانلود کتاب دومین کمپین ماناساس

In 1863, editor of the Richmond Examiner Edward A. Pollard declared Second Manassas “the most decisive victory yet achieved” by Confederates in the Eastern Theater. Chronicling the war in his multivolume Southern History of the War, he observed “the rapid change in the fortunes of the Confederacy, and the sharp contrast between its last forlorn situation and what were now the brilliant promises of the future.” Only three months had passed since the columns of a massive Union army had threatened the capital of Richmond—“since our armies were retreating weak and disorganized before the overwhelming force of the enemy.” But Second Manassas had changed the tide. “Now,” he marveled, “we were advancing with increased numbers, improved organization, renewed courage, and the prestige of victory, upon an enemy defeated and disheartened.” In the campaign’s aftermath, the Confederacy had proven “more invincible in spirit than ever.”
Even those writing in the immediate wake of the campaign charted the rapid transformation in the US Army’s fortunes. Taking to her diary on August 31, 1862, the day after the climactic battle of Second Manassas, twenty-year-old Confederate Lucy Buck reflected on all that had changed in the past six months. In the early days of the summer, “we saw nothing but disaster and destruction before us,” she recalled. Southern ports and cities had been occupied, ironclad boats swarmed the coast, and Richmond faced an exultant US Army flush with victory. “Our army seemed to have melted away or were within the coils of a mighty serpent that must soon crush them—oh it was all so disheartening enough! —and I have wondered how we ever struggled through such depths of gloom,” she remembered. “But the day I trust has gone on our midnight.” Writing to his daughter a week later, Union brigadier general Alpheus S. Williams, whose division fought in portions of the Second Bull Run campaign, likewise lamented the changing course of events. “Instead of hopeful and confident feelings we are all depressed with losses and disasters,” he confessed. “Instead of an offensive position the enemy is now in Maryland and we are on the defensive. What a change!” But for Williams and other Union loyalists, the second loss at Manassas proved more than a setback; it offered a dire warning: “If we fail now” he cautioned his daughter, “the North has no hope, no safety that I can see. We have thrown away our power and prestige. We may become the supplicant instead of the avenger.