Second Battle of Bull Run

During the Northern Virginia Campaign, Robert E. Lee divided his army and sent Thomas J. Jackson around the Union flank to seize supplies at Manassas. John Pope concentrated the Army of Virginia against Jackson, believing that the isolated Confederate force could be destroyed before reinforcements arrived.

From 28 to 30 August 1862, repeated Union attacks struck Jackson’s position along an unfinished railway. James Longstreet’s wing then launched a powerful counterattack, forcing Pope’s army to retreat towards Washington after one of the Confederacy’s most decisive victories in the eastern theatre.

This context supports fiction about the Northern Virginia Campaign, battlefield command, regimental colours and the rivalry between officers. Battle Flag places Starbuck and the Faulconer Legion within the fighting at Second Manassas.