A Narrow Escape

A Narrow Escape (HM2NAK)

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N 38° 42.457', W 77° 33.893'

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Engagement at Kettle Run

— Second Manassas Campaign —

In August 1862, Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson led his command around Union Gen. John Pope's right flank to cut Federal communication lines and pave the way for the rest of Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia to follow from the Rappahannock River. At sunset on August 26, Jackson occupied Bristoe Station on the Orange & Alexandria (O&A) Railroad just east of here to intercept and destroy Union supply trains headed to Alexandria. Jackson ordered Gen. Richard S. Ewell to destroy the O&A bridge over Kettle Run to slow Pope's advance from the south.

Pope ordered Capt. Harman Bliss and the 72nd New York Infantry (3rd Excelsior) to board a train at Warrenton Junction and head toward Bristoe Station. Bliss stopped the train short of Kettle Run well before dawn the next morning and marched across to see flaming wreckage at the station. He withdrew across the run after some skirmishing and prepared to make a stand to save the bridge. When he saw a large force of Confederate advancing, however, he boarded his men as two shots from an artillery piece ricocheted near the locomotive and ordered the engineer to withdraw. Just then, Capt. G. Campbell Brown, Ewell's stepson and staff member, spurred his horse in pursuit. Brown fired three errant shots as Bliss and his men made good their escape to Warrenton Junction,

where they arrived before 5 A.M. Ewell destroyed the bridge, which delayed Union troops and supplies and contributed to Pope's defeat at the Second Battle of Manassas.

"I got alongside the Engine and order the Driver to halt—but he only went the faster. I fired at him three shots ... but had the mortification to see him get off unhurt."
— Capt. G. Campbell Brown

Details

HM Number	HM2NAK
Series	This marker is part of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad series, and the Virginia Civil War Trails series.
Tags	US Civil War, Railroads and Streetcars, Bridges and Viaducts
Placed By	Virginia Civil War Trails
Marker Condition	No reports yet
Date Added	Sunday, December 1st, 2019 at 7:02am PST -08:00

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Locationbig map

UTM (WGS84 Datum)	18S E 276974 N 4287454
Decimal Degrees	38.70761667, -77.56488333
Degrees and Decimal Minutes	N 38° 42.457', W 77° 33.893'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds	38° 42' 27.42" N, 77° 33' 53.58" W
Driving Directions	Google Maps
Which side of the road?	Marker is on the right when traveling South
Closest Postal Address	At or near , ,
Alternative Maps	Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap