In the hot summer of 1862 in the Northern Virginia piedmont region, Union General John Pope took command of scattered Yankee forces guarding Washington, D.C. The boastful Pope soon adopted an offensive strategy against the opposing Confederate Army. Learn from Museum educator John Maass how Pope’s command fared on the battlefields around Manassas, fighting against two of the South’s best generals.

 

John R. Maass is a historian and educator at the National Museum of the U.S. Army. He received a BA in history from Washington & Lee University, and a PhD in early U.S. history from the Ohio State University. He served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve (80th Division). His most recent book is “The Battles of Spencer’s Ordinary and Green Spring, 1781” (2025).

 

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Register for IN-PERSON Battle Brief on August 11 here