Decisions at Second Manassas

Many consider the Battle of Chancellorsville to be Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s greatest offensive operation. However, the Battle of Second Manassas may be even more significant. Lee’s victory at Chancellorsville resulted in the status quo. His success at Second Manassas moved the center of the war in the east from Richmond to just outside Washington, DC, and set the stage for Lee’s first incursion onto Northern soil.

Decisions at Second Manassas introduces readers to critical decisions made by Confederate and Union commanders. Matt Spruill III and Matt Spruill IV examine the decisions that shaped the way the campaign and battle unfolded. Rather than offering a history of the Battle of Second Manassas, the Spruills focus on the critical decisions, those decisions that had a major impact on both Federal and Confederate forces in shaping the progression of the battle as we know it today. This account is designed to present the reader with a coherent and manageable blueprint of the battle’s development. Exploring and studying the critical decisions allows the reader to progress from an understanding of “what happened” to “why events happened” as they did.