1862 Battle of Bristoe Station, Kettle Run, and Manassas Junction

For many, the battle is best known as the Battle of Kettle Run or the Battle of Manassas Operations. Kettle Run is to the west of the battlefield park. Due to the proximity to the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, Confederate camps in the area of Bristoe Station had sprung up soon after the Battle of First Manassas in the summer of 1861. It was known as Camp Jones.

During August of 1862, Stonewall Jackson had brought his troops back to Bristoe Station, captured the station, as well as the storehouses of food at Manassas Junction. A bloody battle was fought at Kettle Run on August 27, 1862. All of this was a surprise to Union General Pope, who began retreating back from the Rappahannock River to lose to Jackson at Union Mills, with Confederate General Ewell besting Major General Joseph Hooker's Union troops at Kettle Run. Nearly five hundred Union troops were lost; one hundred and seventy three Confederate.

Immediately thereafter, the Confederates marched north toward the railroad cut at the 2nd Battle of Manassas.

Photo above: Cabin used as winter quarters for Union troops, 2022, America's Best History.

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Battle of Bristoe Station 1863

Several months after the Battle of Gettysburg in July, both armies were trying to recouperate. As fall approached, General Lee decided that he would attempt a repeat of his Second Manassas campaign. However, this time, General Meade, now commanding the Union Army, quickly marched his troops toward Centreville. In an effort to gain knowledge of the enemy, General J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry, unfortunately got caught in between two columns of the Union Army, and needed assistance from Ewell's Corps.

There was a problem with that. In between them was the 2nd Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Its leader was General Gouveneur K. Warren. Warren only really wanted to get back to remainder of the Union Army as morning approached on October 14, 1863, however, the small battle of Auburn occurred. In the end, both Ewell and Warren reached their objectives.

This was not the end of the fighting on that day as General A.P. Hill reached Bristoe Station and thought he was in view of the rearguard of the Union Army, but not its main force. General Warren with his 2nd Corps was there as well, behind the railroad embankment. Another race ensued, this time Warren bested General Heth, and sixteen cannons fired into the Confederates charge and forced their retreat. Nearly fourteen hundred Confederates of the seventeen thousand engaged were killed, wounded, or missing. Over five hundred Union troops of the eight thousand soldiers were casualties.

Photo above: Tracks of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad destroyed by Confederates after 1863 Battle of Bristoe Station, 1863, Timothy H. O'Sullivan. Courtesy Library of Congress. Below: Drawing of General Warren fighting at Bristoe Station 1863, 1863, Alfred R. Waud. Courtesy Library of Congress.

After the Battle

For the most part, the second Battle of Bristoe Station in 1863 gained no great advantage to either army. However, the arrival of General Ewell's 2nd Corps did force Warren to retreat to Centreville despite his victory. This movement allowed the Confederates to destroy the railroad, forcing Meade to rebuild it when Federal troops reoccupied the area.

By winter of 1863-4, the Pennsylvania Reserves under General Crawford were headquartered around the Bristoe area. They were to guard the Orange and Alexandria railroad. They destroyed the Davis Farmstead, the remainder of Bristoe Station, and buildings in Brentsville.

Photo above: Hospital of the 3rd Division, 5th Corps, 1864, Stewart L. Bergstresser. Courtesy Library of Congress. Below: Wayside for the Bristoe Station park interpretive trail.

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