Opening Manassas: The Iron Brigade, Stonewall Jackson, and the Battle on Brawners Farm, August 28, 1862 [Hardcover]

This thoroughly researched, very readable book offers a different approach to narratives of campaigns and battles, and contains details of three engagements - Kettle Run, Thoroughfare Gap and Brawner's Farm - that could become scenarios. Recommended for any wargamers interested in the American Civil War.  Miniature WargamesIn the fading light of August 28, 1862, an untested Union brigade of Wisconsin and Indiana men fought an unexpected 90-minute stand-up clash with the Confederate veterans of Stonewall Jackson on the Virginia farm fields of John Brawner. The Rebels recalled a Wisconsin man that day yelling like demons [in] a roaring hell of fire. Despite its fascinating origins and far-reaching consequences, surprisingly little has been penned about this remarkable engagement. Opening Manassas: The Iron Brigade, Stonewall Jackson, and the Battle on Brawners Farm, August 28, 1862, rectifies this oversight in the first full-length balanced study of the affair ever published.In August 1862, Robert E. Lee struck north to carry the war away from Richmond. His opponent at the head of the recently constructed Army of Virginia, Maj. Gen. John Pope, was new to the theater and had just suffered a bloody awakening at Cedar Mountain on August 9. Thomas Stonewall Jacksons wing marched first, swinging behind Pope and destroying the massive Union supply depot at Manassas Junction. The stunning move shocked the Union high command. Pope withdrew from his defensive line along the Rappahannock determined to find and eradicate the Confederates. First he had to find them. Unbeknownst to Pope, Jackson had deployed his men in a strong wooded defensive position along an abandoned railroad cut. All Old Jack needed was a reason to sally forth and strike an unsuspecting piece of Popes scattered army. That opportunity presented itself on the afternoon of August 28 when the Western men, soon to be known as the Iron Brigade, marched along the Warrenton Pike, unaware that danger lurkedl4