Pope's Escape

By John W. Lamb

Subscribe Today

• Did you enjoy our article?
• Read more in America's Civil War magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!
 

While Robert E. Lee’s entire army massed behind Clark’s Mountain to attack the Union Army of Virginia, a daring Yankee spy swam the Rapidan River to warn Maj. Gen. John Pope of the imminent danger. It was, said one military historian, ‘the timeliest single product of espionage’ in the entire war.

Early morning on August 18, 1862, found Major General J.E.B. Stuart and his staff resting fitfully on the front porch and lawn of a house in the tiny community of Verdiersville, Virginia. They had spent the night there waiting for Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry to arrive so that an attack on nearby Union forces could begin. Stuart was no doubt irritated by Lee’s tardiness–perhaps he was planning how he would greet Lee when he finally arrived.

When Stuart and his party made camp the night before, they could find no trace of Lee, who had been directed to have his troops in the area by that time. Residents had seen no cavalry, and Stuart and his men had settled in to wait. During the night, Stuart had sent his adjutant general, Major Norman Fitzhugh, to find Lee’s cavalry and hurry them on.

As Stuart lay on the porch in the early morning light, a group of cavalrymen approached. Thinking it was Lee’s force, he sent out two officers to greet them. In short order shots were fired, and the officers dashed back with the 5th New York and 1st Michigan Cavalry regiments close on their heels.

Leaving his coat, haversack and hat behind, Stuart ran to his horse and, along with his staff, scattered into nearby woods. The Union troopers broke off the pursuit, stopped to gather what they could at the house, including Stuart’s famous hat, and then rode back to the Union lines. Accompanying the Federals was Norman Fitzhugh, whom they had captured the night before. After reaching Union lines, they dispatched Fitzhugh and Stuart’s bag to Maj. Gen. John Pope, who, upon seeing a letter Fitzhugh was carrying that detailed Robert E. Lee’s plan of battle, decided to pull back his forces in time to save them from a crushing defeat. Anyway, that’s the oft-repeated story.

In truth, the captured letter had nothing to do with Pope’s decision to withdraw. At the earliest, the letter arrived in midafternoon on the 18th, long after the
decision had been made. Rather than luck, it was systematic intelligence gathering that saved Pope’s army and allowed it to escape the trap that Lee had set at Clark’s Mountain.

In the wake of the disastrous Battle of Cedar Mountain on August 9, 1862, Pope had taken up what he thought was a strong position in the triangle formed on the left by the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, on the right by the Rappahannock River and at the bottom by the Rapidan River. While awaiting reinforcements and pondering a move on Richmond, Pope separated his forces, positioning Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel’s division at the foot of Cedar Mountain, Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell’s division north of Rapidan Station, Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks’ division near Culpeper and Brig. Gen. Jesse Reno’s division near Raccoon Ford.

In doing so, Pope unwittingly presented Robert E. Lee with an unparalleled opportunity to crush his army. On August 15, Lee met with his corps commanders, Maj. Gens. James Longstreet and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, at Gordonsville and developed a plan to take full advantage of Pope’s bad planning. Using Clark’s Mountain as a screen, Lee would bring his infantry into place on the southern side of the mountain by August 17. In addition to blocking Pope’s view of his approach, Clark’s Mountain provided a perfect location for Jackson’s signal corps to observe Union positions north of the Rapidan. Once the infantry was in place, Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry would cross the river at Raccoon Ford early on August 18 and burn the key railroad bridge over the Rappahannock River at Rappahannock Station, cutting Pope’s only supply line. After the bridge was destroyed, the infantry would ford the Rapidan, smash into the exposed left flank of the Union line, trap the Federals between the two rivers without supplies and dispose of them at will.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to