Manassas National Battlefield Park is a unit of the National Park Service located in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, north of Manassas. The park preserves the site of two major American Civil War battles: the First Battle of Bull Run, also called the Battle of First Manassas, and the Second Battle of Bull Run, or Battle of Second Manassas. This was where Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson acquired his nickname "Stonewall". The park was established in 1936 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
More than 700,000 people visit the battlefield each year. The Henry Hill Visitor Center, on Sudley Road by the south entrance to the park, offers exhibits and interpretation regarding the First Battle of Bull Run, including Civil War-era uniforms, weapons, field gear and an electronic battle map. The center offers the orientation film Manassas: End of Innocence, as well as a bookstore.
A find in 2014 unearthed bone fragments that led to the discovery of the skeletal remains of two Union soldiers in what is now thought to be a surgeon's pit. The remains were found among the bones of several other limbs in the pit. Carbon dating shows that the pair died during the Battle of Second Manassas, also known as Second Bull Run, in August 1862. The remains were moved on June 19, 2018, and transferred from the National Park Service to the US Army, which planned to bury them in Arlington National Cemetery.
Stone House – used as a hospital during both battles. It is near the intersection of Sudley Road and Lee Highway (Warrenton Turnpike).
Stone Bridge – which the Union retreated across after Second Bull Run. It crosses just north of Lee Highway (Warrenton Turnpike) at the Fairfax-Prince William Co. line.
Brawner's Farm – the opening phase of the second battle. The parking lot is off Pageland Lane at the western edge of the battlefield. It has been renovated to become a museum dedicated to the Second Battle of Bull Run.
Battery Heights – where Confederate batteries were deployed to fire on the attacking Union troops at nearby Brawner's Farm. It is off Lee Highway (Warrenton Turnpike).
Matthews Hill – the opening phase of the first battle. It is off Sudley Road.
The Unfinished Railroad Grade – where Jackson deployed his men before the second battle, after capturing Pope's supply depot. It is off Featherbed Lane.
The Deep Cut – where Pope launched the bulk of his attacks against the Grade. It is off Featherbed Lane, before reaching the Railroad Grade.
Groveton – an extinct Civil War-era village. All that remains is the small frame house that Lucinda Dogan lived in. A Confederate cemetery is nearby. Both are off Lee Highway (Warrenton Turnpike).
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was the deadliest conflict in American history, killing an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians. The Confederate States of America, formed by eleven seceding Southern states, faced the Union in four years of warfare across 23 states and territories. Major engagements included First and Second Bull Run, Antietam (the bloodiest single day in American history, September 17, 1862), Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), Vicksburg (surrendered July 4, 1863), and Sherman's March through Georgia and the Carolinas (1864–1865). President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, transforming the war's stated purpose to include the abolition of slavery and enabling the enlistment of approximately 180,000 Black men in the United States Colored Troops. Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The war resolved the question of secession and ended American slavery, though Reconstruction would face sustained resistance in its attempt to secure civil rights for formerly enslaved people.
This page covers Manassas Gap Railroad Skirmish. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside historic sites, land records, and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
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