"Maj. Gen. John Pope, commanding the Army of Virginia, certainly thought the gods of war were smiling on him as the sun broke over the horizon on the morning of August 30, 1862. Most of the intelligence Pope was receiving indicated the Army of Northern Virginia was retreating. Overly confident, Pope not only made little effort to confirm the accuracy of the rosy reports, he chose to ignore all reports to the contrary. In fact, the reports were wrong. General Robert E. Lee was shifting troops and consolidating his battle line, but he was not retreating.
Across the fields, bloodied the previous day during a series of determined but uncoordinated Union assaults against Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's position along an uncompleted and abandoned railroad cut, Robert E. Lee held a council of war. Lee, certain that Pope would renew the battle, was puzzled by the lack of activity observed along the Federal lines. The Southern commander would wait, but he planned to carry the fight to the Federals if Pope dithered too long. Until such time as Lee launched an attack, Maj. Gen. James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart was ordered to protect the army's flanks with his cavalry; Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee secured the left or northern flank of the army while Brig. Gen. Beverly Robertson held the southern or right flank.
About noon Pope ordered his army to pursue, what he maintained was, a retreating army. Within minutes, however, the rising intensity of the fighting along the line finally convinced Pope that the Army of Northern Virginia had not surrendered the field. Further, Pope began receiving reports that Maj. Gen. James Longstreet was massing his wing of the army against the southern end of the Union line…"
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