Manassas Junction
Manassas Junction is a railroad crossing in the north of the US state Virginia . The railroad lines crossing here connect northern Virginia and Washington with Richmond , Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley .
The intersection had some strategic value during the American Civil War . As an important link with Richmond and Washington, it allowed access to the capitals of the warring parties. At the same time, supplies for one of the main theaters of the war, Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley, could be checked from here.
Battles in the American Civil War
In the course of the civil war, two battles were fought for possession of the railroad crossing. In 1861, the First Battle of Manassas took place here (known in the north as the First Battle of Bull Run , named after a small river on the battlefield), the first serious conflict of the war. In August 1862 the Second Battle of Manassas (North: Second Battle of the Bull Run ) took place. The South won both battles, but both times was unable to exploit the victory and permanently occupy Manassas Junction. During the war, the crossroads remained almost continuously in the hands of the northern states ( Union ).
After the war, the city of Manassas emerged here , now a suburb of Washington, DC In 1940 a national park was established to preserve the battlefield as a memorial and to commemorate the numerous fallen on both sides.
Web links
Coordinates: 38 ° 44 ′ 56.1 ″ N , 77 ° 29 ′ 12.7 ″ W.