A Return to Bull Run: Where the Stakes Rose and the Cost Deepened
Union and Confederate forces clashed once more near Virginia’s Bull Run stream on August 28, 1862—thirteen months after they had first met on the same battlefield. But there was no repetition in the Second Battle of Bull Run. The soldiers were more experienced, the tactics more sophisticated, and the stakes higher. What started out as a tumultuous volunteer battle in 1861 had developed into a highly skilled campaign led by generals who were now familiar with the terrain, the adversary, and the terrible results of failure. A critical turning point came with the fierce engagement at Brawner’s Farm on the evening of August 28, which marked the opening clash of a multi-day battle. The Confederacy’s resounding victory pushed the war closer to Maryland and made the North confront the war’s actual scope and length.
Stonewall Jackson’s Confederate forces launched their initial attack on the railroads in the days before the battle, rather than on the battlefield itself. By demolishing supply depots and tracks along the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, Jackson severed General Pope’s lifeline and triggered a disorganized Union troop repositioning. This conflict was shaped as much by sabotage and deception as by well-practiced military strategies. Before a single shot was fired at Brawner’s Farm, the campaign was already engineered to control the terrain, the timing, and the terms of engagement.
Image: Union soldiers at the wreckage of the Orange & Alexandria Railroad at the time of the Second Battle of Bull Run.
“Passing northward along the coast, he (Henry Hudson) on August 28, 1609 entered a “great bay with rivers,” Delaware Bay, and anchored there. Presently he stood out to sea again, and ran northward along the low sandy coast of what is now New Jersey…”
From: Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664 https://archive.org/details/narrativesofnewn0008jame/page/13/mode/1up?q=Delaware&view=theater
by John Franklin Jameson published in 1909
Image of Henry Hudson via NYPL Digital Collections, no known restrictions
On August 28, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Max Weber of the 20th New York Infantry Regiment who on August 28, 1861 led Union forces who were on shore during the Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries.
While attempting to take possession of Fort Hatteras, Weber and other federal forces came under fire from their own Union ships who hadn’t realized that the Confederates already vacated the fort.
This image of Max Weber with his arm in a sling was taken after he was injured during the Battle of Antietam in 1862.
Image via LOC, no known restrictions
On August 28, 1907 “The American Messenger Company” was founded in Seattle, Washington.
Later the business changed its name to “United Parcel Service.”
Image: UPS Model T Ford delivery vehicle in 1921 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
President Kennedy and his brothers. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Senator Edward Moore Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy. White House, Outside of Oval Office.
August 28, 1963
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Snow Arch, Tuckerman’s Ravine, Mt. Washington in New Hampshire
August 28, 1861
Image via NYPL, public domain
On August 28, 1922 the first radio commercial aired on WEAF in New York City.
The commercial promoted apartments in Queens, N.Y.
Image of two women listening to the radio c. 1922 via Wikimedia Commons, no known restrictions
American actress known for her role as Helen Willis in the TV show The Jeffersons, Roxie Roker was born on August 28, 1929 in Miami, Florida.
She is also the mother of Lenny Kravitz.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
American actor Ben Gazzara was born on August 28, 1930 in New York City.
In addition to his many film appearances, Ben Gazzara also starred in a number of television productions, most notably the 1960s drama Run for Your Life, which earned him multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. His television work spanned decades, including guest roles on Law & Order: SVU and an Emmy-winning performance in HBO’s Hysterical Blindness.
Oh, and he also played the role of Jackie Treehorn, the smooth-talking, Malibu power broker in The Big Lebowski.
On August 28, 1830 Peter Cooper’s Tom Thumb, the first steam locomotive in America, was tested by Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
Image of a replica of the Tom Thumb in 1927 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Two WAVES and a sailor aboard USS Uhlman (DD-687) at Terminal Island, California
August 28, 1950
from Los Angeles Times
via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
August 28, 1774 Elizabeth Ann Seton was born in New York City. She became the first native born American to be canonized a saint by the Catholic Church.
Image: Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton in 1797 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
One of the earliest images of a tornado taken 22 miles southwest of Howard, South Dakota on August 28, 1884
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On August 28, 1975, the single “Walk This Way” by Aerosmith was released.
Image of Aerosmith performing on stage in Indiana in 1975 via Alamy
On August 28, 1867 Captain of the USS Lackawanna, William Reynolds of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, claims the Midway Islands in the Pacific for The United States.
He was the brother of Major General John F. Reynolds who was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg.
William is buried next to his brother John in Lancaster.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
