Second Manassas Monument at Deep Cut, Manassas National Battlefield Park

SECOND MANASSAS BATTLEFIELD TOUR

STOP 7:  DEEP CUT

Allow 5 minutes to an hour (if hiking the trail)

See the Second Manassas Battlefield Tour web page for a tour map.

GETTING THERE

The Deep Cut parking lot is just down the road from the Unfinished Railroad parking lot on Featherbed Lane.

WHAT TO SEE

From the Deep Cut parking lot, all there is to do is read a wayside exhibit. Unless you are willing to hike the Deep Cut Loop Trail, there is not much reason to stop here.

TRAILS

The Deep Cut Loop Trail starts at the parking lot and circles the area, forming a 1.25-mile loop. There are a few moderate hills to climb, but otherwise it’s an easy hike.

SCHEDULING YOUR TIME

Allow five minutes if you are just stopping at the parking lot to read the wayside exhibit and one hour if you plan to hike the Deep Cut Loop Trail.

EVENTS AT DEEP CUT

By the time fighting ended on August 29^th, Union General John Pope was sure he was just a day away from victory. Pope’s plan for the 30^th was a full frontal attack against Stonewall Jackson that would stretch from near his right flank at Brawner Farm all the way to the area marked by today’s Unfinished Railroad tour stop, an area known as the Deep Cut. Railroad tracks where often on elevated beds of dirt to keep them out of the water in case of flooding. Ditches were dug on either side of the the proposed track route and the dirt was piled in the middle to form the elevated bed. The Deep Cut got its name due to the ditches being dug deeper here than at other areas, thus creating a taller platform—perfect for the Confederates to hide behind.

The attack was to be led by General Fitz John Porter, the man who failed to perform a flank attack on the Confederates the day before, and General John Hatch, who was in command of a division of men. Pope ordered the attack despite the fact that Confederate General James Longstreet’s 30,000 men had arrived and were aligned against a very thin Union left flank positioned south of the Warrenton Turnpike, today’s Highway 29. However, Pope did not believe that all of Longstreet’s men had arrived, and he also still believed that Jackson was planning to retreat.

Minor attacks began early in the day on the 30^th, and those Union troops involved knew that Pope’s assumption of a Jackson retreat was wrong. When informed of the situation, Pope, who now realized the truth, still ordered Porter’s 10,000 men to attack. The men began marching from Groveton around 3 PM. To reach Confederate lines, they had to march a quarter mile through an open field, taking musket and artillery fire the entire way.

The most destructive fire came from the 18 artillery pieces of Longstreet. These were positioned perpendicular to Porter’s marching line of men, which set up a scenario called enfilading fire. When firing head on, shells may fall short or overshoot the target, but when firing from the side you can’t miss.