Battles of Manassas • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments • The Armies
The State of Texas monument is on the Chinn Ridge walking trail, which starts at Stop 10 on the Manassas Battlefield Driving Tour.
Texas monuments, similar in appearance but with different inscriptions, are on a number of Civil War battlefields, including Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Antietam.
The State of Texas monument viewed from the main walking trail. On the left is the monument to Massachusetts Colonel Fletcher Webster, who was mortally wounded in the fighting.
Text from the front of the monument
Texas
Remembers the valor and devotion of her soldiers who participated in the battle of Second Manassas, Virginia – August 28-30, 1862.
On this field Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia won the decisive battle of the Northern Virginia Campaign against Union Maj. Gen. John Pope’s Army of Virginia. Arriving on the second day, August 29th, Confederate Maj. Gen. James Longstreet’s wing took position opposite Pope’s left-flank late that afternoon. Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood’s Texas Brigade saw its first combat of the engagement advancing into the Union line at Groveton. Their position untenable, the Brigade withdrew the following morning. Misinterpreting Confederate maneuvers as a retreat, Gen. Pope ordered another attack on Gen. Stonewall Jackson’s position on August 30th. With the help of Gen. Longstreet’s artillery the Union attack was repulsed. Gen. Longstreet’s five divisions then counterattacked in one of the largest simultaneous mass assaults of the war. Hood’s Texas Brigade led the advance with the entire wing pivoting on the brigade. In the ensuing combat Hood’s Texas Brigade overwhelmed the 5th and 10th New York Zouaves at Groveton and drove off a brigade of Pennsylvania reserves, their efforts climaxed with the capture of Kern’s Pennsylvania Battery. Although the terrain and stubborn Union resistance on Chinn Ridge ultimately broke the tactical integrity of the unit, the Texas Brigade contributed significantly to the collapse of the Union left flank which forced Pope’s retreat that night and opened the way for Lee’s invasion of Maryland.
Erected by the State of Texas 2012
Text from the rear of the monument
The Battle of Second Manassas, VA
Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood’s Brigade
Volunteer Infantry Regiment 4th Texas
Volunteer Infantry Regiment 5th Texas
Volunteer Infantry Regiment 18th Georgia
Volunteer Infantry Regiment Hampton’s Legion, South Carolina
(8 Infantry Companies) Texas units formed the major portion of Hood’s Brigade, thus it was commonly known as the Texas Brigade, but the 18th Georgia, Hampton’s Legion, and later the 3rd Arkansas were integral parts of the brigade. Texas remembers and honors her sons and those of her sister states who fought with them. They sleep the sleep of the brave.
Map and directions to the State of Texas monument at Manassas
The monument is at is on the Chinn Ridge walking trail, which starts at Stop 10 on the Manassas Battlefield Driving Tour. Stop 10 is reached by a park road that turns off Sudley Road (Virginia 234) directly opposite the entrance to the Henry Hill Visitor Center. Although unnamed, the road is clearly marked for Chinn Ridge by National Park signage. From Sudley Road it is about 0.9 mile to the parking area at the end of the road. From the parking area walk 3/10 mile north along the Chinn Ridge Foot Trail. The monument is about 200 feet to the east of the “Death of Fletcher Webster” wayside marker. (38°48’36.1″N 77°31’55.7″W)
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