How did General Pope manage to convince himself that Jackson's forces advancing on his flank were in fact retreating at the Second Battle of Manassas?

Answer 1

Lee had split his forces, and Pope hoped to get between Lee and Jackson and destroy them piecemeal. But Jackson was too quick for him. He chased Jackson all over Northern Virginia, with Jackson always "retreating" and being gone when Pope got there. But then Jackson was ready to occupy Pope while Lee closed in, and so he advanced. Pope had no clue that anything had changed until he found himself engaged. Overconfidence and wishful thinking may have played a part, too, as it did with General Hooker at Chancellorsville.

Jackson made his stand behind an old railroad cut, where he held Pope off until Longstreet's corps stole up on his flank, who hit Pope like a thunderbolt, rolling his forces up.

Answer 2

Prior to the US Civil War Battle of the Second Bull Run, Major General Pope was not facing the retreating Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. Pope's frontal assault against Jackson failed because Pope was facing veteran Rebel troops and the superior general, Stonewall Jackson, who fought off Pope's army from a tactical defensive position.