Before Being Bolstered, Robert E. Lee Hoped To Deploy His Entire Army Against Newly Appointed Union Commander John Pope

Pope marched his army toward the Gordonville, Virginia, rail connection while Lee sent a different force led by "Stonewall" Jackson to defeat Pope's army before McClellan could reinforce him. Lee kept his position opposite General George B. McClellan. Pope dispersed his troops along the Rapidan River, giving Jackson a chance to attack the dispersed Union columns. Pope had just enough time to dispatch troops under General Franz Sigel to join General Nathaniel Banks at Cedar Mountain, but the severe heat, Jackson's own concealment, and misunderstanding among his subordinate generals slowed Confederate progress.

In response to Pope's orders, General Robert E. Lee sent Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson and 14,000 soldiers to Gordonsville on July 13. On July 27, Jackson was subsequently bolstered by Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill's division with an additional 10,000 soldiers. Before the Army of the Potomac could bolster Pope's Army of Virginia, Lee wanted to have Jackson attack them. In an effort to divert Confederate attention from Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's retreat from the Virginia Peninsula, Pope marched his men southward into Culpeper County on August 6 with the goal of seizing the rail junction at Gordonsville.

Jackson decided to assault Pope's vanguard under Banks in reaction to this threat before the entire Army of Virginia could be deployed against his position at Gordonsville. He wanted to proceed on Culpeper Court House, 26 miles (42 km) north of Gordonsville and the center of the Union arc about Northern Virginia, after beating Banks in order to prevent Pope's army from coming together. As he had done during the Valley Campaign, this would enable Jackson to engage each of the Union Corps individually and, perhaps, defeat them.