2. II.
At dawn Stuart was again in the saddle, pressing forward
upon the retiring enemy.
Ewell and Hill had moved unseen to their position on the
Sperryville road, thanks to the stand of Stuart at James City;
and now, for the first time, the enemy seemed to understand the
nature of the blow about to be struck. General Meade had put
his army in motion toward the Rappahannock; and, as the
advance force in our front retired, Stuart pressed them closely.
It is hard to say whether this great soldier was better in falling
back or in advancing. When he retired he was the soul of
stubborn obstinacy. When he advanced he was all fire, dash,
and impetus. He was now following up a retreating enemy,
and he did not allow the grass to grow under his feet.
Below Griffinsburg the rear-guard of the Federal cavalry was
attacked and driven; and Stuart was pushing on, when the presence
of a Federal infantry regiment in the woods to his right
was announced. To this he paid no attention, but drove on,
firing upon their cavalry, and soon the good judgment of this
was shown. The infantry regiment heard the firing, feared
being cut off, and double-quicked toward the rear. They
reached the fields on Stone House Mountain as quickly as Stuart,
moving parallel to his column, and suddenly their line appeared.
I have rarely seen General Stuart more excited. It was a rich
prize, that regiment, and it appeared in his grasp! But, unfortunately,
his column was not “up.” He was leading a mere
advance guard, and that was scattered. Every available staff-officer
and courier was hurried back for the cavalry, and the
“Jefferson Company,” Lieutenant Baylor, got up first, and
charged straight at the flank of the infantry. They were suddenly
halted, formed line of battle, and the bright muskets fell
to a level like a single weapon. The cavalry company received
the fire at thirty yards, but pressed on, and would doubtless have
ridden over the infantry, now scattering in great disorder, but
for an impassable ditch. Before they could make a detour to
avoid it, the Federal infantry had scattered, “every man for himself,”
in the woods, dropping guns, knapsacks, and blankets.
The huge camps at Stone House Mountain, as afterwards
around Culpeper Court House, were a sort of “Arabian Nights”
of wonder to the gray people. The troops had fixed themselves
in the most admirable manner to defy the coming winter.
Excellent stone chimneys, of every form; cabins, stoves, tables,
magazines, books, wine and rum-bottles (empty), oil-cloths,
coats, shoes, arms—everything was scattered about.
Harpers'
Magazine seemed to be a favourite; and full files of papers
might have been collected in the deserted cabins. From this
abode of the
dolce far niente the rude hand of war, in the shape
of Stuart's cavalry, had pushed them.
Stuart continued to press the enemy toward the Court-House;
and there their cavalry had made a stand. As to the infantry, it
was nowhere visible in the immense camps around the place—
those camps which contained, like the first, only rubbish. Not a
wagon, ambulance, or piece of artillery, I believe, was captured.
General Meade had swept clean. There were even very few
empty boxes.
On “Cumberland George's” hill, the Federal artillery fought
hard for a time, inflicting some loss; but Gordon was sent round
by the Rixeyville Road to the left; Stuart advanced in front;
and the enemy fell back toward Brandy. The reader will remember
that General Fitz Lee had been left on the Lower Rapidan
to repulse any assault in that direction, and the expected assault
had been made. I think it was General Buford who attacked
him; but the attack was unsuccessful, and as the enemy fell back
Fitz Lee pressed forward on the track of the retreating column
toward Brandy. We now heard the thunder of his guns upon
the right as he pushed on toward the Rappahannock, and everything
seemed to be concentrating in the neighbourhood of Fleetwood
Hill, the scene of the sanguinary conflict of the 9th of June
preceding. There the great struggle, in fact, took place—Stuart
pressing the main column on their line of retreat from above,
General Fitz Lee pushing as vigorously after the strong force
which had fallen back from the Rappahannock. As it is not
the design of the writer to attempt any “battle pictures” in this
discursive sketch, he omits a detailed account of the hard fight
which followed. It was among the heaviest of the war, and for
a time nothing was seen but dust, smoke, and confused masses
reeling to and fro; nothing was heard but shouts, cheers, yells,
and orders, mixed with the quick bang of carbines and the clash
of sabres—above all, and the continuous thunder of the artillery.
It was as “mixed up” as any fight of the war, and at one time
General Stuart, with Colonel Peyton, of General Lee's staff, and
one or two other officers, found himself cut off by the enemy.
He got out, joined his column to Fitz Lee's, and charging the
Federal forces, cavalry and infantry—the latter being drawn up
on Fleetwood Hill—pressed them back to the Rappahannock,
which they hastened to cross. General Meade had thus retreated
from Culpeper, but it was the “cleanest” retreat on record, as
far as the present writer's observation extended. He imitated it
in December at Mine Run.
General Lee had meanwhile advanced with his infantry toward
Warrenton Springs, still aiming to cut General Meade off from
Manassas. On the next day commenced the trial of skill
between the two commanders. General Meade's cavalry had
been so rudely hustled by Stuart, and the cordon placed by the
latter along the Rappahannock was so effective, that the Federal
commander was absolutely in the dark as to his great adversary's
position and designs. On the afternoon of this—next—day, therefore,
a Federal force consisting of a corps of infantry and two
brigades of cavalry, was moved across the Rappahannock where
the Orange railway crosses it, and this force pushed straight
toward the Court-House. The design was evidently to ascertain
if General Lee was in that vicinity, and the column rapidly advanced.
Near Brandy it encountered what seemed to be Stuart's
entire cavalry. At various openings in the woods the heads of
different columns were seen, calmly awaiting an attack, and the
Federal infantry and cavalry speedily formed line of battle, prepared
for vigorous engagement. They would scarcely have
given themselves so much trouble if they had known that the
entire force in their front consisted of about one hundred and eighty
men, with one gun under Colonel Rosser, as a sort of grand
picket guard. He had arranged detachments of eight or ten men
as above indicated, at openings in the woods, to produce the impression
of several heavy columns; and it was not until they attacked
him that they discovered the ruse. The attack once made,
all further concealment was impossible. Rosser's one hundred
and eighty men, and single piece of artillery, were rapidly driven
back by the enemy; and his gun was now roaring from the high
ground just below the Court House, when the clatter of hoofs
was heard upon the streets of the village. It was the gay and
gallant P. M. B. Young, of Georgia, who had been left with his
brigade near James City, and now came to Rosser's assistance.
Young passed through the Court-House at a trot, hastened to
the scene of action, and, dismounting his entire brigade, deployed
them as sharpshooters, and made a sudden and determined
attack upon the enemy. This vigorous movement seems to have
completely deceived them. Night was now falling; they could
not make out the numbers or character of Young's force; and
an attack as bold as his must surely proceed from a heavy force
of infantry! Was General Lee still at the place, with one of his
corps d'armee? If this idea entered the minds of the enemy, it
must have been encouraged by Young's next move. He had
held his ground without flinching; and now, as night descended,
he ordered camp fires to be built along two miles of front, and
bringing up his splendid brass band, played the “Bonnie Blue
Flag” and “Dixie” with defiant animation. This ruse seemed
to decide the matter; the Federal commander made no further
effort to advance; and in the morning there was not a Federal
soldier on the south bank of the Rappahannock. Their corps
of infantry and two brigades of cavalry had “fallen back in
good order:” and the laughing Young remained master of the
situation.
Stuart had pushed on, meanwhile, toward Warrenton Springs,
and just as the fight above described commenced, a gallant affair
took place above. The enemy were attacked in the town of Jeffersonton,
and after a hot fight forced back to Warrenton
Springs, where the Jefferson Company again distinguished itself.
The attempt was made to charge over the bridge, in face of the
enemy's fire. In the middle of the structure the column suddenly
recoiled, and retreated. The cause of this movement was
soon discovered. Several of the planks had been torn up in the
flooring of the bridge, and to eross was impossible. The Jefferson
Company, however, did not abandon their work. They galloped
to the ford, Stuart placed himself at their head, and, in the
face of a heavy and determined fire from a double line of Federal
sharpshooters, they charged across. The Federal force gave
way before them, and crossing his whole column Stuart pushed
on upon the track of the enemy toward Warrenton, followed by
the infantry, who had witnessed the feats of their cavalry breth
ren with all the satisfaction of “outside spectators.”
In Jeffersonton and at Warrenton Springs many brave fellows
had fallen, and sad scenes were presented. Lieutenant Chew
had fought from house to house in the first named place, and in
a mansion of the village this gallant officer lay dying, with a bullet
through his breast. At Mr. M—'s, near the river, young
Marshall, of Fauquier, a descendant of the Chief Justice, was
lying on a table, covered with a sheet—dead, with a huge, bloody
hole in the centre of his pale forehead; while in a bed opposite
lay a wounded Federal officer. In the fields around were dead
men, dead horses, and abandoned arms.
The army pushed on to Warrenton, the cavalry still in
advance, and on the evening of the next day Stuart rapidly
advanced with his column to reconnoitre toward Catlett's Station,
the scene of his great raid in August, 1862, when he captured
General Pope's coat and official papers. The incident which followed
was one of the most curious of the war.
