enemy made no effort to take my position by assault.' It was
probably about this time that the rebel General Ewell is reported with
his glass to have descried General Milroy in the lookout, which had been
constructed some distance up the flagstaff of the main fort, and to have
exclaimed, 'There's that d--d old Milroy, who would stop and fight, if
the d--l himself was after him.'

With the exception of the loss of Battery L, which was wholly
attributable to the imperfect reconnaissance or the false report of
Captain Morgan, who commanded the reconnoitring party, the advantage in
the fighting, both on Saturday and Sunday, had all been with our forces;
and there can be little doubt that the enemy would have suffered
severely in any attempt to take the forts by assault.

But it was now apparent that the only alternatives were an evacuation or
a surrender. A council of war was ordered by the commanding general, and
the three brigade commanders, Brigadier-General Elliott, 1st brigade;
Colonel Ely, of the 18th Connecticut, 2d brigade; and Colonel
McReynolds, of the 1st New York Cavalry, 3d brigade, were called into
consultation. The critical condition of the command was perfectly
understood. In pursuance of orders previously received, which looked to
the early evacuation of the place, most of the stores had been sent
away. The communication with Martinsburg, from which supplies had been
obtained always in a few hours, had been cut off; and it now appeared
that the stock of ammunition had been very nearly expended, and the men
were already on half rations. It was therefore resolved to retreat from
the forts at one o'clock in the morning (of Monday 15th June),
abandoning everything except the horses, and such supply of ammunition
as each man could take upon the march. There was some question as to the
feasibility of taking the field artillery; but as the enemy's pickets
were within two or three hundred yards of the rifle pits, and as the
forts were located on a rocky ridge, which could not well have been
descended by the guns without arousing the enemy, it was finally
determined to spike and leave them.

The fortifications had been constructed on the ridge, extending
northwest from the town; and the guns in position commanded the
Martinsburg road to the extent of their range. Probably on this account
the enemy had not made his appearance in that direction; and this road,
therefore, seemed to offer the only means of escape. Th