with him only
the horses and small arms. This involved his leaving also his sick
and wounded, but it was unavoidable. He ordered all the guns
spiked, and the ammunition thrown into the cisterns.

At 1 A.M. on the 15th, he moved silently out through a ravine and
was not molested until he struck the Martinsburg road, about four
miles from the town. There Elliot, who was in the advance with
his brigade, met a rebel skirmish line, and soon ascertained that
their main body were formed, partly on high ground in a woods east
of the road, and partly in an open field east of and adjoining the
woods. The enemy were in effect sheltered by a stone fence which
bordered a railroad cut, with their reserve and artillery principally
posted on elevated ground in the rear.

The only thing to do was to break through their lines as soon as
possible. It was now about 3:30 A.M. Elliot, whose record of
long, careful, and brilliant service in the regular army is an
exemplary one, formed line of battle with his three regiments and
fought the six regiments that held the road for about an hour with
varied success, encountering a severe artillery fire and driving
back their right in disorder by a gallant charge of the 110th Ohio
and 122d Ohio; but unfortunately their left held firm, in spite of
repeated attacks made by Colonel Shawl with two regiments, reinforced
with two more and by part of Colonel Ely's brigade. Their force
in front, too, was sustained by heavy reserves both of infantry
and artillery.

A signal-gun fired at Winchester showed that the enemy there were
aware of the flight and were in full pursuit. The main road being
blocked, Milroy determined to try another, and directed the troops
to fall back a short distance and turn to the right. Part of them
did so, but the greater number, through some misunderstanding,
filed to the left, and took the road to Bath. It was no longer
possible to reunite the two columns and as Milroy's horse was shot
under him about this time, he could use no personal exertions to
remedy the disaster. A portion of the command who were not pursued
reached Harper's Ferry by way of Smithfield late in the afternoon.
Those who moved out on the Bath road also made good their escape,
crossed the Potomac at Hancock, and rallied at Bloody Run. The
greater part of Colonel Ely's brigade, and Colonel McReynolds'
brigade, however, were captured. Milroy claims to have brought
off 5,000 men of the garrison, a