troops, and had acquired ample information of the
measures which had been taken to protect the right wing, north of the
Chickahominy, the point he had determined to attack.

June 12.

Early on June 12, with 1200 horsemen and a section of artillery,
Stuart rode out on an enterprise of a kind which at that time was
absolutely unique, and which will keep his memory green so long as
cavalry is used in war. Carefully concealing his march, be encamped
that night near Taylorsville, twenty-two miles north of Richmond, and
far beyond the flank of the Federal intrenchments.

June 13.

The next morning he turned eastward towards Hanover Court House. Here
he drove back a picket, and his advanced guard, with the loss of one
officer, soon afterwards charged down a squadron of regulars. A few
miles to the south-east, near Old Church, the enemy's outposts were
finally dispersed; and then, instead of halting, the column pushed on
into the very heart of the district occupied by the Federals, and
soon found itself in rear of their encampments. Stuart had already
gained important information. He had learned that McClellan's right
flank extended but a short way north of the Chickahominy, that it was
not fortified, and that it rested on neither swamp nor stream, and
this was what Lee had instructed him to discover. But it was one
thing to obtain the information, another to bring it back. If he
returned by the road he had come, it was probable he would be cut
off, for the enemy was thoroughly roused, and the South Anna River,
unfordable from recent rains, rendered a detour to the north
impracticable. To the mouth and west of him lay the Federal army,
some of the infantry camps not five miles distant. It was about four
o'clock in the afternoon. He could hardly reach Hanover Court House
before dark, and he might find it held by the enemy. To escape from
the dilemma he determined on a plan of extraordinary daring, which
involved nothing less than the passage of the Chickahominy in rear of
the enemy, and a circuit of the entire Federal army.

The audacity of the design proved the salvation of his command. The
enemy had assembled a strong force of both cavalry and infantry at
Hanover Court House, under Stuart's father-in-law, General Cooke;
but, misled by the reports brought in, and doubtless perplexed by the
situation, the latter pursued but slowly and halted for the night at
Old Church. Stuart, meanwhile, had reached Tunstall's Station on