d their
general-in-chief, which, so long as Lee remained in Maryland, had
been allayed, once more asserted its baneful influence; and the
aggressive attitude of the Confederates did not serve to make matters
smoother. Although the greater part of October was for the Army of
Northern Virginia a period of unusual leisure, the troops were not
altogether idle. As soon as the stragglers had been brought in, and
the ranks of the divisions once more presented a respectable
appearance, various enterprises were undertaken. The Second Army
Corps was entrusted with the destruction of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railway, a duty carried out by Jackson with characteristic
thoroughness. The line from Harper's Ferry to Winchester, as well as
that from Manassas Junction to Strasburg, were also torn up; and the
spoils of the late campaign were sent south to Richmond and Staunton.
These preparations for defensive warfare were not, however, so
immediately embarrassing to the enemy as the action of the cavalry.
Stuart's three brigades, after the affair at Boteler's Ford, picketed
the line of the Potomac from the North Mountain to the Shenandoah, a
distance of forty miles: Hampton's brigade at Hedgesville, Fitzhugh
Lee's at Shepherdstown, Munford's at Charlestown, and headquarters
near Leetown.

On October 8 General Lee, suspecting that McClellan was meditating
some movement, ordered the cavalry to cross the Potomac and
reconnoitre.

October 9.

Selecting 600 men from each of his brigades, with General Hampton,
Colonels W. H. F. Lee and W. E. Jones in command, and accompanied by
four horse-artillery guns, Stuart rendezvoused on the night of the
9th at Darkesville. As the day dawned he crossed the Potomac at
McCoy's Ford, drove in the Federal pickets, and broke up a signal
station near Fairview.

October 10.

Marching due north, he reached Mercersburg at noon, and Chambersburg,
forty-six miles from Darkesville, at 7 P.M. on October 10.
Chambersburg, although a Federal supply depot of some importance, was
without a garrison, and here 275 sick and wounded were paroled, 500
horses requisitioned, the wires cut, and the railroad obstructed;
while the machine shops, several trains of loaded cars, and a large
quantity of small arms, ammunition, and clothing was destroyed.

October 11.

At nine the next morning the force marched in the direction of
Gettysburg, moving round the Federal rear.

October 12.

Then, crossing the mountains, it tur