om Harper's Ferry to Staunton, Va., stretches a part of the Blue Ridge
mountains that played a conspicuous part in the war.

The mountain is impassable for armies except through the gaps that occur
every twenty to thirty miles. These gaps were always closely guarded by
the Confederates, and through them the armies frequently marched and
counter-marched as occasion required.

If Jackson needed reinforcements in the valley, they were sent to him
through one of these gaps; and on the other hand, if the armies
defending Richmond needed reinforcements, it was Jackson's custom to
give the enemy a stinging blow and send him in full retreat down the
valley toward Washington, then cross through one of these gaps with a
portion of his army and reinforce the armies defending Richmond.

When the armies fell back from Winchester my company of cavalry was left
to guard the Bluemount gap, then called Snickersville. A little later
the gap was abandoned, and we were ordered to Ashby's gap, farther up
the valley, where we encamped near the little town of Paris, at the foot
of the mountain, and put out our pickets on the east side of the
mountain below Upperville on the pike that leads through Middleburg and
on to Alexandria, Va., just under the shadow of the capital of the
Northern nation, I will call it.

One day our pickets reported "the enemy's cavalry advancing up the pike
toward Upperville." Our captain (Bruce Gibson) ordered the bugle
sounded, and 90 to 100 men were soon in the saddle and on the march to
meet the enemy.

It was four miles to Upperville, and as we approached the town we could
distinctly see the enemy's cavalry filling the streets.

We halted at a point just opposite the home of our captain (where the
family were on the porch watching the movements of both sides). Many of
the men of the company lived in that neighborhood. It was eight miles
from my home, hence this was no place to show the "white feather."

I was riding a fiery young mare. She was never satisfied unless she was
a little ahead. She had a mouth that no bit could hold.

The captain ordered us to move forward, and as we approached the town,
four abreast, our speed was increased to a trot, then to a gallop.

To the best of my recollection my position was about the middle of the
command, but in spite of my tugging at the bit, my young steed carried
me up to the front, and when we got close enough to the enemy to see the
whites of their eyes, I was