and moved toward a wood upon our
right. I was satisfied that I could check pursuit when there, and that
some sort of trace led thence over the mountain to Saltville.

The enemy did not pursue vigorously, and soon halted. Only one shot was
fired, and that by one of my pickets, who killed his man. No one in my
detachment knew the country, but a citizen guided us over an almost
impracticable route to the road which enters Saltville by Lyon's gap.

Learning that the enemy had crossed at Seven Mile ford and gone on
toward Wytheville, General Breckinridge determined to follow. He wished
to harass him, and prevent, as well as he could with the limited force
at his command, the waste and destruction, which was the object of the
raid. He accordingly marched out from Saltville on the night of the
16th, with eight hundred men, leaving the reserves and the men belonging
to the cavalry whose horses were unserviceable. The enemy captured
Wytheville without firing a shot, as there was no one there to fire at,
but defeated a detachment of Vaughan's command not far from the town,
taking and destroying the artillery which was attached to that brigade.
A detachment also took and did serious damage to the lead mines.

On the 17th, Colonel Wycher, who had been sent in advance of the column
commanded by General Breckinridge, attacked a body of the enemy near
Marion, and drove it to Mt. Airy, eight miles from Wytheville, General
Breckinridge pressed on to support him, and when we reached Marion we
found Wycher coming back, closely pursued by a much stronger party of
the enemy. Cosby's brigade, which was in the front of our column, at
once attacked, and the whole command having been deployed and moved up,
the enemy were easily driven back across the creek, two miles beyond
Wytheville. Giltner and Cosby halted without crossing the creek. My
brigade crossed and pressed the Federals back some distance further on
the right of our line of advance. Night coming on I took a position on a
commanding ridge, which stretches from the creek in a southeasterly
direction. My left flank rested near the ford at which we had crossed,
and my line was at an obtuse angle with that of the other brigades,
which had not crossed, and inclining toward the position of the enemy.
During the night I kept my men in line of battle.

On the next morning, it became soon evident that Stoneman's entire
force, or very nearly all of it, had arrived during the night and was
c