...ge force there, our men were badly cut up, and but for Longstreet's arrival, would have been terribly handled. I was also informed that the army would fall back towards the Potomac that night; that Generals Jackson and McLaws were engaged in an attack upon Harper's Ferry, and Gen. Lee did not think it prudent to engage the whole Yankee force in their absence.--This was the first intimation I had of Jackson's ab...