Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 2.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

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[545] the right bank of the Monocacy. Night overtook him when he was within a few kilometres of Frederick; then, bearing suddenly to the left, he crossed the water-course, and continuing his march toward Monrovia, he eluded the Federals, who were looking out for him at Frederick. In the mean time, Pleasanton had hastened to Mechanicsville, but only to learn that the enemy had passed eight kilometres east of this village an hour before. Burnside had also sent a detachment of troops to Frederick; but these troops had halted in that town, instead of pushing eastward as far as the valley of the Monocacy, where they would undoubtedly have met the Confederates, who were following the same road on their way down toward the Potomac.

Pleasanton, however, in his efforts to reach this river before Stuart, struck the mouth of the Monocacy on the 12th, at eight o'clock in the morning, where he found a regiment of Federal infantry; the enemy's cavalry had not been seen in this place; they had reached Hyattsville at break of day, and passing through Barnsville had taken the road to Poolesville, in a totally different direction. This town was occupied by Stoneman; consequently, before reaching this place, about the same time that Pleasanton made his appearance on the banks of the Potomac, Stuart threw himself suddenly into the woods, on the right of the road, leaving Poolesville four or five kilometres on his left, and gained the Georgetown and Hauling Ford road. Pleasanton was proceeding to meet him by the same road; having failed to find the Confederates at the mouth of the Monocacy, he felt sure of meeting them below, and was in hopes of stopping them long enough to give the infantry time to come up. His scouts had not proceeded more than three kilometres when they ran into Stuart's advanced squadrons. The Confederate troopers, disguised in Federal uniform, were four times as numerous as their adversaries. Dismounting, they made a stand against the latter, and soon compelled them to retreat. Whilst Pleasanton's column, thus interrupted on its march, was waiting for the arrival of the infantry to resume it, Stuart, screening his movement behind a line of skirmishers, made a detour to the left, and speedily gained the shores of the Potomac at White's Ford. A detachment of two hundred Federal foot that Stoneman had placed at that point was easily