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[761] that task to the cavalry alone after the fight which they have just had, he takes the resolution to recross the Rappahannock with three corps and Buford's division; that is to say, with about thirty thousand men. The Second, Fifth, and Sixth corps will undertake this movement on the 12th at daybreak; the two others will remain on the Rappahannock—the Third on the right, the First on the left. Finally, Gregg is ordered to proceed to Rixeyville beyond Sulphur Springs, where he arrives at nine o'clock in the evening. He is to guard the crossings of Hedgeman's River and to watch with care the road from Culpeper to Warrenton through Jefferson —a very important mission, for this is the route which the enemy's army will follow if it attempts a new turning movement. On the morning of the 12th the three Federal corps cross the river; the Fifth remains near Beverly Ford in readiness to support, in case of a retreat, the two others, which are advancing in the direction of Culpeper. Buford is reconnoitring, and covers the front of the infantry, which on this unprotected ground has a deployment of more than three miles. The two corps are thus marching in line of battle, flanked right and left by battalions en échelon: a strong reserve follows the centre of each. It was, we believe, the first time in this war that the Federals were, with so large a force, manoeuvring as if on the drill-ground. The movement is badly chosen, for Lee, whom they look for in vain at Culpeper, endeavors meanwhile to outflank their right. From daybreak his army is making its way in two columns: Hill, on the left, is marching from Griffinsburg to Amissville; Ewell, following on the right a parallel direction, takes the road from Culpeper to Warrenton, which crosses Hazel River at Rixeyville and Hedgeman's River at Sulphur Springs; Stuart crosses it before him with the main body of his cavalry. Since the preceding day one of his regiments, the Eleventh Virginia, has been pushing on as far as the village of Jefferson, in which place Gregg, while falling back, has left a strong rearguard, the Thirteenth Pennsylvania. The Union general has sent another regiment, the First Maine, to Amissville. These troops are thus watching the two
Philadelphia, Jos. H. Coates and co., 1883.
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