on my line. We had no guns up to
reply, and, in advance as has been mentioned, had outmarched the troops
behind us. Motionless as a statue, Jackson sat his horse some few yards
away, and seemed lost in thought. Perhaps the circumstances mentioned
some pages back had obscured his star; but if so, a few short hours
swept away the cloud, and it blazed, Sirius-like, over the land. I
approached him with the suggestion that the railway bridge might be
passed by stepping on the cross-ties, as the enemy's guns bore less
directly on it than on the upper bridge. He nodded approval. The 8th
regiment was on the right of my line, near at hand; and dismounting,
Colonel Kelly led it across under a sharp musketry fire. Several men
fell to disappear in the dark water beneath; but the movement continued
with great rapidity, considering the difficulty of walking on ties, and
Kelly with his leading files gained the opposite shore. Thereupon the
enemy fired combustibles previously placed near the center of the wagon
bridge. The loss of this structure would have seriously delayed us, as
the railway bridge was not floored, and I looked at Jackson, who, near
by, was watching Kelly's progress. Again he nodded, and my command
rushed at the bridge. Concealed by the cloud of smoke, the suddenness of
the movement saved us from much loss; but it was rather a near thing. My
horse and clothing were scorched, and many men burned their hands
severely while throwing brands into the river. We were soon over, and
the enemy in full flight to Winchester, with loss of camp, guns, and
prisoners. Just as I emerged from flames and smoke, Jackson was by my
side. How he got there was a mystery, as the bridge was thronged with my
men going at full speed; but smoke and fire had decidedly freshened up
his costume.

In the angle formed by the two branches of the river was another camp
held by a Federal regiment from Maryland. This was captured by a gallant
little regiment of Marylanders, Colonel Bradley Johnson, on our side. I
had no connection with this spirited affair, saving that these
Marylanders had acted with my command during the day, though not
attached to it. We followed the enemy on the Winchester road, but to
little purpose, as we had few horsemen over the river. Carried away by
his ardor, my commissary, Major Davis, gathered a score of mounted
orderlies and couriers, and pursued until a volley from the enemy's rear
guard laid him low on the road, shot thro