s the stream but a driving
rain and high waters prevented their doing so. This failure gave the
rebels a day's respite.

Jackson with his force passed from Harrisonburg over to Cross Keys and
there bivouacked. The Northern generals looked upon this move as a
retreat.

On June 8th and 9th the battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic took
place, victories for the Southerners. The Confederates moved on to
Brown's Gap, a point a bit nearer Richmond. "The success which the
Confederates had achieved was undoubtedly important. The Valley army,
posted at Brown's Gap, was now in direct communication with Richmond.
Not only had its pursuers been roughly checked, but the sudden and
unexpected counter-stroke, delivered by an enemy whom they believed to
be in full flight, had surprised Lincoln and Stanton as effectively as
Shields and Fremont."

Thus the plan of McClellan to fall upon Richmond had been postponed and
a division of the Northern forces was made necessary to protect the
Federal capital and to supply Banks with troops.

Later in the month Jackson's division moved with great secrecy to join
General Lee near Richmond--but that is a story for another time.

Belle Boyd, the Spy

"In a pretty storied house, the walls completely covered by roses and
honeysuckle in luxuriant bloom" according to Belle Boyd herself, lived
one of the most beautiful women and one of the most famous spies in all
history.

Martinsburg, her home in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, was only a
village then and she tells us about her neighbors and her childhood--"It
was all golden and I was surrounded by devoted and beloved parents and
brothers and sisters ... our neighbors are some of the best families of
the Old Dominion descended from such ancestors as the Fairfaxes and
Washingtons."

When Belle was only twelve she was sent to Mount Washington Seminary in
Washington. At sixteen her education was finished and she made her
debut. She wrote how brilliant were the Congressional and Senate balls
where both Northern and Southern belles met and learned to love each
other as sisters.

Then came the dark days of Secession. Belle's own father was among the
first to enlist in the defense of Virginia. Belle returned home where
with other ladies she helped raise funds with which to equip the
Confederate soldiers. The colors were raised and on them one read these
words, "Our God, Our Country and Our Women."

Things were dull for Belle after her