ight over, men succumbed to fatigue and drowsiness. I had barely
touched the saddle before I was fast asleep, and did not awake until
daylight, and then looking around, could not see a man that I recognized
as belonging to my own troop. As far as the eye could reach, both front
and rear, was a moving mass of horses with motionless riders all wrapped
in slumber. The horses were moving along with drooping heads and eyes
half-closed. Some walked faster than others and, as a consequence, would
gradually pull away from their companions through the column in front;
others would fall back. So it came to pass that few men found themselves
in the same society in the morning with which they started at midnight.
As for myself, I awoke to wonder where I was and what had become of my
men. Not one of them could I see. My horse was a fast walker, and I soon
satisfied myself that I was in advance of my troop and, when the place
designated for the division to bivouac was reached, dismounted and
awaited their arrival. Some of them did not come up for an hour, and
they were scattered about among other commands, in squads, a few in a
place. It was seven o'clock before we were all together once more.

Then we had breakfast, and the men had a chance to look the captures
over and quiz the prisoners. The wagons were soon despoiled of their
contents and such stuff as was not valuable or could not be transported
was burned. Among the prisoners was Colonel Davis, of the Tenth Virginia
cavalry, who claimed that he led the charge against our position on the
third. He expressed himself very freely as having had enough, and said,
"This useless war ought to be ended at once."

During the day Stuart's cavalry appeared on our flank and we pushed on
to Cavetown, thence to Boonsborough, harassed all the way by the enemy.
We were now directly on Lee's path to the Potomac. At Smithburg there
was quite a skirmish in which the Sixth had the duty of supporting the
battery. My troop, deployed as skirmishers along the top of a rocky
ridge, was forgotten when the division moved away after dark, and we lay
there for an hour within sight of the confederate camp until, suspecting
something wrong, I made a reconnoissance and discovered that our
command had gone. I therefore mounted the men and followed the trail
which led toward Boonsborough. At the latter place Kilpatrick turned
over his prisoners and captured property.

On the 6th, along in the afternoon, we arriv