ood. This mattered but
little, however, to the regiment, whose members were all ready and
willing to pay for everything they wanted, and the country people round
found a ready market for all their chickens, eggs, fruit, and vegetables
at Hanover Courthouse, for here there were also several infantry
regiments, and the normally quiet little village was a scene of bustle
and confusion.

The arms of the cavalry were of a very varied description. Not more than
a dozen had swords; the rest were armed with rifles or shot-guns, with
the barrels cut short to enable them to be carried as carbines. Many of
them were armed with revolvers and some carried pistols so antiquated
that they might have been used in the Revolutionary War. A certain
number of tents had been issued for the use of the corps. These,
however, were altogether insufficient for the numbers, and most of the
men preferred to sleep in shelters composed of canvas, carpets,
blankets, or any other material that came to hand, or in arbors
constructed of the boughs of trees, for it was now April and warm enough
to sleep in the open air.

In the third week in May the order came that the corps was to march at
once for Harper's Ferry--an important position at the point where the
Shenandoah River runs into the Potomac, at the mouth of the Shenandoah
Valley. The order was received with the greatest satisfaction. The
Federal forces were gathering rapidly upon the northern banks of the
Potomac, and it was believed that, while the main army would march down
from Washington through Manassas Junction direct upon Richmond, another
would enter by the Shenandoah Valley, and, crossing the Blue Ridge
Mountains, come down on the rear of the Confederate army, facing the
main force at Manassas. The cavalry marched by road, while the infantry
were dispatched by rail as far as Manassas Junction, whence they marched
to Harper's Ferry. The black servants accompanied the infantry.

The cavalry march was a pleasant one. At every village through which
they passed the people flocked out with offerings of milk and fruit. The
days were hot, but the mornings and evenings delightful; and as the
troops always halted in the shade of a wood for three or four hours in
the middle of the day, the marches, although long, were not fatiguing.
At Harper's Ferry General Johnston had just superseded Colonel Jackson
in command. The force there consisted of eleven battalions of infantry,
sixteen guns, and after