, take possession of Loudoun
Heights, if practicable, by Friday morning, Key's Ford on his left,
and the road between the end of the mountain and the Potomac on his
right. He will as far as possible cooperate with generals McLaws and
Jackson and intercept the retreat of the enemy.

General D. H. Hill's division will form the rearguard of the Army,
pursuing the road taken by the main body. The reserve artillery,
ordnance and supply trains, etc., will precede General Hill.

General Stuart will detach a squadron of cavalry to accompany the
commands of generals Longstreet, Jackson, and McLaws, and, with the
main body of the cavalry, will cover the route of the army, bringing
up all stragglers that may have been left behind.

The commands of Generals Jackson, McLaws, and Walker, after
accomplishing the objects for which they have been detached, will
join the main body of the army at Boonsboro or Hagerstown.

By command of General R. E. Lee,

R. H. CHILTON.,
Assistant Adjutant-General.

In the room at Frederick there was a silence that might have been felt.
At last McClellan rose, and stepping softly to the window, leaned his
hands upon the sill, and looked out at the bright blue sky. He turned
presently. "Gentlemen, the longer I live, the more firmly I believe that
old saying, 'Truth is stranger than fiction!'--By the Hagerstown
Road--General Hooker, General Reno--"

On the morning of the tenth Stonewall Jackson, leaving Frederick,
marched west by the Boonsboro Road. Ahead, Stuart's squadrons stopped
all traffic. The peaceful Maryland villages were entered without warning
and quitted before the inhabitants recovered from their surprise.
Cavalry in the rear swept together all stragglers. The detachment,
twenty-five thousand men, almost half of Lee's army, drove, a swift,
clean-cut body, between the autumn fields and woods that were beginning
to turn. In the fields were farmers ploughing, in the orchards gathering
apples. They stopped and stared. "Well, ain't that a sight?--And half of
them barefoot!--and their clothes fit for nothing but scarecrows. Well,
they ain't robbers. No--and their guns are mighty bright!"

South Mountain was crossed at Turner's Gap. It was near sunset when the
bugles rang halt. Brigade by brigade Stonewall Jackson's command left
th