the
York River Railway, picking up prisoners at every step. Here, routing
the guard, he tore up the rails, destroyed a vast amount of stores
and many waggons, broke down the telegraph and burnt the railway
bridge, his men regaling themselves on the luxuries which were found
in the well-stored establishments of the sutlers. Two squadrons,
dispatched to Garlick's Landing on the Pamunkey, set fire to two
transports, and rejoined with a large number of prisoners, horses,
and mules. Then, led by troopers who were natives of the country, the
column marched south-east by the Williamsburg road, moving further
and still further away from Richmond. The moon was full, and as the
troops passed by the forest farms, the women, running to the wayside,
wept with delight at the unexpected apparition of the grey jackets,
and old men showered blessings on the heads of their gallant
countrymen. At Talleysville, eight miles east, Stuart halted for
three hours; and shortly after midnight, just as a Federal infantry
brigade reached Tunstall's Station in hot pursuit, he turned off by a
country road to the Chickahominy.

June 14.

At Forge Bridge, where he arrived at daylight, he should have found a
ford; but the river had overflowed its banks, and was full of
floating timber. Colonel Fitzhugh Lee, not the least famous member of
a famous family, accompanied by a few men, swam his horse at imminent
peril over to the other bank; but, although he re-crossed the swollen
waters in the same manner, the daring young officer had to report
that the passage was impracticable. It was already light. The enemy
would soon be up, and the capture of the whole column seemed
absolutely certain. Hitherto the men, exhilarated by the complete
success of the adventure, had borne themselves as gaily as if they
were riding through the streets of Richmond. But the danger of their
situation was now forcibly impressed upon them, and the whole command
became grave and anxious. Stuart alone was unmoved, and at this
juncture one of his scouts informed him that the skeleton of an old
bridge spanned the stream about a mile below. An abandoned warehouse
furnished the materials for a footway, over which the troopers
passed, holding the bridles of their horses as they swam alongside.
Half the column thus crossed, while the remainder strengthened the
bridge so as to permit the passage of the artillery. By one o'clock
the whole force was over the Chickahominy, unmolested by the