retain the power of striking that he had not moved further
northward, and secured his front by camping beyond Catharpen Run. It
was essential that he should be prepared for offensive action. The
object with which he had marched upon Manassas had only been half
accomplished. Pope had been compelled to abandon the strong line of
the Rappahannock, but he had not yet been defeated; and if he were
not defeated, he would combine with McClellan, and advance in a few
days in overwhelming force. Lee looked for a battle with Pope before
he could be reinforced, and to achieve this end it was necessary that
the Federal commander should be prevented from retreating further;
that Jackson should hold him by the throat until Lee should come up
to administer the coup de grace.

It was with this purpose in his mind that Jackson had taken post near
Groveton, and he was now awaiting the information that should tell
him the time had come to strike. But, as already related, the march
of the Federals on Manassas was slow and toilsome. It was not till
the morning was well on that the brigade of Taliaferro's division
near Groveton, commanded by Colonel Bradley Johnson, was warned by
the cavalry that the enemy was moving through Gainesville in great
strength. A skirmish took place a mile or two north of that village,
and Johnson, finding himself menaced by far superior numbers, fell
back to the wood near the Douglass House. He was not followed. The
Union generals, Sigel and Reynolds, who had been ordered to Manassas
to "bag" Jackson, had received no word of his departure from the
Junction; and believing that Johnson's small force was composed only
of cavalry, they resumed the march which had been temporarily
interrupted.

The situation, however, was no clearer to the Confederates. The enemy
had disappeared in the great woods south-west of Groveton, and heavy
columns were still reported coming up from Gainesville. During the
afternoon, however, the cavalry captured a Federal courier, carrying
McDowell's orders for the movement of the left and centre, which had
been placed under his command, to Manassas Junction,* and this
important document was immediately forwarded to Jackson.

(* The order, dated 2 A.M., August 25, was to the following effect:--

1. Sigel's Corps to march from Gainesville to Manassas Junction, the
right resting on the Manassas railroad.

2. Reynolds to follow Sigel.

3. King to follow Reynolds.

4. Ricketts to follow K