of bayonets that had
crowned the ridge at Winchester, rated them at 20,000 infantry, with
cavalry and artillery in addition. Geary, who had retired in hot
haste from Rectortown, burning his tents and stores, had learned, he
reported, from numerous sources that 10,000 cavalry were passing
through Manassas Gap. There were constant rumours that strong
reinforcements were coming up from Richmond, and even McDowell
believed that the army of invasion consisted of 25,000 to 30,000 men.
Fremont's scouts, as he approached Strasburg, represented the
Confederate force at 30,000 to 60,000. Shields, before he crossed
the Blue Ridge and found himself in the vicinity of his old opponent,
had condemned the panic that had seized his brother generals, and had
told McDowell that he would clear the Valley with his own division.
But when he reached Front Royal the force that he had scornfully
described as insignificant had swelled to 20,000 men. Troops from
Richmond, he telegraphed, were marching down the Luray Valley; and he
urged that he should be at once supported by two divisions. It cannot
be said that Lincoln and Stanton were to blame for the indecision of
the generals. They had urged Fremont forward to Strasburg, and
Shields to Front Royal. They had informed them, by the telegraph, of
each other's situation, and had passed on such intelligence of the
enemy's movements as had been acquired at Harper's Ferry; and yet,
although the information was sufficiently exact, both Shields and
Fremont, just as Jackson anticipated, held back at the decisive
moment. The waters had been held back, and the Confederates had
passed through them dry-shod. Such is the effect of uncertainty in
war; a mighty power in the hands of a general who understands its
scope.

June 1.

On the morning of June 1, Jackson's only remaining anxiety was to
bring Winder back, and to expedite the retreat of the convoy. Ewell
was therefore ordered to support Ashby, and to hold Fremont in check
until the Stonewall Brigade had passed through Strasburg. The task
was easily accomplished. At seven in the morning the Confederate
pickets were driven in. As they fell back on their supports, the
batteries on both sides came rapidly into action, and the Federal
infantry pressed forward. But musketry replied to musketry, and
finding the road blocked by a line of riflemen, Fremont ordered his
troops to occupy a defensive position on Cedar Creek. "I was entirely
ignorant," he says,