t of Patterson to occupy the strongest point in his field of
operations puts the stamp of imbecility upon him at the commencement of
his campaign. The rebels expected him to occupy that point, as, even so
late as the time of his crossing the Potomac, the force which disputed
his onward march into the valley of Virginia was not so great as that
held at Charleston to dispute his march from Harper's Ferry in case he
entered the valley there. Patterson himself confessed his mistake, by
retiring to the Ferry in July, for the avowed reason that his three
months' men must soon go home, and he must be in such a position as not
to tempt an attack from the rebels while his column was thus weakened
and disorganized, and before he could be reinforced by three years' men.
Why did not this necessity, and the propriety of holding Harper's Ferry
as a base of operations for this reason alone, if for no other, occur to
the cautious general before, as it did to so many of less military
experience than himself? Patterson, at the last day, thus confesses his
error. It was the first great mistake of his campaign. The second was
one of a different nature.

On the 2d day of July, the army crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, by
means of the ford. The crossing was commenced at daylight, and consumed
the whole of the day. Just before daylight, a little passage at arms
occurred on the Virginia side of the stream, the companies who had been
thrown over the night before as pickets having been fired on by a
detachment of the 'Berkeley Border Guard,' and returning the fire
promptly. But this served only to stimulate the already keen energies of
the Federal forces, who waded knee-deep through the clear Potomac, and
trudged along over the 'sacred soil' with a willingness unchecked by the
cold nor'wester that raged on that July morning. That portion of
Berkeley County, Virginia, which lies opposite to Willlamsport, is
called 'the Neck,' being in the shape of a horse-shoe, and nearly
surrounded by the detour of the Potomac. The turnpike leading from
Williamsport to Martinsburg and Winchester traverses the whole length of
'the Neck;' and it was on this road that the advance guard of the
division, Abercrombie's Brigade, took its line of march, a brush with
the rebels being momentarily expected. The first view of their pickets,
after leaving Williamsport, was obtained at Falling Waters, by which
sonorous appellation the Virginians designate a small and prett