Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 2.djvu/131

Rh at once dispatched most of his cavalry in an expanding circle of scouts north and northeast, until after midnight he located the enemy moving by Frederick's Hall toward Ground Squirrel Bridge over the South Anna, five miles east of the railroad bridges. Posting all his infantry at the bridges, Colonel Johnson with the remnant of the First cavalry and the Baltimore light artillery pushed out toward the enemy. A mile from camp he struck a Federal picket approaching the bridges. A couple of shells and a rattling charge sent the raiders whirling whence they came. Johnson then moved along a parallel road to get between them and Richmond if possible. He had sixty sabers and four guns. At Ashland a party charged into the village, but were driven back, and the Marylanders pushed on to Yellow Tavern, where the road they were on ran into and joined the road by which the Federal Cavalry were pushing on to Richmond. Arriving at the point after his enemy, Johnson concealed his force behind a barn on the roadside and posted a picket on the Brooktown pike, just in front, along which the Federal cavalry were advancing. The advance of the Federals were thundering away with their artillery at the outside fortifications of Richmond. In a few minutes five horsemen in blue dashed up to the pickets, who were clad in Federal uniforms captured that morning. Two were killed and three captured. Among the captured was a lieutenant, staff officer of Colonel Dahlgren. From the prisoners was extracted with difficulty and by force the information that the enemy in front, attacking, was under Maj.-Gen. Judson Kilpatrick, with 3,000 sabers, and that Colonel Dahlgren with 500 more was on the river road and that this dispatch was to inform Kilpatrick of his whereabouts, and that he intended to charge into the city at dusk and expected General Kilpatrick to assist by charging at the same time. Thus, knowing his enemy's hand Colonel Johnson promptly trumped it. He picked up his sixty sabers and hurled them against Kilpatrick's rear guard on the Brook pike. He ran them in on Kilpatrick,