Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 13.djvu/135

 134 Southern Historical Society Papers.

established our pickets. General Early says, "when it was dis- covered that the enemy was retiring, I moved forward at once and arrived at New Market with my infantry on the yth. Rosser pushed forward on the back and middle road in pursuit of the enemy's cav- alry, which was engaged in burning houses, mills, barns, stacks of wheat and hay, and had several skirmishes with it, while Lomax also moved forward on the Valley Pike and the roads east of it. I halted with the infantry at New Market, but Rosser and Lomax moved down the Valley in pursuit, and skirmished successfully with the enemy's cavalry on the 8th, but on the Qth they encountered the whole cavalry force at Tom's Brook, in rear of Fisher's Hill, and both of their commands were driven back in considerable confusion, with a loss of some pieces of artillery nine were reported to me but Grant claims eleven. Rosser rallied his command on the back road at Columbia Furnace opposite Edinburg, but a part of the enemy's cavalry swept along the pike to Mount Jackson and then retired on the approach of my infantry. On the loth Rosser estab- lished his line of pickets across the Valley from Columbia Furnace to Edinburg, and on the nth Lomax was sent to the Luray Valley and took position at Milford."

This was the extent of General Early' s information about the greatest disaster that ever befell our cavalry during the whole war. It was the first time our brigade had ever been routed I had seen a regiment overpowered. It was the first and only time our division had ever lost its artillery or transportation once or twice a single gun or caisson had been taken when the horses had been killed, once or twice a wagon or ambulance had been abandoned for like -reason, but this was a clean sweep. The enemy captured "nearly every- thing we had on wheels," all the trophies we had accumulated during the past two years. (Custer got back many things I had captured when my regiment at Trevillian's captured his headquarter wagon and all of his papers, trunk, &c., &c., together with the four caissons belonging to Pennington's battery). No report was called for by Rosser from my command, and General Early's report clearly shows that Rosser did not report to him the extent of his disaster. In a recent publication, already alluded to, from Rosser' s pen, he puts the blame of his want of judgment upon General Early (who happened, as shown, to be twenty-five miles away), and attributes his disaster to his "orders from General Early and a misbehaving colonel of Mun- ford's brigade." I have given General Early's entire report on this fight, which shows he was not made acquainted with the facts at the