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keep him, till winter, near
Washington, so that more troops might be sent from
Virginia to assist
Bragg,
Davis's favorite, then below
Chattanooga, in need of help.
So, on the day before
Buford's cavalry marched on the
Rapid Anna,
Lee crossed it
in force, and along unfrequented and circuitous roads by way of Madison Court-House, and over Robertson's River, gained
Meade's right before that commander suspected the movement.
It was first revealed by an attack upon a portion of
Kilpatrick's cavalry, who were holding the advanced posts on the
National right.
These were driven back on
Culpepper by
Stuart.
Satisfied that his right was turned,
Meade instantly sent back his trains, and at a little past midnight
retreated across the
Rappahannock, blowing up the bridge at Rappahannock Station, behind him.
Lee advanced to
Culpepper a few hours later, where he halted his main force, while
Stuart followed as closely to
Meade as
Pleasanton, who covered the retreat, would allow.
That night
Pleasanton also crossed the river.
Informed, on the morning of the 12th, that
Lee had halted at
Culpepper,
Meade felt that his retreat might have been premature.
Acting upon such presumption, he pushed the Second, Fifth, and Sixth Corps, with
Buford's cavalry, back across the
Rappahannock to the vicinity of
Brandy Station.
The mounted men pressed on toward
Culpepper, where
Meade intended to offer battle to
Lee, but the latter had not waited for his antagonist.
On that morning he had commenced another flanking movement to gain
Meade's rear, and the two armies, for several hours, presented the appearance of a friendly countermarch on nearly parallel roads.
Meade was first advised of this new and dangerous movement of his foe by
General Gregg, who had been watching the fords of the
Upper Rappahannock with the Third Corps (French's) below him.
Lee's van assailed
Gregg and drove him back, and then the main column of the
Confederates crossed the
Rappahannock at
Warrenton,
Sulphur Springs, and
Waterloo, where
Jackson passed over the previous year when flanking
Pope.
1 Meade at once,fell back, crossed the river, and continued his retreat to Catlett's Station.
Fortunately
Lee was ignorant of the real condition of
Meade's army at that time, or he might, by turning aside, have demolished the Third Corps with his overwhelming force.
Gregg was surrounded, attacked, and routed, at
Jeffersonton, north of
Hazel River, after a gallant fight,
2 with a loss of about five hundred men, most of whom were made prisoners.
Now
the veteran armies of the
Potomac and of
Northern Virginia commenced a third race northward, over nearly the same course pursued on former like occasions,
Lee aiming to strike
Meade's line of retreat along the Orange and Alexandria railway, and the latter using every energy to prevent him.
Lee pressed on to
Warrenton on the afternoon of the 13th, and prepared to advance from that point in two columns, his left under
A. P. Hill, by the
Warrenton turnpike to New Baltimore, and so on to Bristow Station, and his right, under
Ewell, by way of Auburn Mills and
Greenwich, for the same destination.
This movement was begun on the morning of the 14th.
Meanwhile there had been collisions.
