Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 30.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

General Early's report is as follows:

This report is brief and to the point. It has been construed as ignoring the troops belonging to the command of Breckinridge, and as doing injustice to the cavalry of Imboden and McCausland. General Early should have been more careful in writing it, but it must be remembered that when it was written he was not informed of the great service which had been rendered by the cavalry, or of the faithful work which had been done by the troops, other than those belonging to the Second Corps.

In his memoirs (on page 44) General Early says that some time after midnight it was discovered that Hunter was moving, but, owing to the uncertainty as to whether he was merely changing front or retreating, nothing could be done until daylight, when, the retreat being ascertained, the pursuit commenced. Early's army moved in three columns, the Second Corps on the Salem Turnpike, Breckinridge's command, under Elzey, on the Forest road, and the cavalry, placed by Early under General Robert Ransom, on the right of Elzey. The enemy's rear was overtaken at Liberty by Ramseur's Division and was driven through that place at a brisk trot.

It is not within the scope of this paper to follow up the retreat of Hunter, nor to narrate the incidents of Early's campaign in Maryland and the scare he gave the Government at Washington. What a commotion his little army created can be easily understood by inspecting the 70th and 71st volumes of the War of the Rebellion, a large part of which is taken up by the numberless orders and counter-orders, alarms and outcries incident to the fright then prevailing. General Grant seems to have been the only person in command on the other side who kept his equilibrium and acted with consistent courage and judicious poise.