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CHAPTER III.

On the evening of the 12th of June, General A. G. Jenkins left Cedar Creek
with all the cavalry except Company A, First Maryland, commanded by Captain
Frank A. Bond, which company was ordered to remain with the Maryland
infantry and Baltimore Light Artillery until Winchester was reached, where
Captain Bond was to report with his company to General Ewell for special service.

As this company was for a long time separated from the rest of the battalion,
to make the operations of the whole intelligible to the reader it will be necessary
to treat of them separately.

At this time Company A was as fine a body of cavalry as there was in the
service. There were one hundred men in its ranks for duty, well equipped, splen-
didly mounted and thoroughly drilled and disciplined. The average age of the
men was twenty-one years, and there was an unusual amount of intelligence
pervading the whole. The officers had all seen two years' service, and one-half
the men had seen the same, and most of the remainder one year. General Ewell
had selected this company to be attached to his headquarters, not as couriers or as
a headquarters guard, but for special service on important occasions, and to
accompany the corps upon its advance across Maryland and into Pennsylvania.
On the 13th of June, when Early made his attack upon Winchester, Company A
was with the Second Maryland Infantry, and advanced with the skirmishers, taking
position on their right.

From Winchester to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Company A was in the advance
of Ewell's Corps, but whilst not under fire during this time, Jenkins having
preceded them, they rendered valuable service in guarding the stores abandoned
by the enemy, and turning them over to the commissaries of the various infantry
brigades. On June 28 Ewell's Corps was encamped around Carlisle, and on the
30th it moved to Heidlersburg, twelve miles distant. Company A was to
remain at Carlisle until two hours after the last of the troops had left, and then
to release one thousand prisoners under guard. Captain Bond's situation became
a critical one when the one thousand prisoners and citizens realized that the city
was in the possession of but one hundred cavalrymen, and a collision seemed
inevitable. But the firmness of Captain Bond prevailed, for he assured them that
he would drench their streets with blood and destroy their city should they
attack his command.

After reaching General Eweli's headquarters on the afternoon of the 30th,
Captain Bond was ordered to proceed to Gettysburg, as a report had come that a
body of the enemy's cavalry had been seen in that vicinity. Reaching the