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to add any injury being sustained. It is due to the Batallion which I had the honor to command to state that on its arrival at Harpers Ferry the Commanders of the Companies and their men unanimously and warmly asked that they might be led to the assault of the building occu- pied by the Insurgents without delay, but that Col. Baylor objected because the Insurgents had captured and con- fined in the building a number of prominent Citizens of Harper’s Ferry and the adjacent neighborhood and amongst them a respectable Citizen of Frederick—Mr. Shope,  [ 15 ] all of whom would be involved in the same dan- ger with the Insurgents by a night assault. I omitted to state in its proper place that detachments from my command were also on guard during the night at the Bridge aforementioned; for the double purpose of cutting off the possible Escape of the Insurgents by that route and also of preventing the arrival of reinforcements which Capt Brown confidently expected through Cook  [ 16 ] who was with a body of Insurgents on the Maryland side. Between 11 and 12 Oclock Capt Sinn who was with a detachment of his company on guard in front of the building occupied by the Insurgents was hailed and invited to approach