means of the ford. The crossing was commenced at daylight, and consumed
the whole of the day. Just before daylight, a little passage at arms
occurred on the Virginia side of the stream, the companies who had been
thrown over the night before as pickets having been fired on by a
detachment of the 'Berkeley Border Guard,' and returning the fire
promptly. But this served only to stimulate the already keen energies of
the Federal forces, who waded knee-deep through the clear Potomac, and
trudged along over the 'sacred soil' with a willingness unchecked by the
cold nor'wester that raged on that July morning. That portion of
Berkeley County, Virginia, which lies opposite to Willlamsport, is
called 'the Neck,' being in the shape of a horse-shoe, and nearly
surrounded by the detour of the Potomac. The turnpike leading from
Williamsport to Martinsburg and Winchester traverses the whole length of
'the Neck;' and it was on this road that the advance guard of the
division, Abercrombie's Brigade, took its line of march, a brush with
the rebels being momentarily expected. The first view of their pickets,
after leaving Williamsport, was obtained at Falling Waters, by which
sonorous appellation the Virginians designate a small and pretty
mill-pond, which loses itself over the dam of a solitary grist-mill,
within a stone's throw of the Potomac. Here was a strong natural
position, and an excellent place for waging a defensive war, if the
rebels had been so disposed. But they did not make a stand till a point
was reached a mile south from Falling Waters, and about five miles from
Williamsport, where their skirmishers opened fire at 9.15, A.M. The
skirmish which ensued, and which has since been styled the Battle of
Falling Waters, was sustained on the part of the Federals by
Abercrombie's Brigade, consisting of the 1st Wisconsin and the 11th
Pennsylvania regiments, McMullen's Philadelphia company of Independent
Rangers, the Philadelphia City Troop of cavalry, and Perkins' Field
Battery of six guns. This force speedily dislodged a superior force of