The arms of the cavalry were of a very varied description. Not
more than a dozen had swords; the rest were armed with rifles or
shot-guns, with the barrels cut short to enable them to be carried as
carbines. Many of them were armed with revolvers, and some
carried pistols so antiquated that they might have been used in the
revolutionary war. A certain number of tents had been issued for
the use of the corps. These, however, were altogether insufficient
for the numbers, and most of the men preferred to sleep in shelters
composed of canvas, carpets, blankets, or any other material that
came to hand, or in arbors constructed of the boughs of trees, for it
was now April and warm enough to sleep in the open air.

In the third week in May the order came that the corps was to
march at once for Harper's Ferry--an important position at the point
where the Shenandoah River runs into the Potomac, at the mouth
of the Shenandoah Valley. The order was received with the
greatest satisfaction. The Federal forces were gathering rapidly
upon the northern banks of the Potomac, and it was believed that,
while the main army would march down from Washington through
Manassas Junction direct upon Richmond, another would enter by
the Shenandoah Valley, and, crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains,
come down on the rear of the Confederate army, facing the main
force at Manassas. The cavalry marched by road, while the
infantry were despatched by rail as far as Manassas Junction,
whence they marched to Harper's Ferry. The black servants
accompanied the infantry.

The cavalry march was a pleasant one. At every village through
which they passed the people flocked out with offerings of milk