"You see I was right, Surry," he said turning toward me, "and there is
something in my _instinct_ after all!"




VIII.


FLEETWOOD.


At daylight a long thunder came up from the woods of the Rappahannock.
The greatest cavalry combat of the war had begun.

At that sound Stuart leaped to the saddle, and rode rapidly toward the
front. Fifteen minutes afterward his head-quarters had vanished. On the
green slope of Fleetwood not a tent was visible.

Is the reader familiar with the country along the Upper Rappahannock?
If so, he will remember that the river is crossed in Culpeper by
numerous fords. The principal--beginning on the left, that is to say,
up the river--are Welford's, Beverly's, the Railroad bridge, and
Kelly's fords.

Stuart's left, under William H.F. Lee, was opposite Welford's; his
centre, under Jones, opposite Beverly's; his right, under Hampton,
toward Kelly's; and a force under Robertson was posted in the direction
of Stevensburg, to guard the right flank. The whole amounted to about
seven or eight thousand cavalry.