Stuart was now in an actual trap, and his situation was perilous in the extreme.  He was enclosed between two moving walls of enemies, and, if discovered, his fate seemed sealed.  But one course was left him:  to preserve, if possible, complete silence in his command; to lie perdu in the wood, and await the occurrence of some fortunate event to extricate him from his highly-embarrassing situation.  He accordingly issued stringent orders to the men that no noise of any description should be made, and not a word be uttered; and there was little necessity to repeat this command.  The troopers remained silent and motionless in the saddle throughout the night, ready at any instant to move at the order; and thus passed the long hours of darkness—­the Southern horsemen as silent as phantoms; the Federal columns passing rapidly, with the roll of artillery-wheels, the tramp of cavalry-horses, and the shuffling sound of feet, on both sides of the command—­the column moving in rear of Stuart being distant but two or three hundred yards.

This romantic incident was destined to terminate fortunately for Stuart, who, having dispatched scouts to steal through the Federal column, and announce his situation to General Lee, prepared to seize upon the first opportunity to release his command from its imminent peril.  The opportunity came at dawn.  The Federal rear, under General Caldwell, had bivouacked near, and had just kindled fires to cook their breakfast, when, from the valley beneath the hill on which the troops had halted, Stuart opened suddenly upon them with his Horse-Artillery, and, as he says in his report, knocked over coffee-pots and other utensils at the moment when the men least expected it.  He then advanced his sharp-shooters and directed a rapid fire upon the disordered troops; and, under cover of this fire, wheeled to the left and emerged safely toward Warrenton.  The army greeted him with cheers, and he was himself in the highest spirits.  He had certainly good reason for this joy, for he had just grazed destruction.

As Stuart’s artillery opened, the sound was taken up toward Warrenton, where Ewell, in obedience to Lee’s orders, had attacked the Federal column.  Nothing resulted, however, from this assault:  General Meade had concentrated his army, and was hastening toward Manassas.  All now depended again upon the celerity of Lee’s movements in pursuit.  He had lost many hours at Warrenton, where “another halt was made,” he says, “to supply the troops with provisions.”  Thus, on the morning of the 14th he was as far from intercepting General Meade as before; and all now depended upon the movements of Hill, who, while Ewell moved toward Greenwich, had been sent by way of New Baltimore to come in on the Federal line of retreat at Bristoe Station, near Manassas.  In spite, however, of his excellent soldiership and habitual promptness, Hill did not arrive in time.  He made the detour prescribed by Lee, passed New Baltimore, and hastened on toward