We had been in this position about fifteen or twenty minutes when Gens. Sheridan and Grover ran over the ridge and took shelter in the depression just to our right. Sheridan was anxious to see the whole situation, and crawled up to the skirmish line, some ten feet in advance of us. Gen. Grover soon joined him, and just about this time a shot from a twenty-pound Parrott ploughed through the slight ridge within a foot of Sheridan's head, covering him with dirt. He rolled over on his side, and we thought he was wounded, but he was only getting the dirt out of his ear and neck; he came back, though, and took his position by the side of our piece.
In a few minutes we heard cheers on our right and soon saw the enemy breaking all along the line. We sent shot after shot in quick succession, but were told to stop firing. Soon our corps came sweeping over the ridge and down the other side.
Sheridan now wanted his horse, but could not see it, so Lieut. Gray let him take his, but regretted it in a moment, as Sheridan went dashing down the hill over stumps and fallen trees, and we expected to see horse and rider take a tumble, but they were soon out of sight.
We limbered up and went back to where the remainder of the battery was, and then started over to the pike and joined our division. We marched nearly all night and then went into camp at Woodstock, to get a little sleep and some rations.
At two o'clock in the afternoon we started again and reached Edenburg, where toward night we fired a few shots and then encamped. In the morning we were away early, and marched all day, going into position two or three times and firing a few shots, but apparently doing the enemy no great harm. The next day we marched to Mount Jackson, having quite a skirmish in the afternoon.
On the morning of the 29th we started at nine o'clock, and on reaching Harrisonburg, went into camp, remaining there until the 6th of October, occupying the time in foraging for our horses.
On the morning of the 30th Lieut. Gray took nine mounted men from the battery, armed with revolvers, and started out into the country to secure some horses that he had seen the day before, but on arriving where he had seen the horses he found the natives had run them off to the mountains. Following the trail for about seven miles we ran across a few straggling rebel cavalrymen, several of whom were captured, and also a number of horses.
We continued on until we were about fifteen or sixteen miles from camp, when we stopped at a farmhouse and had dinner and fed our horses. We then started toward camp again, but by a different road than that on which we came. We had two or three quite sharp skirmishes with squads of rebel cavalry, and about dusk Billy Mills, who was in the advance, rode back bringing the information that there was a company of rebel cavalry drawn up on the side of the road with the intention of obstructing our passage. We had at this time nine rebel cavalrymen as prisoners and twenty-three horses.