Although the charge had swept everything before it, or at least along with it, it was seen, when the top of the hill was gained, that fresh bodies of troops were hurrying up from beyond in order to take advantage of the confusion of the Union line. Obeying the hurried orders of their officers and the call of the bugle, the Second whirled about and returned to the rolling ground in order to reform and be in better condition to meet the enemy. This regiment had defeated in its charge, in a hand-to-hand fight, more than double its own number; its losses had been terrible, but soon it was in condition to fight once more. But now the battle had been renewed by the enemy's firing rifle and carbine from the woods on the south. To quote from what General Wesley Merritt says of his personal adventures during the charge:
"The charge was begun with the sabre, of course; but when the enemy broke and fled, a number of us in advance drew our pistols, and enforced our demands for surrender by rapid shots with our revolvers, still riding at a charge, with sabres in hand. I had emptied my revolver, and before returning it, rode at an officer whom, in the dust and smoke, I thought to be refusing to surrender to one of my men. I brought my sabre to a point, with the remark, 'Colonel, you are my prisoner!' His reply was more forcible than courteous, as, after a moment's surprise, he made a cut at my head with his sabre. I partially parried the cut, and at the same time Lieutenant Quirk called to me that we were surrounded and alone. The rebels, who were all around us, then commenced a rapid fire with their pistols, and must have been surprised to see Lieutenant Quirk and myself, in spite of their firing and orders to surrender, ride safely back to the regiment. A kindly Hibernian of the Second made good my only personal loss by giving me the hat off his own head. From a description of the officer who didn't surrender on this occasion, General Buford was of the opinion that it was Colonel (afterwards General) Wade Hampton."
He also related the following episode, which shows how close and upon what intimate relations the conflict had continued:
"As Sergeant-major Delacour was assisting Lieutenant Lennox from under fire, a horseman in gray rode up and fired at the officer, who said, 'Don't shoot; I'm wounded!' With an oath the Confederate emptied another barrel of his revolver within a few feet of Lennox's head, when Delacour, pausing, drew his pistol, fired, and as the unfortunate tumbled off his horse, coolly remarked, 'And now you are wounded.'"
The account of every regiment was a repetition of this, except that the Second engaged more men and suffered a heavier loss. Late in the day it was relieved by the Sixth United States Cavalry—one of the few regular bodies of mounted men in the service which was not separated into small detachments.
But it was a great day for the mounted forces of the Union army. Major-General Henry J. Hunt, Chief of Artillery of the Army of the Potomac, says, in referring to this action: "This was in the main a true cavalry battle, and enabled the Federals to dispute the superiority hitherto claimed and conceded to the Confederate cavalry. Stuart reported his losses at 485, of whom 301 were killed and wounded. Pleasanton reports an aggregate loss of 907, of whom 421 were wounded."
The Second Cavalry alone lost, out of 225 men who were engaged, 68 in killed and wounded, and 73 horses killed or disabled. "From that day," says Merritt, "the prestige of the Confederate cavalry was broken and its superiority gone forever."
In a volume called A Rebel War-clerk's Diary occurs the following entry: "The surprise of Stuart on the Rappahannock has chilled every heart. Notwithstanding it does not appear that we have lost more men in the encounter, the question is on every tongue, 'Have our Generals relaxed in vigilance?' If so, sad is the prospect."
Although the fact of this combat did not check Lee's advance materially, it gave a confidence to our troops that bore fruit afterwards.