Lee had begun to move for the purpose of invading the Northern lines a second time and compelling Hooker to leave the Southern lines and recross the Potomac. Stewart and his cavalry was massed for the purpose of protecting Lee's right on his march up the valley, to furnish information, to harass the Union army and to frighten Washington.
Pleasanton, with all the Union cavalry, was sent to attack Stewart. They met and one of the grandest cavalry fights known to history occurred, the consequences of which were all important. Final victory crowned the Union army, though equally claimed by the Confederates. Stewart, however, was compelled to leave the field in haste, hotly pursued by Pleasanton, thus bringing about the condition that both armies were without cavalry and consequently without the information of each other's position until they ran across each other by accident at Gettysburg.
