On the 10th instant the major called on me to aid him with men and cannon, but as the necessity for them seeded to have vanished, the order, was countermanded. Again, on Sunday, the 13th, I received reliable information that the rebel force were concentrating in the direction of Harper's Ferry, and I also learned from Major Gould that he required assistance. In the evening, accompanied by Governor Sprague, of Rhode Island, and Colonel Tompkins, of the Rhode Island Artillery, I went to Sandy Hook, with two companies of my regiment and one piece of cannon. On Monday I entered into Virginia, and on that day and following one aided in the removal of the wheat, and held in check the gathering of the enemy.

The troops under my command were four companies (A, D, F, And G) of the Twenty-eight Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, three companies of the Third Wisconsin Regiment, numbering in all 600 men, and two pieces of cannon, under command of Captain Tompkins, of the Rhode Island Battery, and two pieces of the Ninth New York Battery, under Lieutenant Martin. About 100 men of the Massachusetts regiment were left on the north side of the Potomac River, and the two pieces of the Rhode Island Battery were placed on the Maryland Heights, one of the New York guns on the railroad opposite Harper's Ferry, and the other to command the approach from Pleasant Valley, in Virginia, where three companies of rebel cavalry were stationed. The command all the troops thus left I confided to Major Gould.

The object work which the river had been crossed having been accomplish, on Tuesday night I had determined to recross the river on Wednesday and permit the troops to their various regiments; but about 7 o'clock on the morning of the 16th my pickets stationed on the heights above Bolivar, extending from the Potomac to the Shenandoah River, about 2 1\2 miles west of Herper's Ferry, were driven into the town of Bolivar by the enemy, who approached from the west in three columns, consisting of infantry and cavalry, supported by artillery.

I was upon the ground in a few minutes, and rallied my pickets upon the main body our troops in Bolivar. In a short time the action became general. The advanced guard of the rebels, consisting of several hundred cavalry, charged gallantly towards the upper part of the town, and their artillery and infantry soon took position upon the eights from which my pickets had been driven. The enemy's three pieces of artillery were stationed on and near the Charlestown road where it crosses Bolivar Heights. They had one 32-pounder columbiad, one steel rifled 13-pounder, and one brass 6-pounder, all of which were served upon the troops of my command with great activity, the large gun throwing alternately solid shot, shell, and grape, and the others principally fuse shell.

While these demonstrations were being made in front a large body of men made their appearance upon Loudoun Heights, with four pieces of cannon and sharpshooters stationed at the most eligible points of the mountain, to bombard our troops, and greatly annoy us the use of the ferry on the Potomac. The commencement of the firing upon out front and left was almost simultaneous.

In order to prevent the enemy from crossing the Shenandoah, I detached a company of the Thirteenth Massachusetts Regiment, under command of Captain Shriber, for the defense of the fords on that river. He took position near the old rifle works, and during the action rendered good service there. There then remained under my immediate