In the morning at 7 o'clock my head of column took the left- hand road. I mounted a negro whom I had found in the night, and took him with me. He pointed out a road turning out to the left by which he said he could show a party how to get to the road from Germanna Ford to Robertson's Tavern. I detailed a party of cavalry, and ordered them to communicate with General Warren and reconnoiter the route, and report on it as soon as they came in sight of the column of the Second Corps. This messenger, in attempting to fulfill this order, was chased off of the road by rebel cavalry, and did not return as soon as the rest of the party by an hour or more.

I had halted my command at the turn- out, or forks, putting about one brigade (the First) in advance of the forks, i. e., toward the enemy on the right- hand road. The artillery I turned off into a field and held it back, on to the left- hand road. The right- hand road is the direct road to Robertson's Tavern. As, however, I had learned that it came into the road from Raccoon Ford to Robertson's Tavern, 2 miles or thereabouts before reaching Robertson's Tavern, and only about 2 miles from Bartlett's Mill (which information I communicated to General Warren by the party I sent to him), I did not consider that we could march on that road without being taken at some disadvantage by the enemy.

I sent the cavalry to reconnoiter to the Raccoon Ford road, with directions to approach it, carefully, but to find out id possible what was there. This they did, but the enemy's cavalry kept them from examining the road.

In this position of things I remained about two hours, waiting a report from the party sent to communicate. While thus waiting, the headquarters of the corps was announced as having come up and halted some 300 yards in rear of the forks, and a staff officer from those headquarters requested from me, for the major- general commanding, a full account of the state of things, which I gave. In about two hours the party sent to the Second Corps returned, and a full report was made to the major- general commanding the corps, and be considered as caused in the Third Corps column by want of knowledge of route.

No instructions were given me, however, and I waited for them. At length an order came to proceed by the Robertson's Tavern road, and this order was communicated to me in the following terms: "The general orders that you move on by the Robertson's Tavern road, and he wants to know what you are going to do." My reply was, "I shall first take the road (in military parlance), and having obtained possession of it, I shall reconnoiter and act according to circumstances."

I had fully and freely given the reasons to the staff officer from corps headquarters (who had announced that he was in attendance upon, or with me, to obtain information for the major- general commanding) why I would not take this road; and that I should not take it without positive instructions to do so, or learning that it was intended that I should take it by the course that the firing of Warren took, to which I was listening, and which I said must take a different course from what it had taken. But now that I had my instructions to take this road, I at once made my arrangements. Lieutenant- Colonel Burns, a special aide on my staff, who had