Early Stages of Stuart's Ride Around McClellan

Confederate Brig. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart with his 1,200 cavalrymen rode past this spot on the morning of 12 June 1862, heading west. On a mission to gather intelligence about Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac, Stuart hoped to deceive his foes into thinking that he was joining Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley. His true objective was northeastern Hanover County, in the rear of the Union army, about a dozen miles east of here. The westward feint and the narrow, tree-lined country roads, allowed Stuart to conceal the true nature of his expedition.