Leaving the brigade before mentioned to hold the position, Stuart then, in the exercise of a discretion given him by General Lee and so stated in his report, determined to pass to the rear of the Federal army and cross the Potomac at Seneca Falls, a point between that army and their capital. Thus, it will be seen, including the brigade and battalion of cavalry which composed the vanguard of the army, that over one-half of the cavalry was left in position to be used by General Lee.
Hooker, in his dispatch to his President, June 21st, (Report on the Conduct of the War, volume 1, page 279,) referring to Stuart's command, says: "This cavalry force has hitherto prevented me from obtaining satisfactory information as to the whereabouts of the enemy; they had masked all their movements." General Hooker had reference to the five brigades holding the country between his army and the marching column of General Lee—Jenkins being in front of the advanced corps (Ewell's) with Colonel White's battalion, in addition to his own command. The cavalry corps, by the return of May 31st, 1863, numbered 9,536. According to a letter from Major McClellan, Stuart's A. A. G., this force was divided about as follows: Hampton, 1,200; Fitz. Lee, 2,000; W. H. F. Lee, 1,800; Jones, 3,500; Robertson, 1,000. It is proper to state that the figures above refer to the enlisted men present for duty. The total effective strength (inclusive of officers) numbered, according to Walter Taylor, at that date, 10,292. (I am satisfied, from a conversation with General Robertson, that McClellan overestimates the number of men in Jones' brigade, and therefore underestimates the number in some of the other brigades.) There is no authenticated return after the above date until August. After the return above cited, the losses at Brandy Station fight, the three days fighting in Loudoun, the encounter at Westminster, Maryland, Hanover, Pennsylvania, and other points, occurred, together with the usual reduction of mounted troops from long and rapid marching. It is proper to say that the return quoted did not include the commands of Jenkins, Imboden, or White. General Stuart, in his report (August No., 1876, Southern Historical Society Papers, p. 76,) estimated Jenkins' brigade, on leaving Virginia, at 3,800 troopers. I think this number is probably a misprint; from the best information I can get, this brigade numbered at that time 1,600. (See Rodes' official
