"The general may be attacked by the time we get there, and he'll want to know exactly how things are." They galloped back as fast as they could and found that General Jackson had moved his headquarters to the little village of Port Republic.

They found him and told him the news as he was mounting his horse, but at the same time an excited and breathless messenger came galloping up from another direction.

The vanguard of Shields had already routed his pickets, and the second Northern army was pressing forward in full force.
As he spoke, the Northern cavalry came in sight, and if those Northern horsemen had known what a prize was almost within their hands, they would have spared no exertion.
"Make for the bridge! Make for the bridge, general!" cried Dalton.
The horsemen in blue were not coming fast.

They rode cautiously through the streets.

Southern villages were not friendly to them, and this caution saved Stonewall Jackson.