Stuart was gone and Forrest was far away, but they knew that danger from the fierce riders of the South was always present.

Just when the capital seemed safest Early's men had appeared in its very suburbs, and here in Virginia, where the hand of every man and of every woman and child also was against them, it was wise to watch well.
As they rode on the country was still marked by desolation.

The fields were swept bare or trampled down.

Many of the houses and barns and all the fences had been burned.

The roads had been torn up by the passage of artillery and countless wagons.