These, however, were altogether insufficient for the numbers, and most of the men preferred to sleep in shelters composed of canvas, carpets, blankets, or any other material that came to hand, or in arbors constructed of the boughs of trees, for it was now April and warm enough to sleep in the open air.
In the third week in May the order came that the corps was to march at once for Harper's Ferry--an important position at the point where the Shenandoah River runs into the Potomac, at the mouth of the Shenandoah Valley.

The order was received with the greatest satisfaction.

The Federal forces were gathering rapidly upon the northern banks of the Potomac, and it was believed that, while the main army would march down from Washington through Manassas Junction direct upon Richmond, another would enter by the Shenandoah Valley, and, crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains, come down on the rear of the Confederate army, facing the main force at Manassas.

The cavalry marched by road, while the infantry were dispatched by rail as far as Manassas Junction, whence they marched to Harper's Ferry.

The black servants accompanied the infantry.
The cavalry march was a pleasant one.