He proposed, therefore, while his staff explored the
mountains for a track which might lead him the next day to the rear
of the Federal position, merely to hold his ground on Sitlington's
Hill.
His immediate opponent, however, was a general of more resource and
energy than Banks. Milroy was at least able to supply himself with
information. On May 7 he had been advised by his scouts and spies
that Jackson and Johnson had combined, and that they were advancing
to attack him at M'Dowell. At 10 A.M. the next day Schenck's brigade
arrived from Franklin, after a march of thirty-four miles in
twenty-three hours, and a little later the enemy's scouts were
observed on the lofty crest of Sitlington's Hill. The day wore on.
The Federal battery, with muzzles elevated and the trails thrust into
trenches, threw occasional shells upon the heights, and parties of
skirmishers were sent across the river to develop the Confederate
strength. Johnson, to whom Jackson had confided the defence of the
position, kept his troops carefully concealed, merely exposing
sufficient numbers to repel the Federal patrols. Late in the
afternoon a staff officer reported to Jackson that he had discovered
a rough mountain track, which, passing through the mountains to the
north-west, crossed the Bull Pasture River and came out upon the road
between M'Dowell and Franklin.
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