The operations which resulted in the capture
of Harper's Ferry had been arduous in the extreme. Men who had taken
part in the forced marches of the Valley campaign declared that the
march from Frederick to Harper's Ferry surpassed all their former
experiences. In three-and-a-half days they had covered over sixty
miles, crossing two mountain ranges, and fording the Potomac. The
weather had been intensely hot, and the dust was terrible. Nor had
the investment of Harper's Ferry been a period of repose. They had
been under arms during the night which preceded the surrender,
awaiting the signal to assault within a few hundred yards of the
enemy's sentries. As soon as the terms of capitulation were arranged
they had been hurried back to the bivouac, had cooked two days'
rations, and shortly after midnight had marched to the Potomac,
seventeen miles away. This night march, coming on the top of their
previous exertions, had taxed the strength of many beyond endurance.
The majority were badly shod. Many were not shod at all. They were
ill-fed, and men ill-fed are on the highroad to hospital. There were
stragglers, then, from every company in the command. Even the
Stonewall Brigade, though it had still preserved its five regiments,
was reduced to 300 muskets; and the other brigades of Jackson's
division were but little stronger.
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