six o'clock in the morning
The servants of the next ten were to proceed by train to Winchester , while the slaves of all whose names remained in the bag were to be sent home at once , provided with passes permitting them to travel . To Vincent 's satisfaction his name was one of the first ten drawn , and Dan was therefore to go forward . The greater part of the men evaded the obligation to send their servants back to Richmond by dispatching them to friends who had estates in the Shenandoah Valley , with letters asking them to keep the men for them until the troop happened to come into their neighborhood . At six o'clock in the morning the troop mounted and rode to Bath , thirty miles away . It was here that Stuart had his headquarters , whence he sent out his patrols up and down the Potomac , between Harper 's Ferry on the east and Cumberland on the west . Stuart was away when they arrived , but he rode in a few hours afterward . `` Ah , Ashley !