On  the  1 2th  Milroy  sent  out  reconnoitering  parties;
one  of  these  returning  from  an  expedition  on  the  Front
Royal  road  brought  word  that  Confederate  forces  of
cavalry,  infantry,  and  artillery  had  been  encountered
twelve  miles  up  the  valley  from  Winchester  at  Cedar-
ville,  but  the  commanding  general  could  not  believe
that  this  force  belonged  to  Lee's  army,  and  that  he,
in  command  at  Winchester,  had  been  left  without
warning  from  Washington  concerning  such  approach.
That  night,  Friday,  June  12th,  at  ten  o'clock,  he  in-
formed by  wire  his  department  commander,  Schenck,
at  Baltimore,  concerning  the  approach  of  a  consider-
able Confederate  force,  and  asked  for  a  definite  order

116


SOME    PRELIMINARY   STEPS

either  to  hold  the  place  or  abandon  it.  Almost  at
once  a  telegram  was  prepared  directing  Milroy  to
withdraw  immediately,  but  before  the  operator  could
transmit  the  message  the  wires  were  cut  between
Harper's  Ferry  and  Winchester  by  Jenkins's  troopers,
and  Milroy  got  no  word.  Concluding,  therefore,
from  all  the  information  he  had  received  that  it  was
his  duty  to  hold  Winchester,  he  disposed  his  force
so  as  to  defend  the  town,  learning  late  on  Saturday
for  the  first  time  that  the  troops  in  his  front  were  two
divisions  of  Ewell's  corps,  possibly  over  twenty  thou-
sand in  number;  accordingly,  he  became  convinced
that  evening  that  unless  relieved  it  would  be  neces-
sary for  him  to  cut  his  way  through  the  environing
Confederate  lines  and  make  his  way,  if  he  could,
back  to  Harper's  Ferry.
