History of Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5; prepared in compliance with acts of the legislature, by Samuel P. Bates.

362 SIXTIETH REGIMENT-THIRD CAVALRY. 1863
burg, and went into winter quarters near Potomac Creek. In the battle which
opened on the 13th of December, the nature of the contest rendering the operations of cavalry impracticable, the Third was not engaged. During the
winter the cavalry was kept busy in scouting in the direction of Warrenton
and the upper Rappahannock, in picketing in the direction of Hartwood
Church and the lower fords of the river. The dull routine of this service was
frequently enlivened by sharp encounters with the enemy's cavalry.
From the opening of the war, the rebels had claimed, for this arm of the service, great superiority over that of their opponents, and from the time when the
much famed Black Horse Cavalry-in which Virginia gentlemen rode their
own blooded hordes-had created consternation in the Union ranks in the first
Bull Run battle, to the beginning of 1863, the claim had been tacitly allowed.
But this judgment was now about to be reversed. From the disparagement
which it early met, and the limited opportunity which, in the first stages of the
war, had been given it for the display of its prowess, the Union Horse had
come to be regarded with something like a proper appreciation, and its organization and appointments were at length made equal in those respects to the
other arms of the service. It was now to enter upon a new career, and to display a degree of fortitude and valor rarely equalled in the annals of war.
General Fitz Hugh Lee, who commanded the cavalry of the enemy, sent
a letter through the pickets to General Averell, who had been his intimate
friend and classmate at West Point, inviting the latter to come over to see
him and bring him a bag of much needed coffee. Wishing to oblige him,
Averill, on the 16th of March, 1863, made a sudden dash in the direction of
Culpepper, forced a passage of the Rappahannock at Kelly's Ford, had a hard
fight, lasting several hours, with Fitz Lee and Stuart, overpowered and scattered their forces, left the bag of coffee as requested, and returned in triumph
to the northern bank, having inflicted severe loss upon the enemy and suffered
much less himself. The success in this encounter, known as the cavalry battle
of Kelly's Ford, was a surprise to the country, and the superiority here shown
was maintained. Captain Treichel was among the wounded.
The command returned to camp near Potomac Creek, where it remained
until the 29th of April, when General Stoneman, with the newly organized
cavalry corps, started for a diversion in favor of Hooker, about to strike a
heavy blow at Chancellorsville. Crossing the Rappahannock at Kelly's Ford,
where he joined Hooker, Stoneman, dividing his force into three columns commanded respectively by Averell, Buford, and Stoneman in person, commenced
one of the most extensive raids as yet undertaken on either side, and traversed
the whole country in the rear of Lee. Averill was ordered to move in the direction of Louisa and Orange Court House, to threaten Gordonsville, and to
keep the enemy's cavalry engaged. After a series of encounters and hard
marches he re-joined the rest of the army. "The damage done by this expedition was immense; they destroyed railroads, bridges, and depots, railroad
trains and locomotives, factories, mills and forges, grain, provisions and ammunition, took five hundred prisoners, and threw the people of Southern Virginia into a panic. The whole of Lee's railroad communications with Richmond
were for a time cut off."* The severity of the duty in this campaign bore
heavily upon the command, and upon its return to camp many of the regi* Chronicles of the Great Rebellion, page 55.