Imboden's Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign

By Steve French

John Daniel Imboden carved out one of the most unique and fascinating careers of the Civil War. In 1859, the lawyer and politician was commissioned a captain in the Staunton (Va.) Artillery. When war broke out in 1861, he served with his battery at Harpers Ferry and First Manassas. In 1862, Imboden raised the 1st Virginia Partisan Rangers and fought in Stonewall Jackson’s famed Shenandoah Valley Campaign. A promotion to brigadier general followed in early 1863, as did daring cavalry raids. Imboden served until the end of the war, but it was his service during the Gettysburg Campaign for which he is best remembered. Steve French’s Imboden’s Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign, the winner of the 2008 Bachelder-Coddington Award, the Gettysburg Civil War Round Table Book Award, and the Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal, is the first full-length book to tell the story of the general’s “finest hour.”

The brigadier and his 1400-man Northwestern Virginia brigade, which included artillery, infantry and cavalry, spent most of the early days of the campaign raiding along the B&O Railroad in western Virginia, before guarding ammunition and supply trains in the rear of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia during the three-day (July 1-3, 1863) Battle of Gettysburg. The sharp Confederate defeat forced a hasty retreat , and Lee put Imboden in charge of escorting the wagons filled with thousands of wounded safely back to Virginia. After a harrowing journey beset by heavy rain and attacks by roving bands of Union cavalry, Imboden’s seventeen-mile-long “wagon train of misery” finally reached Williamsport, Maryland, where the flooding Potomac River trapped them.

On July 5-6, Imboden established a strong defensive position on a ridge outside of town and cobbled together a force of soldiers that included his own brigade, various Confederate units on their way to join the army, 600 teamsters, many walking wounded and over twenty cannons. Demonstrating sound judgment and outstanding bravery, this hastily organized force beat back attacks by two Union cavalry divisions in the “Wagoners Fight.” Imboden’s efforts saved the wagon train and thousands of men who would otherwise have been captured or killed. General Lee praised Imboden and reported that he “gallantly repulsed” the enemy troopers.

French’s Imboden’s Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign is based on scores of archival sources, newspaper accounts, and an excellent understanding of the terrain. The dozens of maps, photos, and illustrations, coupled with French’s smooth prose, tells in riveting detail the full story of the often forgotten but absolutely critical role Imboden and his men played during the final fateful days of the Gettysburg Campaign.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Savas Publishing
• Release date: Sep 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781940669021

Steve French

Steve French is an author and historian of the American Civil War.

Book preview

Cover Photo - Tombstone of Imboden’s Soldiers - McConnellsburg, PA

– Steve French

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by

any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any

information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the

publisher.

Printed by the Morgan Messenger - 2008

Second Printing - 2010

Berkeley Springs, West Virginia

© 2008 Steve French

Hedgesville, West Virginia

Digital First Edition

eISBN-13: 978-1-940669-02-1

989 Governor Drive, Suite 102

El Dorado Hills, CA 95762

916-941-6896 (phone)

916-941-6895 (fax)

This book is dedicated to the memory of my father

Claude H. French

(1927-2006)

and my uncle

Robert L. French

(1930-2007)

Vita Fugit Sicut Umbra

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1-CUMBERLAND

CHAPTER 2-HANCOCK

CHAPTER 3 FULTON COUNTY

CHAPTER 4 McCONNELLSBURG

CHAPTER 5 MERCERSBURG

CHAPTER 6 CASHTOWN

CHAPTER 7 PREPARING FOR THE RETREAT

CHAPTER 8 GREENCASTLE

CHAPTER 9 DAHLGREN

CHAPTER 10 CUNNINGHAM’S CROSSROADS

CHAPTER 11 WILLIAMSPORT

CHAPTER 12 WILLIAMSPORT - THE WAGONER’S FIGHT

CHAPTER 13 CLEAR SPRING

CHAPTER 14 THE PRISONER’S MARCH TO STAUNTON

CHAPTER 15 HEDGESVILLE

EPILOG

APPENDIX

APPENDIX II

APPENDIX III

BIBLIOGRAPHY

FOOTNOTES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Throughout the fourteen years of research for this book, a number of people have gone out of their way to provide me with help in ferreting out hard-to-find information. I would now like to take this opportunity to show them my appreciation.

First, I would like to thank six men whose assistance on this endeavor was invaluable to me. Many years ago, the late John Eckerd of Hedgesville loaned me the three books from his library that contain the official reports and messages of both armies during the Gettysburg Campaign. When he gave the Official Records to me he said, Keep them until you’re finished. Well John, I finally am. Without them to rely on old friend, I would have probably missed finding many small bits of information that were crucial to the manuscript. Army of Potomac cavalry expert Eric Wittenberg, of Columbus Ohio, provided many sources from his collection that really helped on the chapters dealing with the retreat from Gettysburg and the Battle of Williamsport. John Frye, of the Washington County Free Library Western Maryland Room, has been a constant provider of local historical material. C&O Canal historian Tim Snyder came up with quite a few little-known newspaper accounts about incidents along that waterway during the Gettysburg Campaign. McConnellsburg historian Sam Buterbaugh was a terrific source of obscure primary sources and pictures of historical sites in that town and other parts of Fulton County. Last, but certainly not least, is Antietam Battlefield Park Historian Ted Alexander. Over the years, Ted has given me much advice, encouragement, and always steered me in the right direction on this project.

The following individuals will be recognized for the help they gave me in my research of particular geographic areas. This would include not only written information but also the location of old roads and houses plus period photographs. In Hardy and Hampshire counties- Woodrow JaySimmons, Rob Wolford, and the late Fritz Haselberger; Cumberland- Al Feldstein, the late Harold Scott, Jack Andrews, and Donnie Nazelrod; French’s Depot-Frances McCaffrey; Bloomery and Spring Gap Mountain-Steve Peacemaker, Tommy Swain, Mitch Walburn; Berkeley Springs- Betty Ditto, Leonard Davis, John Douglas; Sleepy Creek- Howard Butts and the late Elmer Younker; Cherry Run- Tex Hessler, Raymond Litten, Dave Walburn; Hedgesville- Jim Droegemeyer, Ronnie Good, Charles McGlurkin; Martinsburg and ‘Boydville"-Dr. James Price, Jane Snyder, Don Wood; Winchester and vicinity- Ben Ritter; Falling Waters- Gary Gimbel, Chuck Walker; Hancock- Don Corbett, Marian Golden, Estelle Ditto; Fulton County and McConnellsburg- Nat Munson, John Nelson, Mike Musick, W.L. Mosebey, Will Ford, Blair Daniels; Mercersburg- Warren Reeder, John Thompson IV; Chambersburg, Marion, New Franklin, and the Pine Stump Road- Judith and Tom Gerhart; Greencastle- Owen Witmer; Cunningham’s Crossroads and Broadfording Cemetery- Doug Dobbs, Rick Everett, Dick Neikirk, and George Turner; Williamsport- the late Earl Anderson, Skip Bowers, Kim Bowers, Patricia French, Jim Kalbfleisch, Dorthea Keadle, Joan and Jerry Knode, and Maurice Snyder; Clear Spring- David Wiles.

These men provided information, pictures, etc., on various military organizations and individual soldiers. 18th Virginia Cavalry- Tim Sullivan; Colonel George Hugh Smith and the 62nd Virginia Infantry- Richard Armstrong, Bob Banning, and Dwayne Borror; McNeill’s Rangers- Roger Delauter; 1st New York (Lincoln) Cavalry and Major General Rodes’ division- Rob Wynstra; 12th Pennsylvania Cavalry- Larry Maier; 54th Pennsylvania Infantry- Brian Mathias, Hart’s Battery- Tom Elmore and Robert Trout; Colonel John Logan Black-Douglas Haines, 2nd Battalion Maryland Cavalry- Horace Mewborn.

Special thanks go out to Athena Snowden for a great job of editing the manuscript and Tommy Rebuck for computer assistance. Tom Ryan read the manuscript and offered many helpful suggestions. My friends Dave Ambrose, Bobby Fuss, Gary Gimbel, Richard Pearly Rankin, Rick Snowden, and Rodney Walburn also accompanied me at various times as I toured portions of the Northwestern Virginia Brigade’s route to and from Gettysburg.

The following institutions have provided valuable assistance- Antietam National Battlefield Library, Berkeley County Historical Society, (Martinsburg). Lillian S. Besore Memorial Library, (Greencastle) Fendrick Library, (Mercersburg), Fulton County Historical Society, (McConnellsburg) Gettysburg National Military Park Library, Hancock Historical Society, Library of Congress, National Archives, Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Library, Shepherd University Library, Town Museum of Williamsport, Virginia Historical Society, Virginia Military Institute, University of Virginia Library, Virginia Tech University Library, Washington County Free Library- Western Maryland Room, Washington County Maryland Historical Society, West Virginia University Library.

INTRODUCTION

2008 G. Street N.W.

Washington Feb. 18, 1885

Dear Col. Bachelder:

Can you give me any definite information about Imboden and his command in the Gettysburg Campaign as to its character, strength, and service at Gettysburg other than evacuating the wounded on the retreat?

Gen. Henry J. Hunt (1)

Writing something new regarding the Gettysburg Campaign is akin to writing something new about Abraham Lincoln. A historian considering the difficulty of adding another tome to the already massive number of related works on the subject must ask the obvious question, Is there a topic in this campaign that has not been studied and written to death by other authors? Fortunately, for me, many years ago while listening to a speech I accidentally came across an idea for an original and interesting Gettysburg story.

One November evening in 1993, I drove to Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, to attend the Cumberland Valley Civil War Round Table’s annual book auction. At the end of the event noted Civil War historian Ed Bearss was on hand to give a talk concerning R. E. Lee’s advance to Pennsylvania. For over an hour, the consummate lecturer strode back and forth across the front of the classroom enthralling his audience with exciting tales of the Battles of Brandy Station, Second Winchester, Stephenson’s Depot, and the bloody skirmishes that occurred along the way as the 70,000-man gray tide rolled north towards the Mason-Dixon Line.

Near the end of his speech, though, Mr. Bearss made a statement that really piqued my interest. Just after commenting for five minutes about Confederate cavalry chief Major General Jeb Stuart’s problems on the right flank of the advance, he suddenly turned to action on the Confederate left flank, forcefully saying, And out in the mountains to the west, Imboden’s men are stealing cattle and horses and pillaging the countryside! Anxious to learn more with regard to this often overlooked group of soldiers, I leaned forward to make sure I could hear all that he had to say. Bearss surprised me, however, by abruptly ending his comments about Imboden and quickly moving on to another subject.

Driving back to West Virginia that rainy night, I wondered why the speaker had not given a more thorough explanation of what Brigadier General Imboden and his vandals really did out in the mountains. After some serious thought on the matter, I concluded that Mr. Bearss’ brief comment probably indicated that he was mostly unaware about the specific goings-on in that quarter, and if someone with his encyclopedic knowledge of the conflict knew very little on the topic probably very few other scholars of The War Between the States did either.

Over the next year, I began reading everything I could find regarding the brigade’s activities during June-July 1863. I quickly discovered that the reason Bearss and other historians knew so little with regard to the role of the unit in the beginning weeks of the invasion hinged on the fact that no final report by the brigadier describing the activities of his command during the Gettysburg Campaign exists. Only some brief messages and reports written by Imboden to General R.E. Lee in the early weeks of the campaign can be found in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Much more is known, however, about what the brigade did during July. Years after the conflict, the general penned two long magazine articles focusing on his troubles in bringing most of the Rebel wounded back from Gettysburg to Williamsport, Maryland.

Although in the fall of 1995, I did write an article for The Washington Times about Imboden and the Wagoner’s Fight at Williamsport, I did not get fully involved in researching the general’s command in the Gettysburg Campaign until the spring of 1998. By this time, I had accumulated some good Confederate primary source material on the subject but had gathered very little information from the writings or published comments of local citizens who witnessed the raid. Then, with an idea for an article detailing the brigade’s march to Pennsylvania, I began traveling the back roads of West Virginia, Maryland, and the Keystone State trying to figure out Imboden’s route and visiting the archives of various local historical societies, libraries, and museums along the way to see what helpful records they might contain.

During these many forays, I found out that all of the localities raided by the northwesterners still had a wealth of first-hand information preserved describing their encounter with the guerrilla chieftain and his land pirates. After collecting and studying some of these books, diaries, memoirs, newspaper accounts, and town records, I wrote an article for Gettysburg Magazine entitled Imboden’s Advance to Gettysburg. I intended the story, which appeared in the July 1999 edition of the publication, to not only present a basic overview of what this band of northwestern Virginians was doing at this time but also to show how their activities brought the hardships of internecine war to the many civilians who unfortunately just happened to live in the raider’s path.

Approximately three months after mailing the article to my editor at Gettysburg Magazine, another opportunity to seriously research Imboden and his men came my way. Towards the end of December 1998, Keith Poulter, publisher of North & South contacted me with an offer to write a 4,000 word piece for the magazine detailing how Imboden brought the wounded back from Gettysburg and his subsequent defense of Williamsport against a determined attack by veteran Union cavalry. Although Keith gave me a tight deadline for the story, I quickly agreed to write the article and in the following weeks got busy retracing Imboden’s route to the Potomac River from Cashtown, Pennsylvania to Williamsport and once again ferreting out all the information I could from local archives. In August 1999, my article entitled Hurry Was The Order Of The Day, appeared along with other stories by Ted Alexander, Kent Masterson Brown, and Eric Wittenberg in a special edition of North & South called The Retreat From Gettysburg.

Although by now I had accumulated enough information to write a short book on Imboden’s brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign, I decided to let the subject rest for a time and research other obscure Civil War actions and personalities. I did, however, keep on the lookout for more new material on the topic and used some that I found to write occasional stories for various magazines and newspapers about incidents during the raid. In July 2002, Gettysburg Magazine also published my article The Rebels At Williamsport, which, although not exactly focusing on Imboden’s brigade, included a longer and more thorough description of The Wagoner’s Fight, than had been in the North & South article.

In January of 2004, I finally began writing the first chapter of this manuscript and was progressing along quite well with it until sidetracked the next month by a fortunate chance to edit a local Civil War diary from Johnsontown, West Virginia. The work on that book, Four Years Along The Tilhance: The Private Diary of Elisha Manor, and many subsequent newspaper articles took me away from my main goal for quite some time. In the meantime, however, much more information on Imboden and the Gettysburg Campaign continued to come my way.

Finally, on the evening of December 8, 2006, I got back to the manuscript with the intention of having it finished and to the printers by the end of June 2007. By July, however, I was still plodding through the footnotes each night with the preparation of the bibliography still ahead. Failure to meet my self-imposed deadline, though, had some benefits. During the last few months, I have been able to acquire some period photographs and drawings that illustrate the story better.

In the following pages I have attempted to provide the reader, whether armchair or professional historian, an accurate and exciting account of a part of the Gettysburg Campaign that has been long overlooked. Now follow the colors as Brigadier General John D. Imboden and his highland band march north towards their rendezvous with destiny.

Steve French

Spruce Pine Hollow

January 6, 2008.

CHAPTER 1-CUMBERLAND

Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia

June 7, 1863

Brig. Gen. J.D. Imboden

Commanding Northwestern Brigade, via Staunton.

In view of operations in the Shenandoah Valley,

I desire you to attract the enemy’s attention in

Hampshire County, and to proceed down to

Romney… After leaving a sufficient guard on

Shenandoah Mountain, you can use the rest of your

command for the purpose specified. In attracting

their attention and detaining whatever force they

have at New Creek, Cumberland, Cacapon, &c,

you will of course, do them all the injury in your

power by striking them a damaging blow at any

point that opportunity offers…It will be important,

… to destroy some of the bridges so as to prevent

the communications and the transfer of re-enforcements

to Martinsburg. After accomplishing what you can in

Hampshire, … you can cooperate with any troops that

you may find operating in the Valley. Forward … any

information you may deem important.

I desire you to move into Hampshire as soon as possible…

In connection with this purpose, it is important that you

should obtain …all the cattle that you can. … I hope you

will be able… to collect recruits for your brigade, both

cavalry and infantry, and bring them out with you.

I am, very respectively, &c

R.E. Lee

General. (1)

The soldiers of the Northwestern Virginia Brigade were camped near Churchville, Virginia, when their leader, Brigadier General John D. Imboden, received an important communiqué from Army of Northern Virginia commander General Robert E. Lee. In it, Lee briefly apprised his forty-year-old subordinate of the army’s upcoming thrust into the lower Shenandoah Valley, and issued orders that started the brigade on what proved to be its most eventful mission of the war.

Once again, just as they had done in early October 1862 known then as the 1st Virginia Partisan Rangers, Imboden and his mountaineers were embarking on a dangerous foray to destroy bridges and track along the B&O’s upper-Potomac line and fight any Federal force that got in their way. If the raiders were successful, Lee strongly believed that, for a time, they would cripple the railroad and distract Union forces stationed along the line from moving south and harassing Lieutenant General Richard Ewell’s Second Corps as it marched down the Valley towards the Potomac fords at Shepherdstown, Virginia and Williamsport, Maryland.

BRIG. GEN. JOHN D. IMBODEN

–author’s collection

The Northwestern Virginia Brigade was unlike any other outfit in Lee’s army. In reality, it was a small legion having its own contingent of artillery, cavalry, and infantry. The brigade’s three units included the 18th Virginia Cavalry, commanded by Colonel George Imboden, the general’s brother; the 62nd Virginia Infantry, led by Colonel George Hugh Smith; and Captain J. H. McClanahan’s six-gun battery of horse artillery.

Originally consisting of companies of volunteers recruited by Imboden in the spring and summer of 1862 for the 1st Virginia Partisan Rangers, in January 1863, the force reorganized and joined the Army of Northern Virginia. The Confederate high command envisioned the brigade as a roving highland band that could be used to forage the mountain valleys of northwestern Virginia for food and livestock and to make life hard for its Union occupiers and loyalists. Imboden fighters, however, belonged to no Corps in the army. Only R.E. Lee issued the brigadier his orders. (2)

Thus far, the brigade’s most important accomplishment had been a month-long raid in coordination with Brigadier General William. E. Jones’ cavalry that April and May into the trans-Allegheny region of western Virginia. While Jones’ troopers tried to cripple the B&O, Imboden’s highland graybacks fought a few skirmishes but mainly spent the time proving they were experts in rounding up cattle, horses and mules while amassing a collection of over 2,000 head of much needed livestock that they eventually herded back to the Shenandoah Valley. (3)

On Tuesday, June 9, just two days after receiving Lee’s orders to march towards the Potomac, Imboden had his 1300-1400 soldiers on the road towards Brock’s Gap, a pass over Little North Mountain. At the very same time that Jeb Stuart’s gray riders were fighting for their lives against Major General Alfred Pleasonton’s cavalry in the fields around Brandy Station, Imboden’s soldiers were moving northward at a leisurely pace followed by their supply train of approximately fifty wagons. (4)

Over the next three days, the command only covered thirty-nine miles. Upon reaching the pass, many of the troopers in the 18th regiment celebrated by getting drunk. At that time, 22 year-old Captain Frank Imboden, another of the general’s brothers and a persistent diarist wrote, Heard of a cavalry fight at Culpeper. (5)

Somewhere along the trail, General Imboden received another message from R.E. Lee. Written on June 10, the commander praised him for his promptness in starting the mission and once again encouraged him to enlist recruits and collect horses and cattle for the army. Lee also insisted that the livestock be sent back promptly to the upper part of the Shenandoah Valley; and turned over to the agents of the Quartermaster and Commissary Departments. In closing, Lee urged Imboden to send swiftly General Ewell any pertinent information that he might acquire in the mountains and to especially follow any orders Ewell might send him. (6)

Once across Little North Mountain, the brigadier quickly dispatched riders in various directions to buy stock from the local farmers, and by the time the command reached Moorefield, the county seat of Hardy County, on June 13, the Confederates had already purchased a fine herd of cattle from the sympathetic locals. Some drovers were then dispatched from the column to drive the animals back over the mountains to the Shenandoah Valley. (7)

Frequently in colonial days, Indian war parties from the Ohio Valley had threatened the exposed frontier village of Moorefield and its nearby farms. The self-reliant Scot-Irish and their German neighbors, however, had eventually triumphed over the Red man, and through the years worked hard establishing a prosperous community.

Now many years later, the usually tranquil area was once again the scene of border fighting, as Yankees cavalry and infantry occasionally swooped down from Cumberland, New Creek, or Romney looking to roundup Southern fighters and sympathizers. During the conflict, the locals had seen a few skirmishes in the streets, but for the most part, the men needed to defend the town and keep the bluecoats away were serving in Lee’s army. Today, though, some of these fathers, husbands, and sons were back in Moorefield and on their way with Imboden to strike a blow against the Federals in their behalf. (8)

No doubt, the happy womenfolk fed their heroes well that Saturday evening. Other soldiers, though, also took time to enjoy some female companionship. Frank Imboden, a well-known Casanova, wrote in his diary that he Visited Miss S. R. C. and found her looking, if possible, more beautiful than a year since, i.e. as pretty as a peach. (9)

On the morning of June 14, the Confederates marched about five miles out of Moorefield to the South Branch River. There they set up camp across the narrow stream from the farming community of Old Fields. That evening the Confederates spotted a solitary Yankee scout peering at them from a field across the river. (10)

From his headquarters, Imboden had two options in advancing on Romney. He could either march due north along the Trough (River) Road or ford the South Branch and follow the Mill Creek Road to Junction on the Northwestern Turnpike. Both routes had their advantages and disadvantages. The distance to Romney via Trough Road, which paralleled the river, was seven miles shorter, but the strung out column would be prone to ambush, especially along the three-mile stretch of canyon that gave the road its name. On the other hand, the Mill Creek Road gave the general a little more safety, but once on the pike, a small enemy force could easily block the Confederates at Mechanicsburg Gap, a narrow pass through Mill Creek Mountain approximately three miles west of Romney.

Although Imboden did not know it at the time, Major General Robert Schenck, commanding Union forces along the B&O, that same day had telegraphed orders from Baltimore to move all troops and stores west of Martinsburg to Grafton. As a result, Colonel Jacob M. Campbell, commanding a force dug in atop the gap from his own 54th Pennsylvania Infantry and the Ringgold Battalion of Pennsylvania Cavalry marched west to the rail-town of New Creek leaving the pass wide open. By this time, Campbell’s scouts had already spotted the Rebels across from Old Fields, and the colonel suspected that they were probably the vanguard of a stronger force that just might not only strike the railroad but also cross the Mason-Dixon Line and raid into Pennsylvania. (11)

On June 15, the cavalry, except for a small detachment that rode towards Junction, led the brigade up the Trough Road. Captain Frank Imboden recalled reaching Romney at approximately 2 p.m. and finding it empty of Federals. Colonel Smith’s regiment did not come on into town, but camped on a farm some distance south of the town.

Lieutenant John Blue, an officer in the 11th Virginia Cavalry, remembered spying Imboden’s camp upriver from Romney as he was riding along the crest of Mill Creek Mountain. I had no idea what command it was or where it came from or how many there where…Finally I came to the conclusion that it must be Gen. Imboden. (12)

It was probably sometime during the mid-afternoon that Captain John H McNeill rode into headquarters to see General Imboden. McNeill and some of his rangers were resting in Romney that day and, no doubt, were surprised to see their fellow Virginians coming up the long hill into town. At their meeting, the brigadier promptly ordered the old partisan eastward to the Shenandoah Valley to scout for Ewell.

At the beginning of the war, McNeill was a forty-six year old successful stockbreeder living in Missouri. Joining the Confederate militia forces there, his sons and he fought in a few actions including Wilson’s Creek and Lexington where he was wounded. By the summer of 1862, however, he was back at his ancestral home in the South Branch Valley. Raising a company of tough mountaineers to join Imboden’s partisan outfit, he stayed with him until the brigade was formed. Rather than joining the regular service, McNeill left the command taking his son Jesse and approximately eighteen others with him as the nucleus of a new ranger company. (13)

Around noon on June 16, the brigade broke camp and started marching the nine miles north to Springfield. Reaching the village that evening, the Confederates were then only about four miles from the B&O’s Green Spring Station and five miles from the line’s magnificent iron bridge at the mouth of the South Branch. Later that night, the general dispatched Colonel George Imboden and eight companies of cavalry totaling around 350 men, along