Perilous escape of 'wagon train of woe'

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The chaos of the three-day battle at Gettysburg had hardly abated when Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee confronted one of the greatest challenges of the war.

The tactical situation was lost after Pickett's Charge, to be sure, but now Lee had nearly 13,000 wounded soldiers, thousands of wagons laden with Pennsylvania food and forage, hundreds of scattered and disorganized units, thousands of Union prisoners, and a very tenuous 40-mile line of retreat through enemy territory.

It was a potential disaster in human suffering that could destroy the Army of Northern Virginia.

In this period of uncertainty, while news of the great battle was still filtering out to the rest of the world, Lee turned to a little-known figure, Gen. John D. Imboden, to tackle the problem.

Meeting with Lee

Imboden was a controversial leader of irregular cavalry ("raiders") with a successful service record but a reputation for self-aggrandizement and lack of discipline.

Lee's regular cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart had sorely let him down at Gettysburg, arriving late and failing to provide any worthwhile intelligence about the enemy's movements. Rather than Stuart, Lee summoned Imboden from Chambersburg, Pa., on the evening of July 3 to take charge of the wagon train, prisoners, and a secret packet for Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Imboden found Lee shortly before midnight consulting with corps commander Gen. A.P. Hill and was sent back to Lee's tent to wait for him. When Lee returned around 1 a.m., Imboden found him unusually pensive, and exhausted.

"Fixing his eyes upon the ground [he] leaned in silence and almost emotionless upon his equally weary horse," Imboden recalled. The image of his troubled commander in chief moved him deeply.

Once they were inside Lee's tent, both sat down, and Lee gave Imboden detailed verbal instructions. He was to take his 2,100-man brigade and, supplemented by artillery, proceed southward with the entire train to Williamsport, Md. After crossing the Potomac, the column would continue to Winchester, Va.