Stuart's Ride Around McClellan Begins

Here at Elmont (known as Kilby's Station during the Civil War), Confederate Brig. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart assembled the last of his 1,200 cavalrymen and began his ride around Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac on 12 June 1862. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee had instructed Stuart to gather intelligence, especially about the location of the army's flanks, and to disrupt Federal supply and communication lines. The Southern cavalrymen rode about 80 miles in the next 72 hours. Less than two weeks later, Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson led his men down many of the same Hanover County roads, benefiting from the information Stuart had collected.