Stuart's "Very Narrow Escape"

At dawn on 18 Aug. 1862, Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart was awakened near here by the clatter of approaching cavalry. Expecting Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee to join him in scouting Maj. Gen. John Pope's Union army, Stuart was surprised by Federal troopers instead. Mounting his horse Skylark, Stuart vaulted a fence and barely escaped, but lost his hat. The next day, he wrote his wife that "I am greeted on all sides with congratulations and 'where's your hat!' I intend to make the Yankees pay for that hat." On 22 Aug., raiding Catlett Station, Stuart captured Pope's gaudy dress uniform coat and later suggested an exchange of "prisoners" to no avail