His men did fail to destroy the important railroad bridge over Conococheague Creek near Chambersburg which they were told, falsely, was made of iron.

The raid contributed to President Abraham Lincoln's decision to replace McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac less than a month later.

[3][4] Lee had not ordered an immediate pursuit of Pope's army because the Confederates were exhausted from three weeks of marching and the battle and were low on ammunition and supplies.

"Stonewall" Jackson to outflank the Union Army and get his force between Pope's men and Washington, D.C.[4] This led to the Battle of Chantilly or Ox Hill in Fairfax County, Virginia on September 1.

[12] On September 13, a Union soldier, Corporal Barton W. Mitchell, found a copy of Lee's Special Order 191 which gave the disposition and objectives of his army's detachments and their instructions for joining back together.

[20] Although his force was badly depleted and outnumbered after the heavy fighting, Lee kept his army at the field during the next day, but moved across the Potomac to Virginia that night.

[23] Nonetheless, McClellan lost the opportunity to destroy the Confederate army and allowed Lee to escape, reorganize and make up his losses.

"Rooney" Lee and William E. "Grumble" Jones, and Major John Pelham's four-gun battery of light horse artillery to carry out the mission.

[31][32][33][note 5] A small detachment of the 12th Illinois Cavalry Regiment under Captain Thomas Logan observed Stuart's force cross the Potomac River at McCoy's Ford near Old Fort Frederick, Maryland, west of Williamsport, Maryland, on the morning of October 10, but the small force could do no more than send the information back to Union headquarters as it was scattered out of its position by an advance detail of Stuart's men.

[35] Stuart also learned that he had narrowly missed being intercepted by six regiments of infantry under the command of Major General Jacob Cox when he reached the National Road.

[32][40] Town officials sent an alarm to Governor Andrew Curtin, who passed the message on to United States Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton just before the Confederates cut the telegraph wires.

[41][note 7] Relying on a false response from local citizens who told the raiders that the bridge was made of iron, they turned back.

[41] Historian Edward G. Longacre also wrote that the raiders did not reach the bridge, which they mistakenly believed to be almost entirely built of wrought iron.

[27][43][note 8] They set ablaze the Chambersburg railroad depot, loaded trains, machine shops and warehouses with military supplies.

[44][47][49] Confederate troopers who had lived in the vicinity guided Stuart on back roads to avoid being observed by Union scouts.

[1][50] Near dark, at Woodsboro, Maryland, off the main road from Frederick, troops of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment saw the Confederates, but were too few in number to mount an attack.

[1][48] He stayed about half an hour and returned to the column at about 7:00 a.m.[1][52] The troopers rode all night, cutting telegraph wires and obstructing the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as they went, and some were literally falling asleep in the saddle as they pressed on.

[48][53] On the morning of October 12, scouts reported to Stuart that Union Brigadier General George Stoneman was guarding the Potomac River fords near Poolesville, Maryland with several thousand men.

[1][56] Stuart did not come into contact with Stoneman, whose men, other than a small guard unit, arrived at White's Ford too late to confront the Confederates.

[44][48] His force did meet Union cavalry commanded by Brigadier General Alfred Pleasonton at the mouth of the Monocacy River near Barnesville, Maryland.

[44] It was a close call for Stuart's rear section which had been deployed to protect the column and needed to be urged to withdraw quickly in order not to be caught by Union reinforcements.

[62] The small Union force detailed to White's Ford, where Lee had crossed into Maryland in September, proved to be a weak link in McClellan's dispositions.

[44][63] The Confederates soon rode safely into Leesburg, Virginia with their captured horses, supplies and hostages and without having lost a man to death or a serious injury.

[49] Stuart had secured the parole of 280 soldiers, captured about 1,200 horses, 30 public officials, a variety of arms and ammunition, intelligence about the Union Army and turned aside Pleasonton's force while embarrassing McClellan.

[64][69][72] Sergeant Major Elisha Hunt Rhodes wrote in his diary: "We are very much ashamed that the Rebels were allowed to make their late raid into Pennsylvania...."[73] Union Brigadier General Marsena R. Patrick said the affair was "a burning disgrace.

"[65] Brigadier General Jubal Early did not entirely agree, calling the raid "the greatest horse stealing expedition" that only "annoyed" the enemy.