that were threatened by the rebels, becoming panic-stricken, fled northward. A contemporary account thus describes the state of feeling at Harrisburg at this juncture: “The morning broke upon a populace all astir, who had been called out of bed by the ‘beat of the alarm drum,’ the blast of the bugle and the clanging of bells. The streets were lively with men, who were either returning from a night’s work on the fortifications, or going over to relieve those who were toiling there. As the sun rose higher the excitement gathered head. All along the streets were omnibuses, wagons, and wheelbarrows, taking in trunks and valuables, and rushing them down to the depot, to be shipped out of rebel range. The stores, the female seminaries, and almost every private residence, were busy all the forenoon in swelling the mountain of freight that lay at the depot. Every horse was impressed into service, and every porter groaned beneath the weight of his responsibilities. “The scene at noon at the depots was indescribable, if not disgraceful. A sweltering mass of humanity thronged the platform, all furious to escape from the doomed city. “At the bridge and across the river the scene was equally exciting. All through the day, a steady stream of people on foot and in wagons, young and old, black and white, was pouring across it from the Cumberland valley, bearing with them their household goods, and all manner of goods and stock. Endless trains, laden with flour, grain, and merchandise, hourly emerged from the valley, and thundered across the bridge and through the city. Miles of retreating baggage-wagons, filled with calves and sheep tied together, and great old-fashioned furnace wagons, loaded with tons of trunks and boxes, defiled in continuous procession down the pike and across the river, raising a dust that marked the outline of the road as far as the eye could see.”