The soldiers marched in silence for some six or eight miles; and then the whisper gathered breath, and passed from man to man, “Where are we going?” Pocket compasses were consulted, and it was discovered that slowly, though gradually, the division was bearing more and more to the right. Few in the column had any idea of the object in view; but no questions were asked. At 10 o’clock, the dismal, overhanging clouds had disappeared almost entirely, and through their broken masses poured down the rays of a brilliant sun, that soon became almost tropical in its intense heat. The head of the column was suddenly turned to the right; a course due north was pursued for a short time; and then, where the roads intersected each other, a battery was planted, a regiment being detailed to support it. Again the brigades moved rapidly onward. At the halt, the Virginia railroad was reported to be but a mile and a half westward; and, in obedience to orders received, the Twenty-second Massachusetts, Colonel Gore, marched northward to disable the railroad, and subsequently joined the main body a few miles above. The design in view was to capture a large body of rebels, known to have been at Hanover Court House on the Sunday before, and which had then consisted of the Seventh, Twelfth, Eighteenth, Twenty-third, Thirty-third, and Thirty-eighth, North Carolina troops. Each regiment was represented as numbering one thousand men: and it was further stated that the enemy intended to strongly reinforce the position. The Union division reached a point about two miles north of the intersection of the roads, when the advance guard, composed of cavalry; the Twenty-fifth New York Infantry, Colonel Johnson, and a section of artillery, discovered the pickets of the enemy. Without an instant’s delay the skirmishers opened fire, when the enemy slowly withdrew for two miles—the Twenty-fifth in rapid pursuit, keeping ahead even of Benson’s Light Battery, which was in front. It was in an open field, near the house of Doctor King, that the rebels drew up in line of battle. Colonel Johnson pressed boldly forward, engaged them at close range, and for fifteen minutes, before any support arrived, made hot work for both sides. The rebels had sheltered themselves behind the house, and in support of two of their own field pieces; but they were speedily driven from that protection. A force of the enemy which approached on the right of the Twenty-fifth, coming from the woods, succeeded in taking prisoners a portion of company G, which they immediately carried to their rear. A section of Manin’s Massachusetts Battery, followed by a portion of Griffin’s Regular Battery now came to the Assistance of Colonel Johnson, and speedily fixed the attention of the rebels, who continued to pour in a sharp shower of grape and shell from their twelve-pound howitzers.