July 14, 1861

The retreating Army of the Northwest reaches Red House, Maryland, around 2:00 a.m., where it stops to rest for about three hours. Colonel James Irvine of the Sixteenth Ohio receives orders to intercept the Confederates. Due to faulty intelligence, Irvine’s regiment takes up position on the wrong road. By the time Irvine realizes his mistake and marches for Red House, the Confederates are gone. The Army of the Northwest pulls out of Red House at 5:00 a.m., turning south toward Greenland, Virginia.

Colonel Ramsey, who is actually the senior colonel by virtue of his commission date, has not taken command of the army due to being ill, so the retreat up to now has been overseen by Colonel William B. Taliaferro of the Twenty-Third Virginia.

Major Thompson and his 300 Georgians, suffering hunger pangs from lack of food, continue to hack their way through increasingly dense scrub as they try to find their way out of the mountains.