The Turning Point

The Turning Point. . Elements from the 2nd North Carolina Cavalry Regiment charged past this point in pursuit of disorganized remnants of the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment which was retreating toward the railroad tracks. The Union Cavalry appeared to have abandoned Hanover., Earlier that morning, Confederate Major General J.E.B. Stuart had spotted a large column of Union Cavalry "passing through" Hanover going toward Abbottstown. Brigadier General Kilpatrick and his Union staff had reached the vicinity of Abbottstown when they heard the sounds of battle. Kilpatrick then turned about and led his men in a brutal eight-mile race back to Hanover. Along the road he galloped through columns of cavalry and artillery that had also turned back to help their comrades., "...the boom of a cannon was plainly heard, and then the General mounted his horse in haste and rode back to Hanover, it was said, in twenty minutes." , Bugler, Private Samuel Gillespie, 1st Ohio Cavalry Regiment Kilpatrick's Staff and Bodyguard , The horse died shortly thereafter.