that August, to rank from May 17. He commanded a brigade in Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson's Army of the Shenandoah during the First Bull Run campaign in June and July. Stone then was given command of a division, called the Corps of Observation, guarding the fords along the upper Potomac River that fall. In his efforts to carry out his orders and maintain discipline, Stone drew the attention and wrath of his home state's governor, John A. Andrew, and Charles Sumner, the senior U.S. senator from Massachusetts, both powerful and influential Radical Republican politicians. In late September Stone issued general orders that required his men "not to incite and encourage insubordination among the coloured servants in the neighbourhood." When two runaway slaves came into their lines, one of his regiments, the 20th Massachusetts Infantry, promptly caught them and returned them to their owner. This was done in compliance with Stone's orders as well as both Federal and Maryland law. However, many of the 20th Massachusetts were abolitionists, disagreed with Stone's insistence on returning runaways back into slavery, and wrote both their families and their representatives about the incident. Governor Andrew strongly reprimanded the colonel of the regiment, who gave the letter to Stone. After reading it Stone wrote back, its contents summarized by military historian Bruce Catton as follows: "this regiment was in United States service now and the governor had no business meddling with discipline, the young lieutenant and the colonel had properly done what they were told to do and were not subject to reprimand from any governor, and would the governor in future please keep his hand off?" More heated letters passed between Andrew and Stone, and then Andrew involved Sumner, who quickly and strongly denounced Stone to the U.S. Senate. Stone's written response to this—described as "in terms so bitter that it almost seemed as if he were challenging the senator to duel"—further inflamed the situation. Stone's dealings with these two men would have tragic consequences in his near future. Ball's Bluff On October 20, 1861, Stone was ordered by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan to conduct a reconnaissance across the Potomac River to report on Confederate activities in Leesburg, Virginia. McClellan also hoped this action, combined with a movement by Brig. Gen. George A. McCall's division of 13,000 men toward Dranesville the day before, would encourage a Confederate withdrawal from the area without an engagement