instructions, who responded to push closer to Leesburg. Devens determined to hold there, waiting several hours for reinforcements, when skirmishing began at 7 a.m., before Baker had arrived. Confederate Col. Nathan G. "Shanks" Evans was in charge of the forces opposing Stone, and when he learned of the crossings he split his 2,000-man command. Three of his regiments were ordered to deal with Stone by blocking the road from Edwards Ferry to Leesburg, while the remainder fought and defeated Baker's force at Ball's Bluff. Since Baker sent no updates, Stone had no idea a battle was occurring there and, finding his path blocked by Confederates, Stone returned to Edwards Ferry. He then moved toward Harrison's Island, learned of the defeat at Ball's Bluff, and quickly asked McClellan for help from McCall, whom he thought nearby but was actually more than twenty miles away. Stone lost about 1,000 men who were either killed, wounded, captured, or drowned during Ball's Bluff, while the Confederates lost less than 160. The Union total included Baker, the only sitting U.S. Senator killed in combat when "four bullets ripped into him, and he was dead before he hit the ground". Baker's death and the action at Ball's Bluff would have serious consequences for Stone, and also affect the way the American Civil War would be prosecuted. In his official report about the battle on October 24, McClellan did not hold Stone personally responsible for the defeat, saying "The disaster was caused by errors committed by the immediate Commander— not General Stone." Arrest and imprisonment Stone bore the brunt of much public criticism; the U.S. Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was established in the wake of Baker's congressional eulogies and anger over the defeat. This seven-man group called Stone as one of their first witnesses about the Ball's Bluff affair, and all testimony given by him and 38 others was kept secret. Before the end of October 1861, Stone's official report about Ball's Bluff had been leaked to the New York Tribune newspaper, and in it Stone praised Baker's bravery but made clear his shortcomings as a field commander. Baker's congressional allies, among them Governor Andrew and Senator Sumner, openly denounced this report and began to point accusing fingers at Stone, not at Baker. Stone's loyalty to the Union and position on slavery were more in question than his military abilities and decisions.