Following the bloody fight at the Battle of Antietam, J.E.B. Stuart set out from Williamsport, Maryland north towards Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and then southeast to encircle McClellan's army for the second time in less than a year in order to reconnoiter their strength and movements. On October 10 he crossed back into Virginia at White's Ford, where he briefly skirmished with his Federal pursuers, bringing with him some 1,200 horses he and his men had captured. He rested for a day after the crossing northeast of Leesburg before moving south to the town to pick up the Winchester Turnpike west into the Shenandoah Valley by way of Snickers Gap.