The morning of July 16, with the Federals closing in, General Early broke camp at Leesburg and set out for the Shenandoah Valley by way of Snickers Gap which lay some 20 miles across the Loudoun Valley via the Snickers Gap and Leesburg Pike. While his main army and wagon trains used that route to withdrawal, cavalry under Brig. Gen. Bradley T. Johnson was ordered to take a more northerly route and protect the armies right flank and Brig. Gen. John McCausland was to lead cavalry, and a column of POWs and cattle captured Maryland, on a southerly route across Ashby's Gap and protect the armies left flank. The infantry of Generals Robert E. Rodes and Stephen Dodson Ramseur marched behind the wagons and Brig. Gen. John D. Imboden's cavalry served as the rearguard.