In the early morning darkness on February 21, 1865, Lt. Jesse McNeill and his 66 Partisan Rangers, Confederate guerrillas, descended Knobly Mountain and stopped briefly at the residence of Felix R. Seymour, a Southern sympathizer. They then forded the icy waters of the North Branch of the Potomac River and halted at Samuel D. Brady’s house just north of here. Brady was a wealthy farmer, a large landowner, and, like Seymour, a Confederate supporter. His son John, who had just arrived from Cumberland, reported on Federal troop dispositions in the vicinity, and George Staunton, a Southern sympathizer who worked as a watchman for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Brady’s Station, described the positions of Union cavalry in the area. After hearing these reports, McNeill decided to proceed to Cumberland on his railroad raid by way of the heavily guarded New Creek Road. In the town, he captured Union Gen. George Crook as well as Gen. Benjamin F. Kelley, who commanded the troops protecting the vital railroad. The episode created an uproar, and the Federals soon arranged a special exchange of prisoners for the two generals.
