Unnamed Marauders

In a confusing scene, Bayard sees "six men running in the next field" and then "ten or twelve" or perhaps more who may be chasing the first six or may be part of the same group (57-8). At least some of them are stealing the "stock," i.e. the livestock, of the farmers in the area, and "five men" from the second group attack Granny and her party (58). Bayard notes that some of them, at least, are wearing "blue coats" (58), so it's possible that they are Union troops foraging or scourging the countryside, or even deserters from the Union army, but their behavior makes it more likely that they are one of the many bands of marauders who took advantage of the chaos caused by the Civil War to pillage for their own advantage.