ABSTRACT
While the battle of Maidstone was being fought, a continual stream of terrified civilians and fugitive soldiers poured into Chatham and Rochester. There were two routes available; one leading directly across the hills, the other following the valley of the Medway through Ditton, Leybourne, Snodland, Halling, Cuxton, and Strood. All fugitives instinctively made for Chatham, for it was the hub of a gigantic wheel of which the spokes extended from Margate, Dover, Folkestone, New Romney, Rye, and Pevensey Hay.
