all that the day of offensive movements on the part of the
Confederates was gone. One more such disaster would have been irreparable.

Comparative quiet reigned after, along the whole line, for two or three
days, when again the vindictive fire of picket and mortar was
re-inaugurated, and the spiteful whiz of the minnie kept all cramped
within the narrow limits of the trenches.

Just before the final struggle, it appeared as if the scene of hostilities
had been transferred from Gordon's immediate front. On his front there was
a painful lull in the firing; painful because it denoted that the Federals
intended to operate elsewhere, and we were in suspense. The heavy booming
of guns was heard away on our right, sounding like distant thunder. Again
it would open on our extreme left, and the rattle of musketry and the
lumber of the great guns would persuade us that the ball had opened for a
surety in that direction, but, after a few impulsive volleys, strife would
cease, and a calm would prevail.

The indications assured us all that the day and hour of the beginning of
the spring campaign was near at hand. The increasing signs of activity
inside the enemy's lines filled the air and caused it to vibrate with the
buz and hum of reinforcements, and the great addition to their drum corps
and trumpeters, whose morning reveille shut out even the sound of
fire-arms, gave ample evidence of it. Clouds of dust away in their rear
clearly showed that troops were moving. Each night the Confederates
unfolded their blankets and unloosed their shoe-strings in uncertainty.

A day or two previous to the decisive 2nd, the cannonading on the extreme
right grew fiercer and more continuous, and we all thought that the
strategy of Grant was being uncovered. Every available man from the
Confederate left and centre was hurried to the right. Pickett's entire
division was sent thither to the assistance of Bushrod Johnson, who
occupied A. P. Hill's right, and Longstreet put in command. On the 30th of
March, the left brigade of Hill's corps, (McGowan's,) whose left rested on
Silver run, was moved to the right, leaving only artillerists in the
trenches, and the picket in front. Cox's brigade, of Grimes' division,
held the right of Gordon's corps and extended to the left bank of the
run. On the 1st of March and 1st of April, the battle seemed hotter on the
right, and the heavy water-batteries on the left boomed incessantly. It
appeared as if our corps,