g
rebel yell, swelling wild and fierce above the tumult of the battle.
Help was coming. Regiments in gray were charging down the paths and on
the left flank rose the thunder of hoofs as a formidable body of cavalry
under Sherburne, sabers aloft, swept down on the Northern flank.

Ewell's entire division stopped its retreat and, reinforced by the new
men, charged directly upon the Northern bayonets. Men met almost face to
face. The saplings and bushes were mown down by cannon and rifles and
the air was full of bursting shells. From time to time Ewell's men
uttered their fierce, defiant yell, and with a great bound of the heart
Harry saw that they were gaining. Warren was being driven back. Two of
his cannon were captured already, and the Southern men, feeling the glow
of the advance after retreat, charged again and again, reckless of death.
But Harry soon saw that ultimate victory here would rest with the South.
The troops of Warren, exhausted by their early rush, were driven from
one position to another by the seasoned veterans who faced them. The
Confederates retained the captured cannon and thrust harder and harder.
It became obvious that Warren must soon fall back to the main Northern
line, and though the battle was still raging with great fury Ewell
beckoned Harry to him.

"Don't stay here any longer," he shouted in his ear. "Ride to General
Lee and tell him we're victorious at this point for the day at least!"

Harry saluted and galloped away through the thickets. Behind him the
battle still roared and thundered. A stray shell burst just in front of
him, and another just behind him, but he and his horse were untouched.
Once or twice he glanced back and it looked as if the Wilderness were on
fire, but he knew that it was instead the blaze of battle. He saw also
that Ewell was still moving forward, winning more ground, and his heart
swelled with gladness.

How proud Jackson would have been had he been able to see the valor and
skill of his old lieutenant! Perhaps his ghost did really hover over
the Wilderness, where a year before he had fallen in the moment of
his greatest triumph! Harry urged his horse into a gallop. All his
faculties now became acute. He was beyond the zone of fire, but the roar
of the battle behind him seemed as loud as ever. Yet it was steadily
moving back on the main Union lines, and there could be no doubt of
Ewell's continued success.

The curves of the low hills and the t