y had
advanced in triumph almost to the Mississippi line, and they would soon
be pursuing their disorganized foe into that Gulf State.

Several new generals came to serve under Grant. Among them was one named
Sherman, to whom Dick bore messages several times, and who impressed him
with his dry manner and curt remarks which were yet so full of sense.

It was Sherman's division, in fact, that was encamped around the little
church, and Dick soon learned his opinions. He did not believe that they
would so easily conquer the South. He did not look for any triumphal
parade to the Gulf. In the beginning of the war he had brought great
enmity and criticism upon himself by saying that 200,000 men at least
would be needed at once to crush the Confederacy in the west alone. And
yet it was to take more than ten times that number four bitter years to
achieve the task in both west and east.

But optimism continued to reign in the Union army. Buell would arrive
soon with his division and then seventy thousand strong they would
resume their march southward, crushing everything. Meanwhile it was
pleasant while they waited. They had an abundance of food. They were
well sheltered from the rains. The cold days were passing, nature was
bursting into its spring bloom, and the crisp fresh winds that blew from
the west and south were full of life and strength. It was a joy merely
to breathe.

One rainy day the three boys, who had met by chance, went into
the little church for shelter from a sudden spring rain. From the
shutterless window Dick saw Sergeant Whitley scurrying in search of a
refuge, and they called to him. He came gladly and took a seat in one of
the rough wooden pews of the little church of Shiloh. The three boys had
the greatest respect for the character and judgment of the sergeant, and
Dick asked him when he thought the army would march.

"They don't tell these things to sergeants," said Whitley.

"But you see and you know a lot about war."

"Well, you've noticed that the army ain't gettin' ready to march. When
General Buell gets here we'll have nigh onto seventy thousand men, and
seventy thousand men can't lift themselves up by their bootstraps an'
leave, all in a mornin'."

"But we don't have to hurry," said Pennington. "There's no Southern army
west of the Alleghanies that could stand before our seventy thousand men
for an hour."

"General Buell ain't here yet."

"But he's coming."

"But he ain't here yet," pe