had been generally
celebrated. But it was not large enough to hold all the cavalrymen, and
the second platoon of twenty-five men had been sent to a hill on the
other side of the road. The commander sent Lieutenant Belthorpe to
attack them there, while he gave his attention to the enemy in the
fort.

The two guns, loaded with home-made grape-shot, were discharged; but
the gunners were utterly ignorant of the art of handling the pieces,
and the scattering bullets all went over the heads of the loyal
cavalrymen. The captain did not give them time to repeat the
experiment, for he ordered his lieutenant to charge over the earthwork
before they had time to load again. The fort had been constructed in a
very rude manner, without the help of an engineer; and it was only a
sort of windrow of earth, as hay is raked up in a field, and the
mounted men had no difficulty in riding over it.

The Confederates had dismounted, turning their horses into a field.
This was a fatal mistake on the part of their officer. His men were
huddled together with the Home Guards in the small space; and though
they fought bravely, they were soon ridden down, and totally defeated.
Many of them had been killed or disabled, and the Home Guards had run
away as soon as the horses began to ride them down. The officer called
for quarter, and surrendered. He and his men were paroled at once.

At the hill Lieutenant Belthorpe had vigorously attacked the second
platoon, and soon drove them from their ground. When the victory was
won at the fort, Captain Gordon re-enforced Belthorpe with twenty men
while the paroling was in process; and the enemy seeing that they were
outnumbered more than before, when they were driven from the hill, gave
up the fight, and fled at the best speed of their horses by the way
they had come. The lieutenant in command pursued them as far as the
road, when the recall was sounded near the fort, and they returned to
the little village. Captain Letcher was in command of the platoon, and
he had continued to retreat, believing that his pursuers were still
following him.

CHAPTER VIII

BEFORE THE BATTLE OF MILL SPRINGS

Captain Gordon had related the history of the affair at Breedings, and
Deck had learned from Lieutenant Logan considerably more that was not
within the knowledge of the commander. As they finished their simple
dinner, they discovered a gentleman, attended by a couple of men who
looked like mechanics, the latter