nversation, Deck received permission to go to the
rear and visit the injured captain. He found Gadbury suffering from a
wound in the hip. It was not a dangerous shot, but one which would lay
the dashing fellow up for some time. Deck saw to it that the captain was
given every attention, and wrote to Margie telling her of what had
happened. Later on, Captain Gadbury was removed to Lyndhall, where the
Belthorpe sisters did all in their power to render his convalescent
state pleasant in the extreme.

Matters had to move quickly, and as soon as the thing could be arranged,
Sandy Lyon was made acting captain of the fifth company, with rank of
first lieutenant. He assumed control with quiet dignity, and soon made
himself fully as popular as Gadbury had been.

It was felt that General Bragg had one advantage--he could see without
being seen. His scouts were on the top of Pigeon Mountain, and they
watched every movement of the Union troops, while the Confederates lay
concealed behind the thick growth of timber along the Chickamauga. The
most Rosecrans could do was to keep his cavalry in motion, reporting
every movement the instant it was developed in front of the Army of the
Cumberland.

Bragg had concentrated his forces, and now he planned to strike one
tremendous blow at a flank of the Union forces, and gain Rosecrans' rear
and his line of communication with his depot of supplies. For this
purpose the Confederate leader divided his forces into two corps, one
under Polk and the other under Longstreet, Hood commanding the latter
temporarily. The troops advanced in the darkness, and by midnight held
all the fords of the Chickamauga from Lee and Gordon's Mill well toward
Missionary Ridge.

But meanwhile, the Army of the Cumberland was not idle. Crittenden was
on the left, and Bragg was going to strike him. By a forced march along
the Dry Valley road during the night, Thomas with his entire corps, and
followed by a portion of McCook's corps, reached a position facing the
Reed and Alexandria bridges, now burned,--thus making the left wing of
our army virtually the right wing. And not only did Thomas do this, but
without waiting for Bragg to attack, or recover from his surprise, he
forced the battle by trying to capture a Confederate brigade said to
have become isolated from the balance of its command. This was the
opening of the great battle.

To go into the details of this contest would require volumes. Accounts
without numbe