g field for a great
and decisive battle could have been chosen. It was like a vast arena,
enclosed by the somber hills and the two Round Tops, on both of which
flew the flags of the Union signalmen.

Yet the day drew on. The two armies of nearly two hundred thousand men
merely sat and stared at each other. Noon passed and the afternoon
advanced. Harry yet wondered, as many another did. But it was not for
him to criticize. They were led by a man of genius, and the great mind
must be working, seeking the best way.

He and Dalton and some others lay down on the grass, while the heavy
silence still endured. Not a single cannon shot had been fired all that
day, and soon the sun would begin its decline from the zenith.

"I think I'll go to sleep," said Dalton.

"You couldn't if you tried," said Harry, "and you know it. If General
Lee is waiting, it's because he has good reasons for waiting, and you
know that, too."

"You're right in both instances, Harry. I could never shut my eyes on
a scene like this, and, late as it grows, there will yet be a battle
to-day. Weren't some orders sent along the line a little while ago?"

"Yes, the older men took 'em. What time is it, George?"

"Four o'clock." Then he closed his watch with a snap, and added:

"The battle has begun."

The heavy report of a cannon came from the Southern right under
Longstreet. It sped up the valleys and returned in sinister echoes.
It was succeeded by silence for a moment, and then the whole earth shook
beneath a mighty shock. All the batteries along the Southern line
opened, pouring a tremendous volume of fire upon the whole Northern
position.

The young officers leaped to their feet. A volcano had burst. The
Union batteries were replying, and the front of both armies blazed with
fire. The smoke hung high and Harry and Dalton could see in the valley
beneath it. They caught the gleam of bayonets and saw the troops of
Longstreet advancing in heavy masses to the assault of the slope where
the peach trees grew, now known as the Peach Orchard. Here stood
the New Yorkers who had been thrust forward under Sickles, a rough
politician, but brave and in many respects capable. There was some
confusion among them as they awaited the Confederates, Sickles, it is
charged, having gone too far in his zeal, and then endeavoring to fall
back when it was too late. But the men under him were firm. On this
field the two great states of New York and