parations for a grand charge," for he had
determined to cut his way out of this _cul-de-sac_, "were soon
completed. Forming his division into three lines of battle, he assigned
the right to General Davies, the left to General Custer; and placing
himself, with General Pleasanton, in the centre, advanced with terrible
determination to the contest. Approaching to within a few yards of the
enemy's lines, he ordered the band to strike up a national air, to whose
stirring strains was added the blast of scores of bugles ringing out the
'charge.' Brave hearts became braver, and weak ones waxed strong, until
'pride of country had touched this raging sea of thought, and emotion
kindled an unconquerable principle that affirmed every man a hero until
death.'" The troops filled the air with their battle-cry, and hurled
themselves on their unequal foe. "So swiftly swept forward this tide of
animated power that the Confederates broke and fled, and Kilpatrick thus
escaped a disaster which had seemed inevitable."

"No one"--we quote from "Soldiers of the Saddle,"--"who looked upon that
wonderful panorama, can ever forget it. On the great field were
riderless horses and dying men; clouds of dirt from solid shot and
bursting shells, broken caissons, and overturned ambulances; and long
lines of dragoons dashing into the charge, with their drawn and firmly
grasped sabres glistening in the light of the declining sun; while far
beyond the scene of tumult were the dark green forests skirting the
distant Rappahannock."

[Illustration: Lieutenant Glazier At Brandy Station. "Come
On, Boys! We Must Break That Line."]

In this action Glazier, who occupied the post of volunteer aide to
General Davies, had his horse shot under him, received a sabre-stroke on
the shoulder, two bullets in his hat, and had his scabbard split by a
shot or shell. His conduct was such as to obtain for him the thanks of
his general and a promise of early promotion. This was the fourth battle
of Brandy Station in which the Harris Light Cavalry had been engaged.
The first occurred on August the twentieth, 1862, the second on June
ninth, the third on September twelfth, and this last action on October
eleventh, 1863. They were followed by a number of spirited engagements
between the Federal cavalry and the cavaliers of the South--the former
under Generals Buford and Kilpatrick, and the latter under Stuart and
Wade Hampton. In all of these both sides behaved gallantly, the res