ter, the
chief of artillery, to Paul.

"I can sight a cannon," said a surgeon, who was dressing wounds in the
hospital. He laid down his bandages, went up and patted one of the guns,
as if it were an old friend, ran his eye along the sights, and told the
gunners what to do.

It was sunset. All day long the battle had raged, and the Union troops
had been driven. The Rebels were ready for their last grand charge,
which they hoped would give them the victory. Onward they came down the
steep bank opposite, into the ravine. The Union batteries were ready for
them,--Captain Silversparre with his twenty-pounders, Captain Richardson
and Captain Russell with their howitzers, Captain Stone with his
ten-pounders, Captain Taylor, Captain Dresser, Captain Willard, and
Lieutenant Edwards,--sixty or more cannon in all. A gunner was lacking
for one of the great iron thirty-twos. Paul sprang from his horse, and
took command of the piece.

The long lines of the Rebels came into view. "Bang! bang! bang! bang!"
went the guns. Then half a dozen crashed at once,--the great thirty-twos
thundering heavier than all the others. Shells, solid shot, and canister
tore through the ravine, rolling back the Rebel lines, drenching the
hillsides with blood, turning the brook to crimson, and the fresh young
leaves to scarlet. O the wild commotion,--the jarring of the earth, the
deep reverberations rolling far away, and the shouts of the cannoneers!

"Give them canister!" shouted Paul to the cannoneers, and the terrible
missiles went screaming down the ravine. The bullets were falling
around him, singing in his ears, but he heeded them not. But O how
painful it was to see a brother officer torn to pieces by his side! Then
how glorious to behold, through the rifts in the battle-cloud, that the
Rebels were flying in confusion through the woods. Then there came a
cheer. General Nelson had arrived with reinforcements, and Buell's whole
army was near. The thirty-two-pounders, the howitzers, and the batteries
had saved the day, and the victory was won. And now, as night came on,
the gunboats joined, throwing eleven-inch shells into the woods among
the Rebel troops, which added discomfiture to defeat. And when the
uproar, the noise, and the confusion had died away, how good to thank
God for the victory, and for the preservation of his life! How
gratifying to receive the thanks of his commander on the field,--to be
mentioned as one who had done his duty faith