and as we emerged from the road to our old position, the beasts were
rapidly divesting themselves of their packs, in their progress through
the undergrowth. In conjunction with this the frequent and fierce
charges of the Rebel massed columns, favored by the smoke of the burning
woods, made a panic imminent among the troops upon the lower road. The
quick eye of old Joe saw the danger in a moment, and rushing from the
house and springing upon his horse, he dashed down that road unattended,
his manly form the mark of many a rebel rifle. Shouts of applause
greeted him, and the continuous rattle of our musketry told us of the
regained confidence of the men, and the renewed steadiness of our line.

It was now four in the afternoon--the usual time with the Rebels for the
execution of their favorite movement--charging in massed columns. On
they came in their successive charges, howling like fiends, and with a
courage that would have adorned an honorable cause. The steady musketry,
but above all the terrific showers of canister from cannon that
thundered in doublets from right to left along the line of our
batteries, could not be withstood, and they fell back in confusion. The
nature of the ground did not permit an advance of our forces, and we
were compelled to rest content with their repulse. An hour later our
Division moved by still another road to the left, to a ridge in the
neighborhood of Banks's Ford. Upon its wooded summit, with no sound to
break in upon us save the screaming of whip-poor-wills, which the boys
with ready augury construed to mean "whip-'em-well," and picket firing,
that would occasionally appear to run along the line, we passed a
comfortable night.

Breastworks were the order of the day following, and at noon we were
enjoying our coffee in a cleared space, behind a ridge of logs and limbs
that fronted our entire Division, and which we would have been content
to hold against any attacking force. Cannonading continued at intervals,
with occasional musketry firing. As it was considerably to our right, we
were not disturbed in our enjoyment of supplies of provisions obtained
from vacated Rebel houses in the neighborhood. Our amusement was greatly
contributed to, by the sight of some of the men dressed in odd clothing
of a by-gone fashionable age. But perhaps the most interesting object
was a Text-book upon the Divinity of Slavery, written by a Reverend
Doctor Smith, for the use of schools; its marked lesson