ee what they were looking at. Across
the valley there was a long ridge, and back of it the main position
of the Southern army. A grey host was pouring over it--thousand upon
thousand--in close order, debouching into the valley.

A big force of our men lay between us and them. As I looked I could see
a mighty stir in it. Every man of them seemed to be jumping up in the
air. From afar came the sound of bugles calling 'retreat, the shouting
of men, the rumbling of wagons. It grew louder. An officer rode by me
hatless, and halted, shading his eyes. Then he rode back hurriedly.

'Hell has broke loose!' he shouted, as he passed me.

The blue-coated host was rushing towards us like a flood' artillery,
cavalry, infantry, wagon train. There was a mighty uproar in the men
behind me--a quick stir of feet. Terror spread over them like the
travelling of fire. It shook their tongues. The crowd began caving at
the edge and jamming at the centre. Then it spread like a swarm of bees
shaken off a bush.

'Run! Run for your lives!' was a cry that rose to heaven.

'Halt, you cowards!' an officer shouted.

It was now past three o clock.

The raw army had been on its feet since midnight. For hours it had
been fighting hunger, a pain in the legs, a quivering sickness at the
stomach, a stubborn foe. It had turned the flank of Beauregard; victory
was in sight. But lo! a new enemy was coming to the fray, innumerable,
unwearied, eager for battle. The long slope bristled with his bayonets.
Our army looked and cursed and began letting go. The men near me were
pausing on the brink of awful rout In a moment they were off, pell-mell,
like a flock of sheep. The earth shook under them. Officers rode around
them, cursing, gesticulating, threatening, but nothing could stop them.
Half a dozen trees had stood in the centre of the roaring mass. Now a
few men clung to them--a remnant of the monster that had torn away. But
the greater host was now coming. The thunder of its many feet was near
me; a cloud of dust hung over it. A squadron of cavalry came rushing by
and broke into the fleeing mass. Heavy horses, cut free from artillery,
came galloping after them, straps flying over foamy flanks. Two riders
clung to the back of each, lashing with whip and rein. The nick
of wagons came after them, wheels rattling, horses running, voices
shrilling in a wild hoot of terror. It makes me tremble even now, as I
think of it, though it is muffled under the cover of