“Did you do that?” Marian asked.

“Yes; my sword was of no service, and my handful of men needed no orders.  Anything at such a time is better than inaction, and we all felt that the line must be held.  Every bullet counted, you know.

“Some of our boys did very brave things at this time.  For instance:  rifles, that had become so clogged or hot as to be unserviceable, were dropped, and the men would say to their immediate companions, ‘Be careful how you fire,’ and then rush down the slope, pick up the guns of dead or wounded comrades, and with these continue the fight.

“At last the enemy’s fire slackened a little, and I went to take my farewell look at our colonel and others of our officers whose bodies had been recovered.  These were then carried to the rear, and I never saw their familiar faces again.

“The horses now came up at a gallop to take away the battery near us, and I saw a thing which touched me deeply.  As the horses were turning that a gun might be limbered up, a shot, with a clean cut, carried away a leg from one of the poor animals.  The faithful, well-trained beast, tried to hobble around into his place on three legs.  He seemed to have caught the spirit which animated the entire army that day.

“As I turned toward the regiment, the cry went up, ’They are flanking us!’

“The brief slackening of the enemy’s fire had only indicated preparations for a general forward movement.  An aid now galloped to us with orders to fall back instantly.  A few of my men had been placed, for the sake of cover, in the woods on the right, and I hastened over to them to give the order.  By the time I had collected them, the enemy had occupied our old position and we barely escaped capture.  When we caught up with the regiment, our brigade-commander had halted it and was addressing it in strong words of eulogy; adding, however, that he still expected almost impossible things of his troops.

“It was pleasant to know that our efforts had been recognized and appreciated, but our hearts were heavy with the thoughts of those we had lost.  We were now sent to a piece of woods about a mile to the rear, as a part of the reserve, and it so happened that we were not again called into the fight, which ended, you know, the next day.

“I had bound up my fingers as well as I could, and now, in reaction and from loss of blood, felt sick and faint.  I did not wish to go to our field hospital, for I knew the scenes there were so horrible that I should not be equal to witnessing them.  Our surgeon came and dressed my finger for me, and said that it would have to come off in the morning, and I now found that my shoulder also had been slightly cut with a bullet.  These injuries on that day, however, were the merest trifles.

“Our supper was the dreariest meal I ever took.  The men spoke in subdued tones, and every now and then a rough fellow would draw his sleeve across his eyes, as so many things brought to mind those who had breakfasted with us.  We were like a household that had returned from burying the greater part of its number.  Yes, worse than this, for many, suffering from terrible wounds, were in the hands of the enemy.