Chapter 7 Summary

The final chapter is seen from the perspective of Palmer Metcalf and picks up where chapter one left off. Palmer is trudging along behind a wagon, holding onto the wagon to make walking easier. He is eventually too tired to even do that and drops off for a rest. He thinks back over the days' battles and says that he suddenly realizes why everything went wrong despite the battle plan that he'd thought was so perfect. He says that on the first day of the battle, that Sunday, the situation had gone in favor of the Confederates. As of the opening of the fighting on Monday morning, it was obvious that reinforcements had arrived and that the Confederates, already tired from the previous day, were outmatched. The biggest problem with the plan, Palmer now realizes, is that the troops were situated in such...