discovered, a thousand bullets
would whistle after them in the dark, and some would hit, and then the
Rebel would make up his mind to come down.

Our loss was light, almost nothing in this fight--the next morning the
enemy's dead were thick all along this part of the line. Near eleven
o'clock the enemy, wearied with his disastrous work, desisted, and
thereafter until morning, not a shot was heard in all the armies.

So much for the battle. There is another thing that I wish to mention,
of the matters of the 2d of July.

After evening came on, and from reports received, all was known to be
going satisfactorily upon the right, Gen. Meade summoned his Corps
Commanders to his Headquarters for consultation. A consultation is held
upon matters of vast moment to the country, and that poor little
farm-house is honored with more distinguished guests than it ever had
before, or than it will ever have again, probably.

Do you expect to see a degree of ceremony, and severe military aspect
characterize this meeting, in accordance with strict military rules, and
commensurate with the moment of the matters of their deliberation? Name
it "Major General Meade, Commander of the Army of the Potomac, with his
Corps Generals, holding a Council of War, upon the field of Gettysburg,"
and it would sound pretty well,--and that was what it was; and you might
make a picture of it and hang it up by the side of "Napoleon and his
Marshals," and "Washington and his Generals," maybe, at some future
time. But for the artist to draw his picture from, I will tell how this
council appeared. Meade, Sedgwick, Slocum, Howard, Hancock, Sykes,
Newton, Pleasanton--commander of the cavalry--and Gibbon, were the
Generals present. Hancock, now that Sickles is wounded, has charge of
the Third Corps, and Gibbon again has the Second. Meade is a tall spare
man, with full beard, which with his hair, originally brown, is quite
thickly sprinkled with gray--has a Romanish face, very large nose, and a
white, large forehead, prominent and wide over the eyes, which are full
and large, and quick in their movements, and he wears spectacles. His
_fibres_ are all of the long and sinewy kind. His habitual personal
appearance is quite careless, and it would be rather difficult to make
him look well dressed. Sedgwick is quite a heavy man, short, thick-set
and muscular, with florid complexion, dark, calm, straight-looking eyes,
with full, heavyish features, which, with his eyes,