he
Union force they never shrank for a moment from their terrible task.

The Invincibles were in the division that covered the retreat, and they
were exposed at all times to the full measure of the Union attack.
Dalton had joined them that morning, but the bullets and shells seemed
resolved to spare the four youths and the two colonels, or at least not
to doom them to death. Nearly every one of them bore slight wounds,
and often men had been killed only a few feet away, but the valiant band,
led by its daring officers, fought with undimmed courage and resolution.

"I fear that we have been defeated, Hector," said Colonel Leonidas Talbot.

"Don't call it a defeat, Leonidas. It's merely a masterly retreat before
superior numbers, after having inflicted great loss upon the enemy.
As you see, we are protecting our withdrawal. Every attack of the enemy
upon our division has been beaten back, and we will continue to beat him
back as long as he comes."

"True, true, Hector, and the Invincibles are bearing a great part in this
glorious feat of arms! But the Yankee general, Sheridan, is not like
the other Yankee generals who operated in the valley earlier in the war.
We're bound to admit that."

"We do admit it, Leonidas, and alas! we have now no Stonewall Jackson to
meet him, brave and capable as General Early is!"

The two colonels looked at the setting sun, and hoped that it would go
down with a rush. The division could not hold forever against the
tremendous pressure upon it that never ceased, but darkness would put an
end to the battle. The first gray of twilight was already showing on the
eastern hills, and Early's men still held the broad turnpike leading into
the South. Here, fighting with all the desperation of imminent need,
they beat off every effort of the Northern cavalry to gain their ground,
and when night came they still held it, withdrawing slowly and in good
order, while Sheridan's men, exhausted by tremendous marches and heavy
losses, were unable to pursue. Yet the North had gained a great and
important victory.

* * * *

Darkness closed over a weary but exultant army. It had not destroyed
the forces of Early, and it had been able to pursue only three miles.
It had lost five thousand men in killed and wounded, but the results,
nevertheless, were great and the soldiers knew it. The spell of Southern
invincibility in the famous valley, where Jackson had won