men was standing
almost passive in front of a much smaller force, but other generals were
showing great fire and energy.

The Winchester regiment contained many excellent riflemen and they were
so close now that they could use the weapons for which the Kentuckians
were famous. Firing deliberately, they began to cut gaps in the first
ranks of the defenders on the slope. Then they rose and with other
regiments pushed forward again.

But they came to a road in the side of the hill defended powerfully by
infantry and artillery, and a heavy fire, killing and wounding many, was
poured upon them. They sought to cross the road and attack the defenders
with the bayonet, but they were driven back and their losses were so
heavy that they were compelled to take cover in the nearest thickets.

The men, gasping with heat and exhaustion, threw themselves down, a
sleet of shells and bullets passing over their heads. Dick had a sense
of failure, but it lasted only a moment or two. From both left and right
came the fierce crash of battle, and he knew that, if they had been
driven back before the road, their comrades were maintaining the combat
elsewhere.

"It's merely a delay. We pause to make a stronger attack," said Colonel
Winchester, as if he were apologizing to himself. "Are you all right,
Dick?"

"Unhurt, sir, and so are Warner and Pennington, who are lying here
beside me."

"Unhurt, but uneasy," said Warner. "I don't like the way twigs and
leaves are raining down on me. It shows that if they were to depress
their fire they would be shearing limbs off of us instead of boughs off
the trees."

The sun was high and brilliant now, but it could not dispel the clouds
of smoke gathering in the thickets. It floated everywhere, and Dick felt
it stinging his mouth and throat. Murmurs began to run along the lines.
They did not like being held there. They wanted to charge again. They
were still confident of victory.

Dick was sent toward another part of the army for orders, and he saw
that all along the hill the battle was raging fiercely. But Grant could
not yet hear the roar of guns which should indicate the advance of
McClernand and his fifteen thousand. The silent leader was filled with
anger, but he reserved the expression of it for a later time.

Dick saw the fiery and impetuous Logan, noticeable for his long
coal-black hair, lead a headlong and successful charge, which carried
the Union troops higher up the hill. But anothe