rt was true, and he heard that McDowell, too, would soon be at hand
with nearly thirty thousand men.

Then he saw Colonel Winchester, his face a mass of grime and his
clothing flecked with blood. But he did not seem to have suffered any
wound and he was calmly rallying his men.

"It's hot!" Dick shouted, why he knew not.

"Yes, my boy, and it will soon be hotter! Look at the new brigades
coming into battle! See them on both right and left! We'll crush Jackson
yet!"

It was now mid-morning, and neither Colonel Winchester nor any other of
the Northern officers facing the Southern force knew that Lee and the
other Southern army was at hand. The front ranks of Longstreet were
already in battle, and the most difficult and dangerous of all tasks was
accomplished. Two armies coming from points widely divergent, but acting
in concert had joined upon the field of battle at the very moment when
the junction meant the most. Lee had come, but McClellan and the Army of
the Potomac were far away.

Dick heard the trumpets calling again, and once more they charged,
hurling heavy masses now upon the wood, which was held by the Southern
general, A. P. Hill. Rifle fire gave way to bayonet charges by either
side, and after swaying back and forth the Union men held the wood for
a while, but at last they were driven out to stay, and as they retreated
cannon and rifles decimated their ranks.

The regiment had suffered so terribly that after its retreat it was
compelled to lie down a while and rest. Dick gasped for breath, but he
was not as much excited as he had been earlier in the day. Perhaps one
can become hardened to anything. Although he and his immediate comrades
were resting he could see no diminution of the battle.

As far to left and right as the eye reached, cannon and rifles blazed
and thundered. In front of their own exhausted regiment hundreds of
sharpshooters, creeping forward, were now pouring a deadly fire among
the Southern troops who held the wood. They were men of the west and
northwest, accustomed all their lives to the use of firearms, and if a
Confederate officer in the forest showed himself for a moment it was at
the risk of his life. Captains and lieutenants fell fast beneath the aim
of the sharpshooters.

The burning sun was at the zenith, pouring fiery rays upon the vast
conflict which raged along a front of two miles. Pope himself was now
upon the field and his troops were pouring from every point to his ai