the squadron were picking
off the men with their carbines.

"Lieutenant Lyon, go around the hill, and take them on the flank as
they come down!" shouted Captain Gordon.

Deck obeyed the order promptly; and his men were full of enthusiasm as
they followed him. The roughness of the hill had impeded the movement
of the enemy's company, and the second platoon of the cavalry was in
season to attack them. The foot-soldiers used their bayonets, and for a
few minutes there was a terrific struggle. But before any result could
be reached, a mob of the enemy's infantry and cavalry rushed into the
space between the road and the pike, carrying friends and enemies with
it, as before the sweep of a tidal wave on a stormy sea.

This disorderly body, coming from the pike and from the field beyond,
carried all before it, and the second platoon of the Riverlawns could
not understand the cause of the sudden commotion. The roar of
artillery, not distant from them, soon revealed the cause of the
stampede. The batteries of the Union army had moved forward just before
dark; and volleys of grape or shell would have made a fearful slaughter
among the disordered bodies of the retreating enemy, and they had fled
in the utmost confusion.

CHAPTER XXI

DECK FINDS HIMSELF IN A TIGHT PLACE

The enemy were utterly demoralized, crazed with terror, devoid of
reason and common-sense. The Mississippi, Alabama, and most of the
Tennessee regiments of the Southern army were disciplined and steady
troops in which such a panic would have been impossible; but there were
others even worse than those described by General Schoepf, and the
latter were always in the advance during a retreat. It was such as
these that formed the rabble seeking to obtain shelter behind the
breastworks.

In the mob reason was dethroned, and even common-sense had taken wings;
for the fleeing mass were in more danger from each other than from the
fire of the artillery, and whole sections of them were borne down by
those pressing forward from the rear, and were crushed by the feet of
men and horses.

Deck attempted to resist the flow of the tide towards the works; but he
might as well have tried to counteract the great bore of the Amazon.
His sabre was in his hand; but he had not the heart to use it upon the
terrified mass, who had thrown away their muskets and knapsacks on the
field, because they impeded their flight. A battery of artillery in
retreating had mired one o