oulder, his
cheeks became flushed, and a sudden flash of the eye showed with what
reluctance he retired before the fire directed upon him. No other
course was left him, however, and he continued to ride slowly toward
his inner line--a low earthwork in the suburbs of the city--where a
small force was drawn up, ardent, hopeful, defiant, and saluting the
shell, now bursting above them, with cheers and laughter. It was plain
that the fighting-spirit of the ragged troops remained unbroken; and
the shout of welcome with which they received Lee indicated their
unwavering confidence in him, despite the untoward condition of
affairs.

Arrangements were speedily made to hold the inner line, if possible,
until night. To General Gordon had been intrusted the important duty
of defending the lines east of the city, and General Longstreet had
been directed to vacate the works north of James River, and march at
once to the lines of Petersburg. This officer made his appearance,
with his small force, at an early hour of the day; and, except that
the Federal army continued firing all along the front, no other active
operations took place. To those present on the Confederate side this
fact appeared strange. As the force beyond Hatcher's Run had been
completely defeated and dispersed, General Lee's numbers for the
defence of Petersburg on this day did not amount to much, if any, more
than fifteen thousand men. General Grant's force was probably one
hundred and fifty thousand, of whom about one hundred thousand might,
it would appear, have been concentrated in an hour or two directly in
front of the city. That, with this large force at his disposal, the
Federal commander did not at once attack, and so end all on that day,
surprised the Confederate troops, and still continues to surprise the
writer.

Night came at last, and General Lee began his retreat. He had sent,
early in the morning, a dispatch to the civil authorities, at
Richmond, informing them of the fact that his lines had been broken,
and that he would that night retreat from Petersburg. Orders had also
been sent to all the forces holding the lines north of James River
to move at once and join him, and, just at nightfall, the army at
Petersburg began crossing the Appomattox. This movement was effected
without interruption from the enemy; and the army, turning into what
is called the Hickory Road, leading up the north bank of the river,
moved on steadily through the half light. I