day in the year. The Winchester regiment with the Ohio division lay in
a region of little hills and rocks, covered with forest, with which its
officers and men were not familiar. On the other hand the Southern army
would know every inch of it, and the inhabitants were ready and eager to
give it information.

Dick could not keep from regarding the dark forests with apprehension.
He had seen the Northern generals lose so much through ignorance of the
ground and uncertain movements that he feared for them again. He soon
learned that Rosecrans himself shared this fear. He had come to the
division and recommended its closer concentration.

But the young Ohio troops were not afraid. They said that if they were
attacked they would hold their ground long enough for the rest of the
Northern army to beat the Southern, and McCook himself was confident.

Meanwhile, Bragg, after delaying, had suddenly decided to make the attack
himself, and throughout the day he had been gathering his whole army for
the spring. All his generals, Hardee, Breckinridge, Polk, Cleburne and
the rest were in position and the cavalry was led by Wheeler, a youthful
rough rider, destined to become famous as Fighting Joe Wheeler.

Each general was ready to attack in the morning, but neither knew the
willingness of the other. Yet everybody was aware that a great battle
was soon to come. They had felt it in both armies, and for two or three
days the firing of the skirmishers had been almost continuous. Scouts
kept each side well informed.

Dick, Warner and Pennington, before they lay down in their blankets,
listened to the faint reports of rifles. They could see little owing to