in his comrade's eyes, and they said:

"Surprised again, Dick! Good God, surprised!"

Yet the young troops fought with a courage worthy of the toughest
veterans. They gave ground, because the rush against them was
overpowering, but they maintained a terrible fire which strewed the earth
in front of them with dead and wounded.

"Behind those trees! Behind those trees!" suddenly called Colonel
Winchester as they continued their sullen and fighting retreat, and he
and the remnants of his regiment darted into a little wood just in time.
There was a sudden rush of hoofbeats on their flank, and a cloud of
Southern cavalry swept down, shearing away the entire side of the
Northern division as if it had been cleft with the slash of a mighty
sword. Besides the fallen a thousand prisoners and seven cannon fell
into the hands of the cavalrymen, who rushed on in search of fresh
triumphs.

Dick shuddered with horror, but he saw that all his own immediate friends
were safe in the wood. A swarm of fugitives poured in after them,
and then came colonels and generals making desperate efforts to reform
their line of battle. But the Southern brigades gave them no chance.
Their leaders continually urged on the pursuit. The broken regiments
fell back still loading and firing, and they would soon be on the banks
of the creek again.

After a time that seemed almost infinite, Dick heard the roar of shells
over their heads. In their retreat the regiments had come upon another
Northern division which opposed a strong resistance to the Southern