was marching to another triumph was confirmed by the news that Bragg was
retreating.

Yet the two armies were so close to each other that the Northern vanguard
skirmished with the Southern rearguard as they passed through the
mountains. At one point in a gap of the Cumberland Mountains the
Southerners made a sharp resistance, but they were quickly driven from
their position and the Union mass rolled slowly on. Exultation among the
troops increased.

"We'll drive Bragg away down into the South against Grant," said Ohio to
Dick, "and we'll crush him between the two arms of the vise. That will
finish everything in the West."

While Dick was exultant, too, he had certain reservations. He had seen a
like confidence carried to disaster in the East, although it did not seem
possible that the result here could be similar.

"I don't think they'll keep on retreating forever, Ohio," he said.
"All our supplies are coming from Nashville, and we are getting farther
away from our base every day."

But Ohio laughed.

"Our chief task is to catch Bragg," he said. "They said he was going to
occupy Chattanooga and wait for us. He's been in Chattanooga, but he
didn't wait for us there. He's left it already and gone on, anxious to
reach the Gulf before winter, I suppose."

The Union army in its turn entered Chattanooga, a little town of which