Warner and Pennington joined him on the height where he stood, and they
saw that in the early hours before dawn the Northern generals had not
been idle. The whole army of Pope was massed along the left bank of the
river and every high point was crowned with heavy batteries of artillery.
There had been a long drought, and at some points the Rappahannock could
be forded, but not in the face of such a defence as the North here
offered.
Colonel Winchester himself came a moment or two later and joined them as
they gazed at the two armies and the river between. Both he and the boys
used their glasses and they distinctly saw the Southern masses.
"Will they try to cross, sir?" asked Dick of the colonel.
"I don't think so, but if they do we ought to beat them back. Meanwhile,
Dick, my boy, every day's delay is a fresh card in our hand. McClellan
is landing his army at Aquia Creek, whence it can march in two days to
a junction with us, when we would become overwhelming and irresistible.
But I wish it didn't take so long to disembark an army!"
The note of anxiety in his voice did not escape Dick.
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