Dick was quite unconscious of the passage of time. Hope had sprung anew
in his breast. He heard a report that ten thousand fresh troops under
Kearney had arrived and were attacking the Southerners in the wood.
He knew by the immense volume of fire coming from that point that the
report was true, and he heard that McDowell, too, would soon be at hand
with nearly thirty thousand men.
Then he saw Colonel Winchester, his face a mass of grime and his clothing
flecked with blood. But he did not seem to have suffered any wound and
he was calmly rallying his men.
"It's hot!" Dick shouted, why he knew not.
"Yes, my boy, and it will soon be hotter! Look at the new brigades
coming into battle! See them on both right and left! We'll crush
Jackson yet!"
It was now mid-morning, and neither Colonel Winchester nor any other of
the Northern officers facing the Southern force knew that Lee and the
other Southern army was at hand. The front ranks of Longstreet were
already in battle, and the most difficult and dangerous of all tasks was
accomplished. Two armies coming from points widely divergent, but acting
in concert had joined upon the field of battle at the very moment when
the junction meant the most.
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