But the charge did not break.
It was led by Buckner, taken at Donelson, but now exchanged, and some of
the best troops of the South followed him.
"Steady! Steady!" shouted Colonel Winchester. The ranks were so close
that he and all of his staff, having no room for their horses, had
dismounted, and they stood now in the front rank, encouraging the men to
meet the charge. But the rush of the Southern veterans was so sudden
and fierce that despite every effort of valor the division gave way,
suffering frightful losses.
Two of the Union generals seeking to hold their men were killed. Each
side rushed forward reinforcements. A stream of Confederates issued from
a wood and flung themselves upon the Union flank. Dick was dazed with
the suddenness and ferocity with which the two armies had closed in
mortal combat. He could see but little. He was half blinded by the
smoke, the flash of rifles and cannon and the dust. Officers and men
were falling all around him. The numbers were not so great as at
Antietam, but it seemed to him that within the contracted area of
Perryville the fight was even more fierce and deadly than it had been on
that famous Maryland field.
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