Buell had gathered all his forces in the night,
and in the morning had intended to attack again, but the Confederate army
was gone, carrying with it vast stores of supplies that it had gathered
on the way.
The rains, too, had come. They had begun the morning after the battle,
and they poured for days. In the southeast, among the mountains toward
which Bragg had turned the head of his army, the roads were quagmires.
Nevertheless he had toiled on and was passing through Cumberland Gap.
Buell had gone in the other direction toward the southwest, and then came
the news that he was relieved of his command, and that Rosecrans would
take his place.
Dick felt the call of the trumpet. He knew that his comrades were now
down there in Tennessee with the army under Rosecrans, and he felt that
he must join them. His mother begged him to stay. He had done enough
for his country. He had fought in great battles, and he had narrowly
escaped a mortal wound. He should come home, and stay safely at
Pendleton until the war was over.
But Dick, though grieving with her, felt that he must go.
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