"
"Sounds good," said Dick, "and, George, you and Frank and I know that
what we want is a man. We've lost big battles, because we didn't have
a big man, who could see at once and think like lightning, to lead us.
But we'll get him sooner or later! We'll get him. Did any other troops
ever bear up like ours under defeats and drawn battles? Listen to 'em
now!"
Slow and deep and sung by many thousand men rose the rolling chorus:
"The army is gathering from near and from far;
The trumpet is sounding the call for the war;
Old Rosey's our leader, he's gallant and strong;
We'll gird on our armor and be marching along."
"Now," cried Warner, "all together." And the thundering chorus rose:
"Marching, we are marching along,
Gird on the armor and be marching along;
Old Rosey's our leader, he's gallant and strong;
For God and our country we are marching along."
As the mighty chorus, sung by fifty thousand men, rose and throbbed
through the cold and rain, Dick felt his own heart throbbing in unison.
Rosecrans might or might not be a great general, but he certainly was not
permitting the enemy to rest easy in winter quarters at Murfreesborough.
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