On his right Fitzhugh Lee's horsemen thundered forward on the retiring
enemy; and Carter's guns advanced at a gallop, taking positions--Starke
to the left and Poague to the right of the road--from which they opened
a rapid fire upon the Federal line of battle.
I had accompanied the advance and looked on with positive wonder. A
miracle seemed about to be enacted before my very eyes. Gordon's poor
little skirmish-line of less than two thousand men, with the half-
equipped horsemen of Fitzhugh Lee, on their broken-down animals, seemed
about to drive back the whole Federal army, and cut their way through
in safety.
Alas! the hope was vain. In front of the handful were eighty thousand
men! It was not Sheridan's cavalry only--that would have speedily been
disposed of. During the night, General Grant's best infantry had
pressed forward, and arrived in time to place itself across Lee's path.
What Gordon and Fitzhugh Lee encountered was the Federal army.
Right and left, as in front, were seen dense blue columns of infantry,
heavy masses of cavalry, crowding batteries, from which issued at every
instant that quick glare which precedes the shell.
From this multitude a great shout arose; and was taken up by the
Federal troops for miles. From the extreme rear, where Longstreet stood
stubbornly confronting the pursuers, as from the front, where Gordon
was trying to break through the immense obstacles in his path, came
that thunder of cheers, indicating clearly that the enemy at last felt
that their prey was in their clutch.
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