The Brigade Commander | Page 7

attack," replied Waldron.
"There is not one chance in ten that these gentlemen will make a
considerable forward movement early in the fight. Only the greatest
geniuses jump from the defensive to the offensive. Besides, we must
hold the wood. So long as we hold the wood in front of their centre we
save the road."
Then came personal and detailed instructions. Each regimental
commander was told whither he should march, the point where he
should halt to form line, and the direction by which he should attack.
The mass of the command was to advance in marching column toward
a knoll where the highway entered and traversed the wood. Some time
before reaching it Taylor was to deploy the Eighth to the right, throw
out a strong skirmish line and open fire on the enemy's centre and left,
supported by the battery of Parrotts, and, if pushed, by five companies
of cavalry. The remaining troops would reach the knoll, file to the left
under cover of the forest, skirt it for a mile as rapidly as possible, infold
the right of the Confederate position, and then move upon it
concentrically. Counting from the left, the Tenth, the Seventh, and the

Fourteenth were to constitute the first line of battle, while five
companies of cavalry, then the First, and then the Fifth formed the
second line. Not until Gahogan might have time to wind into the
enemy's right rear should Gildersleeve move out of the wood and
commence the real attack.
"You will go straight at the front of their right," said Waldron, with a
gay smile, to this latter Colonel. "Send up two companies as
skirmishers. The moment they are clearly checked, lead up the other
eight in line. It will be rough work. But keep pushing. You won't have
fifteen minutes of it before Thomas, on your left, will be climbing the
end of the ridge to take the rebels in flank. In fifteen minutes more
Gahogan will be running in on their backs. Of course, they will try to
change front and meet us. But they have extended their line a long way
in order to cover the whole ridge. They will not be quick enough. We
shall get hold of their right, and we shall roll them up. Then, Colonel
Stilton, I shall expect to see the troopers jumping into the gaps and
making prisoners."
"All right, Colonel," answered Stilton in that hoarse growl which is apt
to mark the old cavalry officer. "Where shall we find you if we want a
fresh order?"
"I shall be with Colburn, in rear of Gildersleeve. That is our centre. But
never mind me; you know what the battle is to be, and you know how
to fight it. The whole point with the infantry is to fold around the
enemy's right, go in upon it concentrically, smash it, and roll up their
line. The cavalry will watch against the infantry being flanked, and
when the latter have seized the hill, will charge for prisoners. The
artillery will reply to the enemy's guns with shell, and fire grape at any
offensive demonstration. You all know your duties, now, gentlemen.
Go to your commands, and march!"
The colonels saluted and started off at a gallop. In a few minutes
twenty-five hundred men were in simultaneous movement. Five
companies of cavalry wheeled into column of companies, and advanced
at a trot through the fields, seeking to gain the shelter of the forest. The
six infantry regiments slid up alongside of each other, and pushed on in

six parallel columns of march, two on the right of the road and four on
the left. The artillery, which alone left the highway, followed at a
distance of two or three hundred yards. The remaining cavalry made a
wide detour to the right as if to flank the enemy's left.
It was a mile and a quarter--it was a march of fully twenty minutes--to
the edge of the woodland, the proposed cover of the column. Ten
minutes before this point was reached a tiny puff of smoke showed on
the brow of the hostile ridge; then, at an interval of several seconds,
followed the sound of a distant explosion; then, almost immediately,
came the screech of a rifled shell. Every man who heard it swiftly
asked himself, "Will it strike me?" But even as the words were thought
out it had passed, high in air, clean to the rear, and burst harmlessly. A
few faces turned upward and a few eyes glanced backward, as if to see
the invisible enemy. But there was no pause in the column; it flowed
onward quietly, eagerly, and with business-like precision; it gave forth
no sound but the trampling of feet and the muttering of the officers.
"Steady, men! For-ward,