“Look! look!” he cried, “the fleet has taken the fort!”
“So it has,” said Colonel Winchester, “and the army is not here. Now I wonder what General Grant will say when he learns that Foote has done the work before he could come.”
But Dick believed that General Grant would find no fault, that he would approve instead. The feeling was already spreading among the soldiers that this man, whose name was recently so new among them, cared only for results. He was not one to fight over precedence and to feel petty jealousies1.
The smoke of battle was beginning to clear away. Officers were landing from the boats to receive the surrender of the fort, and Colonel Winchester and his troops galloped2 rapidly back toward the army, which they soon met, toiling4 through swamps and even through shallow overflow5 toward the Tennessee. The men had been hearing for more than an hour the steady booming of the cannon6, and every face was eager.
Colonel Winchester rode straight toward a short, thickset figure on a stout7 bay horse near the head of one of the columns. This man, like all the others, was plastered with mud, but Colonel Winchester gave him a salute8 of deep respect.
“What does the cessation of firing mean, Colonel?” asked General Grant.
“It means that Fort Henry has surrendered to the fleet. The Southern force, which was drawn9 up outside, retreated southward, but the fort, its guns and immediate10 defenders11, are ours.”
Dick saw the faintest smile of satisfaction pass over the face of the General, who said:
“Commodore Foote has done well. Ride back and tell him that the army is coming up as fast as the nature of the ground will allow.”
In a short time the army was in the fort which had been taken so gallantly12 by the navy, and Grant, his generals, and Commodore Foote, were in anxious consultation13. Most of the troops were soon camped on the height, where the Southern force had stood, and there was great exultation14, but Dick, who had now seen so much, knew that the high officers considered this only a beginning.
Across the narrow stretch of land on the parallel river, the Cumberland, stood the great fort of Donelson. Henry was a small affair compared with it. It was likely that men who had been stationed at Henry had retreated there, and other formidable forces were marching to the same place. The Confederate commander, Johnston, after the destruction of his eastern wing at Mill Spring by Thomas, was drawing in his forces and concentrating. The news of the loss of Fort Henry would cause him to hasten his operations. He was rapidly falling back from his position at Bowling15 Green in Kentucky. Buckner, with his division, was about to march from that place to join the garrison16 in Donelson, and Floyd, with another division, would soon be on the way to the same point. Floyd had been the United States Secretary of War before secession, and the union men hated him. It was said that the great partisan17 leader, Forrest, with his cavalry18, was also at the fort.
Much of this news was brought in by farmers, union sympathizers, and Dick and his comrades, as they sat before the fires at the close of the short winter day, understood the situation almost as well as the generals.
“Donelson is ninety per cent and Henry only ten per cent,” said Warner. “So long as the Johnnies hold Donelson on the Cumberland, they can build another fort anywhere they please along the Tennessee, and stop our fleet. This general of ours has a good notion of the value of time and a swift blow, and, although I'm neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, I predict that he will attack Donelson at once by both land and water.”
“How can he attack it by water?” asked Pennington. “The distance between them is not great, but our ships can't steam overland from the Tennessee to the Cumberland.”
“No, but they can steam back up the Tennessee into the Ohio, thence to the mouth of the Cumberland, and down the Cumberland to Donelson. It would require only four or five days, and it will take that long for the army to invade from the land side.”
Dick had his doubts about the ability of the army and the fleet to co-operate. Accustomed to the energy of the Southern commanders in the east he did not believe that Grant would be allowed to arrange things as he chose. But several days passed and they heard nothing from the Confederates, although Donelson was only about twenty miles away. Johnston himself, brilliant and sagacious, was not there, nor was his lieutenant19, Beauregard, who had won such a great reputation by his victory at the first Bull Run.
Dick was just beginning to suspect a truth that later on was to be confirmed fully20 in his mind. Fortune had placed the great generals of the Confederacy, with the exception of Albert Sidney Johnston, in the east, but it had been the good luck of the North to open in the west with its best men.
Now he saw the energy of Grant, the short man of rather insignificant21 appearance. Boats were sent down the Tennessee to meet any reinforcements that might be coming, take them back to the Ohio, and thence into the Cumberland. Fresh supplies of ammunition22 and food were brought up, and it became obvious to Dick that the daring commander meant to attack Donelson, even should its garrison outnumber his own besieging23 force.
Along a long line from Western Tennessee to Eastern Kentucky there was a mighty24 stir. Johnston had perceived the energy and courage of his opponent. He had shared the deep disappointment of all the Southern leaders when Kentucky failed to secede25, but instead furnished so many thousands of fine troops to the union army.
Johnston, too, had noticed with alarm the tremendous outpouring of rugged26 men from the states beyond the Ohio and from the far northwest. The lumbermen who came down in scores of thousands from Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, were a stalwart crowd. War, save for the bullets and shell, offered to them no hardships to which they were not used. They had often worked for days at a time up to their waists in icy water. They had endured thirty degrees below zero without a murmur28, they had breasted blizzard29 and cyclone30, they could live on anything, and they could sleep either in forest or on prairie, under the open sky.
It was such men as these, including men of his own state, and men of the Tennessee mountains, whom Johnston, who had all the qualities of a great commander, had to face. The forces against him were greatly superior in number. The eastern end of his line had been crushed already at Mill Spring, the extreme western end had suffered a severe blow at Fort Henry, but Jefferson Davis and the Government at Richmond expected everything of him. And he manfully strove to do everything.
There was a mighty marching of men, some news of which came through to Dick and his comrades with Grant. Johnston with his main army, the very flower of the western South, fell back from Bowling Green, in Kentucky, toward Nashville, the capital of Tennessee. But Buckner, with his division, was sent from Bowling Green to help defend Donelson against the threatened attack by Grant, and he arrived there six days after the fall of Henry. On the way were the troops of Floyd, defeated in West Virginia, but afterwards sent westward31. Floyd was at the head of them. Forrest, the great cavalry leader, was also there with his horsemen. The fort was crowded with defenders, but the slack Pillow did not yet send forward anybody to see what Grant was doing, although he was only twenty miles away.
All eyes were now turned upon the west. The center of action had suddenly shifted from Kentucky to Tennessee. The telegraph was young yet, but it was busy. It carried many varying reports to the cities North and South. The name of this new man, Grant, spelled trouble. People were beginning to talk much about him, and already some suspected that there was more in the back of his head than in those of far better known and far more pretentious32 northern generals in the east. None at least could dispute the fact that he was now the one whom everybody was watching.
But the Southern people, few of whom knew the disparity of numbers, had the fullest confidence in the brilliant Johnston. He was more than twenty years older than his antagonist33, but his years had brought only experience and many triumphs, not weakness of either mind or body. At his right hand was the swarthy and confident Beauregard, great with the prestige of Bull Run, and Hardee, Bragg, Breckinridge and Polk. And there were many brilliant colonels, too, foremost among whom was George Kenton.
A tremor34 passed through the North when it was learned that Grant intended to plunge35 into the winter forest, cross the Cumberland, and lay siege to Donelson. He was going beyond the plans of his superior, Halleck, at St. Louis. He was too daring, he would lose his army, away down there in the Confederacy. But others remembered his successes, particularly at Belmont and Fort Henry. They said that nothing could be won in war without risk, and they spoke36 of his daring and decision. They recalled, too, that he was master upon the waters, that there was no Southern fleet to face his, as it sailed up the Southern rivers. The telegraph was already announcing that the gunboats, which had been handled with such skill and courage, would be in the Cumberland ready to co-operate with Grant when he should move on Donelson.
Buell was moving also to form another link in the steel chain that was intended to bind37 the Confederacy in the west. Here again the mastery of the rivers was of supreme38 value to the North. Buell embarked39 his army on boats on Green River in the very heart of Kentucky, descended40 that river to the Ohio, passing down the latter to Smithland, where the Cumberland, coming up from the south, entered it, and met another convoy41 destined42 for the huge invasion.
But the first convoy had come, also by boat, from another direction, and from points far distant. There were fresh regiments43 of farmers and pioneers from Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota. They were all eager, full of enthusiasm, anxious to be led against the enemy, and confident of triumph.
Grant and his army, meanwhile, lying in the bleak45 forest beside the Tennessee, knew little of what was being said of them in the great world without. All their thoughts were of Donelson, across there on the other river, and the men asked to be led against it. Inured46 to the hardships of border life, there was little sickness among them, despite the winter and the overflow of the flooded streams. They gathered the dead wood that littered the forest, built numerous fires, and waited as patiently as they could for the word to march.
The Pennsylvanians were still camped with the Kentucky regiment44 to which Dick now belonged, and the fifth evening after the capture of Henry he and his friends sat by one of the big fires.
“We'll advance either tomorrow or the next day,” said Warner. “The chances are at least ninety per cent in favor of my statement. What do you say, sergeant47?”
“I'd raise the ninety per cent to one hundred,” replied Whitley. “We are all ready an' as you've observed, gentlemen, General Grant is a man who acts.”
“The Johnnies evidently expect us,” said Pennington. “Our scouts48 have seen their cavalry in the woods watching us, but only in the last day or two. It's strange that they didn't begin it earlier.”
“They say that General Pillow, who commands them, isn't of much force,” said Dick.
“Well, it looks like it,” said Warner, “but from what we hear he'll have quite an army at Donelson. General Grant will have his work cut out for him. The Johnnies, besides having their fort, can go into battle with just about as many men as we have, unless he waits for reinforcements, which I am quite certain he isn't going to do.”
That evening several bags of mail were brought to the camp on a small steamer, which had come on three rivers, the Green, the Ohio, and the Tennessee, and Dick, to his great surprise and delight, received a letter from his mother. He had written several letters himself, but he had no way of knowing until now that any of them had reached her. Only one had succeeded in getting through, and that had been written from Cairo.
“My dearest son,” she wrote, “I am full of joy to know that you have reached Cairo in safety and in health, though I dread49 the great expedition upon which you say you are going. I hear in Pendleton many reports about General Grant. They say that he does not spare his men. The Southern sympathizers here say that he is pitiless and cares not how many thousands of his own soldiers he may sacrifice, if he only gains his aim. But of that I know not. I know it is a characteristic of our poor human nature to absolve50 one's own side and to accuse those on the other side.
“I was in Pendleton this morning, and the reports are thick; thick from both Northerners and Southerners, that the armies are moving forward to a great battle. They have all marched south of us, and I do not know either whether these reports are true or false, though I fear that they are true. Your uncle, Colonel Kenton, is with General Johnston, and I hear is one of his most trusted officers. Colonel Kenton is a good man, and it would be one of the terrible tragedies of war if you and he were to meet on the field in this great battle, which so many hear is coming.
“I am very glad that you are now in the regiment of Colonel Winchester, and that you are an aide on his staff. It is best to be with one's own people. I have known Colonel Winchester a long time, and he has all the qualities that make a man, brave and gentle. I hope that you and he will become the best of friends.”
There was much more in the letter, but it was only the little details that concern mother and son. Dick was sitting by the fire when he read it. Then he read it a second time and a third time, folded it very carefully and put it in the pocket in which he had carried the dispatch from General Thomas.
Colonel Winchester was sitting near him, and Dick noticed again what a fine, trim man he was. Although a little over forty, his figure was still slender, and he had an abundant head of thick, vital hair. His whole effect was that of youth. His glance met Dick's and he smiled.
“A letter from home?” he said.
“Yes, sir, from mother. She writes to me that she is glad I am in your command. She speaks very highly of you, sir, and my mother is a woman of uncommon51 penetration52.”
A faint red tinted53 the tanned cheeks of the colonel. Dick thought it was merely the reflection of the fire.
“Would you care for me to read what she says about you?” asked Dick.
“If you don't mind.”
Dick drew out the letter again and read the paragraph.
“Your mother is a very fine woman,” said Colonel Winchester.
“You're right, sir,” said Dick with enthusiasm.
Colonel Winchester said no more, but rose presently and went to the tent of General Grant, where a conference of officers was to be held. Dick remained by the fire, where Warner and Pennington soon joined him.
“Our scouts have exchanged some shots with the enemy,” said Pennington, “and they have taken one or two prisoners, bold fellows who say they're going to lick the spots off us. They say they have a big army at Donelson, and they're afraid of nothing except that Grant won't come on. Between ourselves, the Johnny Rebs are getting ready for us.”
It was Dick's opinion, too, that the Southern troops were making great preparations to meet them, but, like the others, he was feeling the strong hand on the reins54. He did not notice here the doubt and uncertainty55 that had reigned56 at Washington before the advance on Bull Run; in Grant's army were order and precision, and with perfect confidence in his commander he rolled himself in his blankets that night and went to sleep.
The order to advance did not come the next morning, and Dick, for a few moments, thought it might not come at all. The reports from Donelson were of a formidable nature, and Grant's own army was not provided for a winter campaign. It had few wagons57 for food and ammunition, and some of the regiments from the northwest, cherishing the delusion58 that winter in Tennessee was not cold, were not provided with warm clothing and sufficient blankets.
“The chance of our moving against Donelson is one hundred per cent,” he said. “I passed the General today and his lips were shut tight together, which means a resolve to do at all costs what one has intended to do. I still admit that the prophets and the sons of prophets live no more, but I predict with absolute certainty that we will move in the morning.”
The Vermonter's faith was justified61. The army, being put in thorough trim, started at dawn upon its momentous62 march. Wintry fogs were rising from the great river and the submerged lowlands, and the air was full of raw, penetrating63 chill. An abundant breakfast was served to everybody, and then with warmth and courage the lads of the west and northwest marched forward with eagerness to an undertaking64 which they knew would be far greater than the capture of Fort Henry.
Dick and Pennington, as staff officers, were mounted, although the horses that had been furnished to them were not much more than ponies65. Warner rode with Colonel Newcomb and Major Hertford, who led the slender Pennsylvania detachment beside the Kentucky regiment. Thus the army emerged from its camp and began the march toward the Cumberland. It was now about fifteen thousand strong, but it expected reinforcements, and its fleet held the command of the rivers.
As they entered the leafless forest Dick saw ahead of them, perhaps a quarter of a mile away, a numerous band of horsemen wearing faded Confederate gray. They were the cavalry of Forrest, but they were too few to stay the union advances. There was a scattered66 firing of rifles, but the heavy brigades of Grant moved steadily67 on, and pushed them out of the way. Forrest could do no more than gallop3 back to the fort with his men and report that the enemy was coming at last.
“Those fellows ride well,” said Pennington, as the last of Forrest's cavalrymen passed out of sight, “and if we were not in such strong force I fancy they would sting us pretty hard.”
“We'll see more of 'em,” said Dick. “This is the enemy's country, and we needn't think that we're going to march as easy as you please from one victory to another.”
“Maybe not,” said Pennington, “but I'll be glad when we get Donelson. I've been hearing so much about that place that I'm growing real curious.”
Their march across the woods suffered no further interruption. Sometimes they saw Confederate cavalrymen at a distance in front, but they did not try to impede68 Grant's advance. When the sun was well down in the west, the vanguard of the army came within sight of the fortress69 that stood by the Cumberland. At that very moment the troops under Floyd, just arrived, were crossing the river to join the garrison in the fortress.
Dick looked upon extensive fortifications, a large fort, a redoubt upon slightly higher ground, other batteries at the water's edge, powerful batteries upon a semi-circular hill which could command the river for a long distance, and around all of these extensive works, several miles in length, including a deep creek70 on the north. Inside the works was the little town of Dover, and they were defended by fifteen thousand men, as many as Grant had without.
When Dick beheld71 this formidable position bristling72 with cannon, rifles and bayonets, his heart sank within him. How could one army defeat another, as numerous as itself, inside powerful intrenchments, and in its own country? Nor could they prevent Southern reinforcements from reaching the other side of the river and crossing to the fort under the shelter of its numerous great guns. He was yet to learn the truth, or at least the partial truth, of Napoleon's famous saying, that in war an army is nothing, a man is everything. The army to which he belonged was led by a man of clear vision and undaunted resolution. The chief commander inside the fort had neither, and his men were shaken already by the news of Fort Henry, exaggerated in the telling.
But after the first sinking of the heart Dick felt an extraordinary thrill. Sensitive and imaginative, he was conscious even at the moment that he looked in the face of mighty events. The things of the minute did not always appeal to him with the greatest force. He had, instead, the foreseeing mind, and the meaning of that vast panorama73 of fortress, hills, river and forest did not escape him.
“Well, Dick, what do you think of it?” asked Pennington.
“We've got our work cut out for us, and if I didn't know General Grant I'd say that we're engaged in a mighty rash undertaking.”
“Just what I'd say, also. And we need that fleet bad, too, Dick. I'd like to see the smoke of its funnels74 as the boats come steaming up the Cumberland.”
Dick knew that the fleet was needed, not alone for encouragement and fighting help, but to supply an even greater want. Grant's army was short of both food and ammunition. The afternoon had turned warm, and many of the northwestern lads, still clinging to their illusions about the climate of the lower Mississippi Valley, had dropped their blankets. Now, with the setting sun, the raw, penetrating chill was coming back, and they shivered in every bone.
But the union army, in spite of everything, gradually spread out and enfolded the whole fortress, save on the northern side where Hickman Creek flowed, deep and impassable. The general's own headquarters were due west of Fort Donelson, and Colonel Winchester's Kentucky regiment was stationed close by.
Low campfires burned along the long line of the Northern army, and Dick and others who sat beside him saw many lights inside the great enclosure held by the South. An occasional report was heard, but it was only the pickets75 exchanging shots at long range and without hurt. Dick and Pennington wrapped their blankets about them and sat with their backs against a log, ready for any command from Colonel Winchester. Now and then they were sent with orders, because there was much moving to and fro, the placing of men in position and the bringing up of cannon.
Thus the night moved slowly on, raw, cold and dark. Mists and fogs rose from the Cumberland as they had risen from the Tennessee. This, too, was a great river. Dick was glad when the last of his errands was done, and he could come back to the fire, and rest his back once more against the log. The fire was only a bed of coals now, but they gave out much grateful heat.
Dick could see General Grant's tent from where he sat. Officers of high rank were still entering it or leaving it, and he was quite sure that they were planning an attack on the morrow.
But the idea of an assault did not greatly move him now. He was too tired and sleepy to have more than a vague impression of anything. He saw the coals glowing before him, and then he did not see them. He had gone sound asleep in an instant.
The next morning was gray and troubled, with heavy clouds, rolling across the sky. The rising sun was blurred76 by them, and as the men ate their breakfasts some of the great guns from the fort began to fire at the presumptuous77 besieger78. The heavy reports rolled sullenly79 over the desolate80 forests, but the Northern cannon did not yet reply. The Southern fire was doing no damage. It was merely a threat, a menace to those who should dare the assault.
Colonel Winchester signalled to Dick and Pennington, and mounting their horses they rode with him to the crest81 of the highest adjacent hill. Presently General Grant came and with him were the generals, McClernand and Smith. Colonel Newcomb also arrived, attended by Warner. The high officers examined the fort a long time through their glasses, but Dick noticed that at times they watched the river. He knew they were looking there for the black plumes82 of smoke which should mark the coming of the steamers out of the Ohio.
But nothing showed on the surface of the Cumberland. The river, dark gray under lowering clouds, flowed placidly83 on, washing the base of Fort Donelson. At intervals84 of a minute or two there was a flash of fire from the fort, and the menacing boom of the cannon rolled through the desolate forest. Now and then, a gun from one of the Northern batteries replied. But it was as yet a desultory85 battle, with much noise and little danger, merely a threat of what was to come.
After a while Colonel Winchester wrote something on a slip of paper:
“Take this to our lieutenant-colonel,” he said. “It is an order for the regiment to hold itself in complete readiness, although no action may come for some time. Then return here at once.”
Dick rode back swiftly, but on his way he suddenly bent86 over his saddle bow. A shell from the fort screamed over his head in such a menacing fashion that it seemed to be only a few inches from him. But it passed on, leaving him unharmed, and burst three hundred yards away.
Dick instantly straightened up in the saddle, looked around, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that no one had noticed his sudden bow, and galloped on with the order. The lieutenant-colonel read it and nodded. Then Dick rode back to the hill where the generals were yet watching in vain for those black plumes of smoke on the Cumberland.
They left the hill at last and the generals went to their brigades. General Grant was smoking a cigar and his face was impassive.
“We're to open soon with the artillery87,” said Colonel Winchester to Dick. “General Grant means to push things.”
The desultory firing, those warning guns, ceased entirely88, and for a while both armies stood in almost complete silence. Then a Northern battery on the right opened with a tremendous crash and the battle for Donelson had begun. A Southern battery replied at once and the firing spread along the whole vast curve. Shells and solid shot whistled through the air, but the troops back of the guns crouched89 in hasty entrenchments, and waited.
The great artillery combat went on for some time. To many of the lads on either side it seemed for hours. Then the guns on the Northern side ceased suddenly, bugles90 sounded, and the regiments, drawn up in line, rushed at the outer fortifications.
Colonel Winchester and his staff had dismounted, but Dick and Pennington, keeping by the colonel's side, drew their swords and rushed on shouting. The Southerners inside the fort fired their cannon as fast as they could now, and at closer range opened with the rifles. Dick heard once again that terrible shrieking91 of metal so close to his ears, and then he heard, too, cries of pain. Many of the young soldiers behind him were falling.
The fire now grew so hot and deadly that the union regiments were forced to give ground. It was evident that they could not carry the formidable earthworks, but on the right, where Dick's regiment charged, and just above the little town of Dover, they pressed in far enough to secure some hills that protected them from the fire of the enemy, and from which Southern cannon and rifles could not drive them. Then, at the order of Grant, his troops withdrew elsewhere and the battle of the day ceased. But on the low hills above Dover, which they had taken, the union regiments held their ground, and from their position the Northern cannon could threaten the interior of the Southern lines.
Dick's regiment stood here, and beside them were the few companies of Pennsylvanians so far from their native state. Neither Dick nor Pennington was wounded. Warner had a bandaged arm, but the wound was so slight that it would not incapacitate him. The officers were unhurt.
“They've driven our army back,” said Pennington, “and it was not so hard for them to do it either. How can we ever defeat an army as large as our own inside powerful works?”
But Dick was learning fast and he had a keen eye.
“We have not failed utterly,” he said. “Don't you see that we have here a projection92 into the enemy's lines, and if those reinforcements come it will be thrust further and further? I tell you that general of ours is a bull dog. He will never let go.”
Yet there was little but gloom in the union camp. The short winter day, somber93 and heavy with clouds, was drawing to a close. The field upon which the assault had taken place was within the sweep of the Southern guns. Some of the Northern wounded had crawled away or had been carried to their own camp, but others and the numerous dead still lay upon the ground.
The cold increased. The Southern winter is subject to violent changes. The clouds which had floated up without ceasing were massing heavily. Now the young troops regretted bitterly the blankets that they had dropped on the way or left at Fort Henry. Detachments were sent back to regain94 as many as possible, but long before they could return a sharp wind with an edge of ice sprang up, the clouds opened and great flakes95 poured down, driven into the eyes of the soldiers by the wind.
The situation was enough to cause the stoutest96 heart to weaken, but the unflinching Grant held on. The Confederate army within the works was sheltered at least in part, but his own, outside, and with the desolate forest rimming97 it around, lay exposed fully to the storm. Dick, at intervals, saw the short, thickset figure of the commander passing among the men, and giving them orders or encouragement. Once he saw his face clearly. The lips were pressed tightly together, and the whole countenance98 expressed the grimmest determination. Dick was confirmed anew in his belief that the chief would never turn back.
The spectacle, nevertheless, was appalling99. The snow drove harder and harder. It was not merely a passing shower of flakes. It was a storm. The snow soon lay upon the ground an inch deep, then three inches, then four and still it gained. Through the darkness and the storm the Southern cannon crashed at intervals, sending shells at random100 into the union camp or over it. There was full need then for the indomitable spirit of Grant and those around him to encourage anew the thousands of boys who had so lately left the farms or the lumber27 yards.
Dick and his comrades, careless of the risk, searched over the battlefield for the wounded who were yet there. They carried lanterns, but the darkness was so great and the snow drove so hard and lay so deep that they knew many would never be found.
Back beyond the range of the fort's cannon men were building fires with what wood they could secure from the forest. All the tents they had were set up, and the men tried to cook food and make coffee, in order that some degree of warmth and cheer might be provided for the army beset101 so sorely.
The snow, after a while, slackening somewhat, was succeeded by cold much greater than ever. The shivering men bent over the fires and lamented102 anew the discarded blankets. Dick did not sleep an instant that terrible night. He could not. He, Pennington, and Warner, relieved from staff service, worked all through the cold and darkness, helping103 the wounded and seeking wood for the fires. And with them always was the wise Sergeant Whitley, to whom, although inferior in rank, they turned often and willingly for guidance and advice.
“It's an awful situation,” said Pennington; “I knew that war would furnish horrors, but I didn't expect anything like this.”
“But General Grant will never retreat,” said Dick. “I feel it in every bone of me. I've seen his face tonight.”
“No, he won't,” said the experienced sergeant, “because he's making every preparation to stay. An' remember, Mr. Pennington, that while this is pretty bad, worse can happen. Remember, too, that while we can stand this, we can also stand whatever worse may come. It's goin' to be a fight to a finish.”
Far in the night the occasional guns from the Southern fortress ceased. The snow was falling no longer, but it lay very deep on the ground, and the cold was at its height. Along a line of miles the fires burned and the men crowded about them. But Dick, who had been working on the snowy plain that was the battlefield, and who had heard many moans there, now heard none. All who lay in that space were sleeping the common sleep of death, their bodies frozen stiff and hard under the snow.
Dick, sitting by one of the fires, saw the cold dawn come, and in those chill hours of nervous exhaustion104 he lost hope for a moment or two. How could anybody, no matter how resolute105, maintain a siege without ammunition and without food. But he spoke cheerfully to Pennington and Warner, who had slept a little and who were just awakening106.
The pale and wintry sun showed the defiant107 Stars and Bars floating over Donelson, and Dick from his hill could see men moving inside the earthworks. Certainly the Southern flags had a right to wave defiance108 at the besieging army, which was now slowly and painfully rising from the snow, and lighting109 the fires anew.
“Well, what's the program today, Dick?” asked Pennington.
“I don't know, but it's quite certain that we won't attempt another assault. It's hopeless.”
The boom of a cannon echoed over the fort and forest, and then another and another. To the northward111 they saw thin black spires112 of smoke under the horizon.
“It's the fleet! It's the fleet!” cried Warner joyously113, “coming up the Cumberland to our help! Oh, you men of Donelson, we're around you now, and you'll never shake us off!”
Again came the crash of great guns from the fleet, and the crash of the Southern water batteries replying.
点击收听单词发音
1 jealousies | |
n.妒忌( jealousy的名词复数 );妒羡 | |
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2 galloped | |
(使马)飞奔,奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 ); 快速做[说]某事 | |
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3 gallop | |
v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔;飞速发展 | |
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4 toiling | |
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉 | |
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5 overflow | |
v.(使)外溢,(使)溢出;溢出,流出,漫出 | |
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6 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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8 salute | |
vi.行礼,致意,问候,放礼炮;vt.向…致意,迎接,赞扬;n.招呼,敬礼,礼炮 | |
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9 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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10 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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11 defenders | |
n.防御者( defender的名词复数 );守卫者;保护者;辩护者 | |
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12 gallantly | |
adv. 漂亮地,勇敢地,献殷勤地 | |
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13 consultation | |
n.咨询;商量;商议;会议 | |
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14 exultation | |
n.狂喜,得意 | |
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15 bowling | |
n.保龄球运动 | |
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16 garrison | |
n.卫戍部队;驻地,卫戍区;vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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17 partisan | |
adj.党派性的;游击队的;n.游击队员;党徒 | |
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18 cavalry | |
n.骑兵;轻装甲部队 | |
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19 lieutenant | |
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员 | |
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20 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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21 insignificant | |
adj.无关紧要的,可忽略的,无意义的 | |
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22 ammunition | |
n.军火,弹药 | |
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23 besieging | |
包围,围困,围攻( besiege的现在分词 ) | |
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24 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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25 secede | |
v.退出,脱离 | |
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26 rugged | |
adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的 | |
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27 lumber | |
n.木材,木料;v.以破旧东西堆满;伐木;笨重移动 | |
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28 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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29 blizzard | |
n.暴风雪 | |
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30 cyclone | |
n.旋风,龙卷风 | |
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31 westward | |
n.西方,西部;adj.西方的,向西的;adv.向西 | |
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32 pretentious | |
adj.自命不凡的,自负的,炫耀的 | |
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33 antagonist | |
n.敌人,对抗者,对手 | |
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34 tremor | |
n.震动,颤动,战栗,兴奋,地震 | |
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35 plunge | |
v.跳入,(使)投入,(使)陷入;猛冲 | |
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36 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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37 bind | |
vt.捆,包扎;装订;约束;使凝固;vi.变硬 | |
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38 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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39 embarked | |
乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 ); 装载; 从事 | |
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40 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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41 convoy | |
vt.护送,护卫,护航;n.护送;护送队 | |
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42 destined | |
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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43 regiments | |
(军队的)团( regiment的名词复数 ); 大量的人或物 | |
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44 regiment | |
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制 | |
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45 bleak | |
adj.(天气)阴冷的;凄凉的;暗淡的 | |
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46 inured | |
adj.坚强的,习惯的 | |
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47 sergeant | |
n.警官,中士 | |
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48 scouts | |
侦察员[机,舰]( scout的名词复数 ); 童子军; 搜索; 童子军成员 | |
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49 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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50 absolve | |
v.赦免,解除(责任等) | |
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51 uncommon | |
adj.罕见的,非凡的,不平常的 | |
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52 penetration | |
n.穿透,穿人,渗透 | |
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53 tinted | |
adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词 | |
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54 reins | |
感情,激情; 缰( rein的名词复数 ); 控制手段; 掌管; (成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的)保护带 | |
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55 uncertainty | |
n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物 | |
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56 reigned | |
vi.当政,统治(reign的过去式形式) | |
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57 wagons | |
n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 );铁路货车;小手推车 | |
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58 delusion | |
n.谬见,欺骗,幻觉,迷惑 | |
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59 abated | |
减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 ); 减去; 降价; 撤消(诉讼) | |
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60 jot | |
n.少量;vi.草草记下;vt.匆匆写下 | |
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61 justified | |
a.正当的,有理的 | |
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62 momentous | |
adj.重要的,重大的 | |
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63 penetrating | |
adj.(声音)响亮的,尖锐的adj.(气味)刺激的adj.(思想)敏锐的,有洞察力的 | |
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64 undertaking | |
n.保证,许诺,事业 | |
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65 ponies | |
矮种马,小型马( pony的名词复数 ); £25 25 英镑 | |
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66 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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67 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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68 impede | |
v.妨碍,阻碍,阻止 | |
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69 fortress | |
n.堡垒,防御工事 | |
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70 creek | |
n.小溪,小河,小湾 | |
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71 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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72 bristling | |
a.竖立的 | |
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73 panorama | |
n.全景,全景画,全景摄影,全景照片[装置] | |
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74 funnels | |
漏斗( funnel的名词复数 ); (轮船,火车等的)烟囱 | |
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75 pickets | |
罢工纠察员( picket的名词复数 ) | |
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76 blurred | |
v.(使)变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 );(使)难以区分;模模糊糊;迷离 | |
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77 presumptuous | |
adj.胆大妄为的,放肆的,冒昧的,冒失的 | |
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78 besieger | |
n. 围攻者, 围攻军 | |
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79 sullenly | |
不高兴地,绷着脸,忧郁地 | |
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80 desolate | |
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂 | |
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81 crest | |
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖 | |
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82 plumes | |
羽毛( plume的名词复数 ); 羽毛饰; 羽毛状物; 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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83 placidly | |
adv.平稳地,平静地 | |
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84 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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85 desultory | |
adj.散漫的,无方法的 | |
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86 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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87 artillery | |
n.(军)火炮,大炮;炮兵(部队) | |
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88 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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89 crouched | |
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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90 bugles | |
妙脆角,一种类似薯片但做成尖角或喇叭状的零食; 号角( bugle的名词复数 ); 喇叭; 匍匐筋骨草; (装饰女服用的)柱状玻璃(或塑料)小珠 | |
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91 shrieking | |
v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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92 projection | |
n.发射,计划,突出部分 | |
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93 somber | |
adj.昏暗的,阴天的,阴森的,忧郁的 | |
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94 regain | |
vt.重新获得,收复,恢复 | |
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95 flakes | |
小薄片( flake的名词复数 ); (尤指)碎片; 雪花; 古怪的人 | |
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96 stoutest | |
粗壮的( stout的最高级 ); 结实的; 坚固的; 坚定的 | |
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97 rimming | |
n.(沸腾钢)结壳沸腾作用 | |
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98 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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99 appalling | |
adj.骇人听闻的,令人震惊的,可怕的 | |
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100 random | |
adj.随机的;任意的;n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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101 beset | |
v.镶嵌;困扰,包围 | |
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102 lamented | |
adj.被哀悼的,令人遗憾的v.(为…)哀悼,痛哭,悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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103 helping | |
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的 | |
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104 exhaustion | |
n.耗尽枯竭,疲惫,筋疲力尽,竭尽,详尽无遗的论述 | |
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105 resolute | |
adj.坚决的,果敢的 | |
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106 awakening | |
n.觉醒,醒悟 adj.觉醒中的;唤醒的 | |
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107 defiant | |
adj.无礼的,挑战的 | |
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108 defiance | |
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗 | |
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109 lighting | |
n.照明,光线的明暗,舞台灯光 | |
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110 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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111 northward | |
adv.向北;n.北方的地区 | |
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112 spires | |
n.(教堂的) 塔尖,尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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113 joyously | |
ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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