The sun was already setting, and they could not fight at
night in those wild thickets, where men and guns would become mired
and tangled beyond extrication. The great struggle, with both leaders
hurling in their full forces, would come on the morrow.
The sun already hung very low, and in the twilight and smoke the savagery
of the Wilderness became fiercer than ever. The dusk gathered around Lee,
but his erect figure and white horse still showed distinctly through it.
Harry, his spirit touched by the tremendous scenes in the very center
of which he stood, regarded him with a fresh measure of respect and
admiration. He was the bulwark of the Confederacy, and he did not doubt
that on the morrow he would stop Grant as he had stopped the others.
The darkness increased, sweeping down like a great black pall over the
Wilderness. The battle in the center and on the left died. Lee and his
staff dismounting, prepared for the labors of the night.
CHAPTER XV
THE WILDERNESS
When night settled down over the Wilderness the two armies lay almost
face to face on a long line. The preliminary battle, on the whole,
had favored the Confederacy. Hill had held his ground and Ewell had
gained, but Grant had immense forces, and, though naturally kind of heart,
he had made up his mind to strike and keep on striking, no matter what
the loss.
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