Lawrence found the rear guard hard pressed.
"Look out, Captain; they are flanking us, and you are in range," called one of the men.
Just then three or four balls whizzed close to Lawrence's head. Wheeling his horse, he shouted, "Follow me!" and the rear guard went down the road as if in swift retreat. The enemy followed with wild cheers.
The rapid pursuit had strung out the Confederates, and Major Powell had ridden back to hurry up the stragglers, leaving the advance in charge of his senior captain. This officer, thinking the Yankees in full retreat, and that he might gain some honor, pressed the pursuit with vigor.
Straight past where Dan and his men were concealed, Lawrence rode, but he halted his little squad where the valley narrowed.
If the Confederates had not been so eager in the pursuit, they might have seen the bushes tremble or caught the gleam of a gun barrel; but they only had eyes for the flying Yankees. When they saw the Federals had halted, they also halted, taking time to close up, and that was just what Lawrence wanted.
Ordering his men to fire a volley, Lawrence again wheeled as if in retreat.
"Forward!" shouted the Confederate captain. "Charge! Ride over them!"
Suddenly, from the side of the road, there came a crashing volley. The destruction was awful; men and horses went down in heaps.
"Wheel and charge!" shouted Lawrence; and down on the terror-stricken Confederates came Lawrence with his ten men. The panic became a rout. The enemy thought only of getting away. In vain Major Powell tried to stop his men; he, too, was borne back in the confusion.