Then General Meade would have been compelled to retire upon Westminster and Washington. He would doubtless have fought somewhere, but it is a terrible thing to have an army flushed with victory “after” you!
Cemetery Range was not seized that night. When the sun rose the next morning, the golden moment had passed. General Meade was ready.
From right to left, as far as the eye could reach, the heights bristled with blue infantry and artillery. From every point on the ridge waved the enemy’s battle flags. From the muzzles of his bronze war-dogs, Meade sent his defiant challenge to his adversary to attack him.
“Come on!” the Federal artillery seemed to mutter fiercely.
And Lee’s guns from the ridge opposite thundered grimly in reply,
“We are coming!”
XXIV. — THE ARMY.
Alas!—