“Just at this time our forces were anxiously looking for the arrival of the troops from the Army of the West, which they knew were marching with all the energy they could to the aid of their comrades. So the next morning the rebels were saluted with a shout that rang from the valley up to the top of Looking-Glass Mountain and along Middle-ton's Ridge. It was the arrival of Sherwood from Victor's Hill with two full corps of as good soldiers as ever marched under the American flag. Cheer upon cheer from both our armies rang out and gladdened the hearts of all.
“The next day Gen. Silent was handed a note by a cavalryman. He examined it, and found that it bore information to the effect that Longpath had failed to capture Knoxburg, but had been repulsed by Broomfield and was then marching rapidly to re-enforce Biggs. On inquiry the General found that the note was written by a lady, who was then some ten miles away at a farmhouse. The cavalryman stated that she was very anxious that Gen. Silent should get the note that day, and that she had also told him to say to the General that she was the same lady who had given him certain information at Nashua some days before, and that she informed the bearer of the contents of the note and requested him to destroy it if in danger of being captured. Gen. Silent consulted Gen. Papson and found that he had implicit faith in her statements, as he said she had given Rosenfelt truthful and important information twice as to the numbers and movements of the enemy. Gen. Silent said:
“'This being so, we must drive Biggs from his position before Longpath can join him.'
“It was then raining and blowing a perfect gale, and Gen. Papson said that it might be well to delay until the storm was over. This Gen. Silent assented to, but directed that all preparations be made for the attack, so as to be in perfect readiness at a moment's notice.
“Sherwood, however, had not yet succeeded in getting to the position assigned him. He was struggling against rain, wind, and high water. In crossing Little Combination River to the north side the pontoon bridge gave way, and Gen. Osterman and his division of Sherwood's command were completely cut off and left on the south side of the stream. Silent ordered him to proceed up the river to a point opposite Middleton's Ridge with the remainder of his command. By this time the freshet was so great that it was impossible to repair the bridge. So Osterman was ordered, if he could not get across by eight o'clock the next morning, to report to Gen. Hord. Sherwood finally succeeded in moving the rest of his command to the point indicated. Pontoons were now necessary for bridging the river at this point in order to cross the troops again over to the south side to assault Middleton's Ridge, the point of it sloping down near to the river, on which rested the rebel right flank. There were but few pontoons to be obtained, and here the genius of man came well into play. Rafts and boats of a rough character were at once improvised, and by the morning of the 24th of November Sherwood's command was once more on the south side of the river, with men, horses and artillery, ready for the assault. He was moving in a drizzling rain, and as the clouds hung low his movement was pretty well covered. He pushed forward with great rapidity and seized the smaller hills near the river, driving the enemy therefrom, and at once fortified them securely.
“The rebels now seeing this advantage made an ineffectual assault to dislodge him. He had possession of two hills, with a depression in his front between him and the main ridge, it being his objective point. The mist and heaviness of the day prevented the enemy on Looking-Glass Mountain from seeing or understanding the movement of Sherwood on the right. Night closed in, and as the clouds cleared away, the light of the camp fires revealed the position of both armies. Indeed, the night was beautiful. The lights on the north side were made by those guarding the camp of Sherwood, left in his movement, across the river. These lights of the camp fires of both armies now formed a complete circuit, making a grand picture. The stillness of the night was a warning to all that in the morning work was to be done.
“About the hour of ten Gen. Silent was out looking at the lights, and in order to form some opinion of the condition of the weather during the next day, he strolled along the river bank alone. Stopping at no great distance from one of the sentinels, he sat down upon a stone under a large tree, the shadows of which obscured him from view.
“While sitting absorbed in thought as to what the future would be to the army then preparing for a desperate battle, a strange form seemed to appear before him. He was at first startled, and then felt as though he had dreamed, and was thereby deceiving himself. The object was apparently a woman dressed in a long flowing robe of pure white. The features were regularly formed; she had large blue eyes, long, auburn hair, and a light shone about her which made every feature plain and visible to him. This strange apparition did not speak, but pointed to Looking-Glass Mountain, and passed her hand, extending her forefinger, as though tracing the mountain along to where it dips down to the Roseville road. At this point she held her finger pointing for some seconds. She then turned and pointed to the end of Middleton's Ridge, near the river, and there hesitated; then turned and pointed to the center of the ridge, near where Gen. Biggs's Headquarters were afterwards located. Here she seemed to trace two lines on the side of the ridge by passing her finger twice back and forth. She hesitated at this point for some moments, finally pointing to the sky as though calling attention to the stars. At this moment Gen. Silent arose quite excited, and the strange specter vanished. He stood for some moments motionless. He could not move, and was trembling with nervousness. Finally he aroused himself and stepped to the spot where the strange figure had appeared. There was nothing that could have been by dreamy imagination distorted into such a form. He said to himself, 'I dreamed; I must have dreamed; how could this be otherwise?' Just at this moment he saw a sentinel walking his beat some paces away and approached him cautiously. The sentinel challenged, and Silent went forward and gave the countersign. He then told the sentinel who he was, and inquired if anything unusual was going on. The sentinel replied in the negative. Silent then inquired if he had seen nothing unusual.