But Dick felt that something had been achieved. A powerful Union force was now beyond the Antietam, with its feet rooted firmly in the soil of the peninsula. It looked directly south at the Confederate army and there was no barrier between. Lee would have to face at once, Hooker on the north and McClellan on the east across the Antietam. The Union army had been numerous enough to outflank him.
Dick was quite sure of success now. They had lost two of the most precious of all days instead of one, but they had closed the gap on the north, through which Lee's army might march in an attempt to escape. It was likely, too, that the last of Jackson's men would come that way and the Union force would cut them off from Lee. Two entire army corps were now beyond the Antietam, and they should be able to do anything.
The Winchester regiment lay in deep woods, and the great division although it had rested nearly all the day was quiet in the night. But some ardent souls could not rest. A group of officers, including Colonel Winchester and the three young members of his staff, walked forward through the woods, taking the chance of stray shots from sentinels or skirmishers. But they knew that this risk was not great.
They passed near a mill, its wheels and saws silent now, and presently as the moon rose they saw the square white walls of a building shining in its light.
“The Dunkard church,” said one of the officers. “I think we'd better not go any closer. The Johnnies must be lying thick close at hand.”
“The dim light off to the right must be made by their fires,” said Colonel Winchester. “I wish I knew what troops they are. Jackson's perhaps. It's a rough country, and all these forests and ridges and hills will help the defense. I understand that the farms in here are surrounded by stone fences and that, too, will help the Johnnies.”
“But we'll get 'em,” said another confidently. “The battle can't be put off any longer, and we're bound to smash 'em in the morning.”
They remained in the darkness for a while, trying to see what was passing toward the Southern lines, but they could see little. There was some rifle firing after a while, and the occasional deep note of a cannon, mostly at random and the little group walked back.
“I'm going to sleep, Dick,” said Warner. “I've just remembered that I'm an invalid and that if I overtask myself it will be a bad thing for McClellan to-morrow. The colonel doesn't want us any longer, and so here goes.”
“I follow,” said Pennington. “The dry earth is good enough for me. May I stay on top of it for the next half century.”