“Oh!” spoke up an old man, “we would ha’ fit well; but General Pemberton came up and said: ‘Stand your ground, boys. Your General Pemberton is with you;’ and then, bless you, lady! the next we see’d of him, he was sitting on his horse behind a house—close, too, at that; and when we see’d that, we thought ’tain’t no use, if he’s going to sit there.”
We could not help laughing at the old man’s tale and his anger. Afterward we were told that General Pemberton behaved with courage—that the fault lay in the arrangement of troops.
And where these weary and wornout men were going, we could not tell. I think they did not know themselves.
CHAPTER VIII.
FRESH TROOPS FROM WARRENTON FOR THE INTRENCHMENTS—“WE’LL PROTECT YOU”—FEARS.
At dark the fresh troops from Warrenton marched by, going out to the intrenchments in the rear of the city about two miles; many of the officers were fearful that the fortifications, being so incomplete, would be taken, if the Federal troops pushed immediately on, following their advantage.
As the troops from Warrenton passed by, the ladies waved their handkerchiefs, cheering them, and crying:
“These are the troops that have not run. You’ll stand by us, and protect us, won’t you? You won’t retreat and bring the Federals behind you.”