"'Did you hear that, John?' asked my father.
"'I did,' I replied.
"'Well, if you expect to ever see your mother again, you must do some good traveling now.'
"As we had an intense desire to see her again we started down the road at a good pace. We distinctly heard the Confederate cavalrymen crying, 'Stop, you blankety blanked Yankees!' But we felt that our business in Chattanooga, demanded immediate attention, and we had no time to spare them.
"Passing a certain place, I saw General Thomas standing upon the brow of Snodgrass Hill, or Horseshoe Ridge, field glass in hand, intently watching the movements of the troops. I distinctly remember his full-bearded, leonine face, and little did we know that the fate of the Cumberland Army, or possibly of the Nation, rested upon that single man that terrible Sunday afternoon. What a mighty responsibility! But there he stood, a tower of strength, the Rock of Chickamauga indeed! With but a single line he repelled charge after charge of Longstreet's consolidated ranks.
"And so we fought the most sanguinary battle of modern times, yet utterly bootless so far as immediate results were concerned. One hundred and thirty thousand men were engaged with a loss of nearly fifty thousand, or a little less than forty per cent. This battle should never have been fought. Rosecranz here lost his military prestige that he had so splendidly won at Stone's River. Thomas alone achieved on this field immortal glory, and was the one great hero of the occasion. The Confederates claimed it as a victory, but they should daily thereafter have asked a kind Providence to keep them from any more such victories.
"The next day Thomas followed us into Chattanooga, and Bragg and Longstreet perched with their armies upon Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. From these elevations they watched us with Argus eyes. Our supplies were completely cut off and we were soon reduced to the point of star—But here, you fellows are getting tired, and so am I. I will tell you about the siege of Chattanooga and battle of Missionary Ridge some other time."
CHAPTER XVIII.
Woman Locates the North Pole.