Were beating like prisoners assaulting their walls,
Impatient to be where the battle-field calls;
Every nerve of the charger was strained to full play,
With Sheridan only ten miles away!
The first that the General saw was the groups
Of stragglers, and then—the retreating troops!
What was done—what to do—a glance told him both;
And, striking his spurs, with a terrible oath
He dashed down the line ’mid a storm of huzzahs,
And the wave of retreat checked its course there, because