Under Fire: A Tale of the Shenandoah Valley — page 133: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

126 A STUNNING SURPRISE. tives, fleeing in wild disorder back toward the second hill, half a mile in the rear, where lay the Nineteenth Corps. “(Great Heaven! this is terrible!’’ shouted a Union colonel, riding madly along the front of the fleeing crowd. ‘‘Back, boys! this is disgraceful !”’ The appeals of the officers had some effect, and several regiments rallied, and attempted once more to stay the tide of Confederate gray sweeping so ma- jestically onward. The lately beaten and apparently demoralized Con- federate Army had suddenly assumed the offensive in a way that was without parallel in the history of war. No wonder the Union generals were dumfounded, and utterly at a loss to understand how this could be. And Sheridan, the soul of the army, was not here.- . If the Union Army was defeated, the smiling fields of the North would once more be open to invasion, and the war would be prolonged indefinitely. It was a momentous time indeed, and the destinies of millions hung in the balance on that nineteenth day of October. | But the surprise of the morning was so complete— so overwhelming, as to preclude hope of successful resistance. As we have said, a few regiments were’ infused with life and courage enough to make a stand, and desperately attempted to turn back the tide of battle. “Hold your ground, boys!’ It was Chetwood’s cry, and his cool courage was soon infused into others. The flanking lines of gray were held in check for a brief moment, and leaden rain laid some of the enemy low as they pushed hotly upon the fragmentary lines of blue. _ Crash, hiss, and roar. The din was terrific. (G(e) comicbooks