Many of the young soldiers behind him were falling.
The fire now grew so hot and deadly that the Union regiments were forced
to give ground. It was evident that they could not carry the formidable
earthworks, but on the right, where Dick's regiment charged, and just
above the little town of Dover, they pressed in far enough to secure
some hills that protected them from the fire of the enemy, and from
which Southern cannon and rifles could not drive them. Then, at the
order of Grant, his troops withdrew elsewhere and the battle of the day
ceased. But on the low hills above Dover, which they had taken, the
Union regiments held their ground, and from their position the Northern
cannon could threaten the interior of the Southern lines.
Dick's regiment stood here, and beside them were the few companies
of Pennsylvanians so far from their native state. Neither Dick nor
Pennington was wounded. Warner had a bandaged arm, but the wound was so
slight that it would not incapacitate him. The officers were unhurt.
"They've driven our army back," said Pennington, "and it was not so hard
for them to do it either. How can we ever defeat an army as large as
our own inside powerful works?"
But Dick was learning fast and he had a keen eye.
"We have not failed utterly," he said. "Don't you see that we have here
a projection into the enemy's lines, and if those reinforcements come it
will be thrust further and further? I tell you that general of ours is
a bull dog.
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