The mighty and terrible nature of the
war was borne in upon him more fully than ever.
But optimism was supreme among the soldiers. They had achieved the
great victory of Donelson in the face of odds that had seemed
impossible. They could defeat all the Southern forces that lay between
them and the Gulf. The generals shared their confidence. They did not
fortify their camp. They had not come that far South to fight defensive
battles. It was their place to attack and that of the men in gray to
defend. They had advanced in triumph almost to the Mississippi line,
and they would soon be pursuing their disorganized foe into that Gulf
State.
Several new generals came to serve under Grant. Among them was one
named Sherman, to whom Dick bore messages several times, and who
impressed him with his dry manner and curt remarks which were yet so
full of sense.
It was Sherman's division, in fact, that was encamped around the little
church, and Dick soon learned his opinions. He did not believe that
they would so easily conquer the South. He did not look for any
triumphal parade to the Gulf. In the beginning of the war he had
brought great enmity and criticism upon himself by saying that 200,000
men at least would be needed at once to crush the Confederacy in the
west alone. And yet it was to take more than ten times that number
four bitter years to achieve the task in both west and east.
But optimism continued to reign in the Union army.
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