Gradually all of the gunboats, having suffered much loss, dropped down the stream and passed out of range.

The heavy battery was also withdrawn from the hill and the detached attempt to cross the Rappahannock had failed.
Stuart and his men rode back exultant, but Dalton said to Harry that he thought it merely a forerunner.
"A good omen, you mean ?" said Harry.
"Good, I hope, but I meant chiefly a sign of much greater things to come.

I'm thinking that Burnside will attack in a day or two now.
Lots of Northern newspapers find their way into our lines, and the whole North is urging him on.

They demand that a great victory be won in the east right away." "I feel sorry for a general who is pushed on like that." "So do I, because he hasn't a ghost of a chance.

He'll be able to cross the river under cover of his great batteries, but look, Harry, look at those frowning heights around Fredericksburg, covered with the finest riflemen in the world, the ditches and trenches sown with artillery, and the best two military brains on the globe there to direct.