The terrible battle that was to be fought at Stone River was already sending forth its preliminary signals, and for a little while Harry thought more of those marching forces in Tennessee than of the great army to which he belonged and of the one yet more numerous that faced it.
But these thoughts could not last long.

The events in which he was to have a part were too imminent and mighty for anyone to detach himself from them more than a few minutes.

He quickly returned, heart and soul, to his duties, which in these days took all his time.

Many messages were passing between Lee and Jackson and Longstreet and the commanders next to them in rank, and Harry carried his share.
A few days after the letter from Dr.Russell the cold abated considerably.

The ice in the river broke, the melting snows made the country a sea of mud and slush and horses often became mired so deeply that it took a dozen soldiers to drag them out again.