He was closing in with more than a hundred thousand stern fighters, and ten thousand splendid cavalrymen under Stoneman were hanging on the Southern flank, ready to cut off retreat.

Besides, there were reserves, and he could also join to the artillery the great batteries on Stafford Heights, on the left bank of the river, which had done such good service for the Army of the Potomac.

He could go into action with men and guns outnumbering his enemy more than two to one, and Lee and Jackson would have no such hills and intrenchments as those which had protected them while they cut down the army of Burnside at Fredericksburg.
Harry and his young comrades were lost in the mists and doubts of uncertainty.

Nothing could shake their confidence in Lee and Jackson, but yet they were only human beings.

Had the time come when there was more to be done than any men, great and brilliant as they might be, could do?
Yet they refused to express their apprehensions to one another, and waited, their hearts now and then beating heavily.
Thus the last day of April passed, and for Harry it was more fully surcharged with suspense and anxiety than any other that he had yet known.