The great element in our favor was the shortness of the distance between us and the cannon.
We could hope to traverse this before the guns could be reloaded more than once.
Whether it would have been possible to succeed I am unable to say.
It would have depended wholly upon the spirit and unanimity with which the effort was made.

Had ten thousand rushed forward at once, each with a determination to do or die, I think it would have been successful without a loss of a tenth of the number.

But the insuperable trouble--in our disorganized state--was want of concert of action.

I am quite sure, however, that the attempt would have been made had the guns opened.
One day, while the agitation of this matter was feverish, I was cooking my dinner--that is, boiling my pitiful little ration of unsalted meal, in my fruit can, with the aid of a handful of splinters that I had been able to pick up by a half day's diligent search.

Suddenly the long rifle in the headquarters fort rang out angrily.