The creek, of which he had told, was running bankful of icy water, but their horses swam it and they kept straight ahead until Carpenter, who was a little in advance, held up a warning hand.
Captain Markham ordered his whole troop to stop and keep as quiet as possible.

Then he, Dick, Warner, Sergeant Whitley and Carpenter rode slowly forward.

Before they had gone many yards Dick heard the heavy clank of metal, the cracking of whips, the swearing of men, and the sound of horses' feet splashing in the mud.

He knew by the amount and variety of the noises that a great force was passing.
They advanced a little further and reined into a clump of bushes which despite their lack of leaves were dense enough to shelter them from observation.

As the bushes grew on a hillock they had a downward and good look into the road, which was fairly packed with men in the gray of the Confederate army, some on horseback, but mostly afoot, their cannon, ammunition and supply wagons sinking almost to the hub in the mud.