A strong charge by them and the fighting half of the Northern force would be split asunder.

Then nothing would be left but to sweep up the fragments.
But Jackson's men had reached the limit of human endurance.

They were not made of steel as their leader was, and the tremendous exultation of spirit that had kept them up through battle and pursuit began to die.
Their strength, once its departure started, ebbed fast.

Their knees crumpled under them and the weakest fell unwounded in the fields.

The gaps between them and the Northern rear-guard widened, and gradually the flying army of Banks disappeared among the hills and woods.
Banks, deeming himself lucky to have saved a part of his troops, did not stop until he reached Martinsburg, twenty-two miles north of Winchester.
There he rested a while and resumed his flight, other flying detachments joining him as he went.