His face had the usual intense, preoccupied look, but he smiled slightly when he saw the three lads.
"Come, young gentlemen," he said, "we're going to take a look at the enemy." A group of older officers joined him, and the three lads followed modestly.

They reached a towering crag and from it Harry saw a deep valley fringed with woods, a river rushing down its center and further on a village.

Both banks of the river were thick with troops, men in blue.

Over and beyond the valley was a great mass of mountains, ridge on ridge and peak on peak, covered with black forest, and cut by defiles and ravines so narrow that it was always dark within them.
Harry felt a strange, indescribable thrill.

The presence of the enemy and the wild setting of the mountains filled him with a kind of awe.
"It's a Northern army under Milroy," whispered St.Clair, who now heard Jackson talking to the older officers.
"Then there's going to be a battle," said Harry..