Thus we can secure protection, and at the same time be able to maneuver, mounted." The regiment was posted rapidly in two long lines, the second to fire between the intervals of the first.

They carried carbines and heavy cavalry sabers, and they were the best mounted regiment in the Northern service.
Yet these men, brave and skillful as they were, were bound to feel trepidation, although they did not show it.

They were far in the Southern forest, cut off from their army, and Forrest, in addition to his own cavalry, might have brought with him fresh reserves of the enemy.
Dick, Warner, and Pennington, as usual, remained close to their colonel, and Sergeant Daniel Whitley was not far away.

But Colonel Winchester presently rode along the double line of his veterans, and he spoke to them quietly but with emphasis and conviction: "My lads," he said, "you see Forrest's men coming through the woods to attack us.

Forrest is the greatest cavalry leader the South has, west of the Alleghanies.