Gods and Generals - Jeff Shaara [97]
His troops reached the crest of the hill, began the descent into the trough between the two crests, and quickly the officers directed them into line. Hancock watched as they filled the depression, a solid blue wall growing stronger as each man came over the hill.
He glassed back down toward the dam, saw cannon being rolled up on the other side, then scanned down to the lines of gray troops coming up the hill. Their cannon will not fire, he thought, it is too close to their own men, right over their heads, and now they can’t see us at all. He looked back to the trees, saw motion through the low branches, and took one last glance at the lines of men chasing him. Then he grabbed at his belt, felt the solid brass handle, pulled his sword from the scabbard and waved it in a wide circle over his head.
In an instant puffs of smoke blew out from the line of trees, and shells began to scream across, in front of the crest, and into the lines of rebel troops. He sat high on his horse, just enough to peer over the top of the hill, saw the cannon far below turning, taking aim on his guns, of course, they would try to duel the artillery. They could not shell the troops. He waited until the rebel guns began firing, smoke grew in a thick cloud over the dam, shells began to burst back in the trees to his right.
The lines of rebel troops were moving faster now, began a wild yell, feeling the full effect of the cannon fire. Wheeler’s shells continued to burst among the rebels, flashes of fire and smoke began to blur the lines, and now the first gray troops made it to the top of the hill and faced the solid blue line. The first volley went out, a thousand muskets opened together, a long, thin line of white smoke pouring their shot into the first lines of gray troops. The rebels stopped cold, only a few yards from the lines of blue, began to turn back into themselves, and more men reached the top, saw what lay on the other side, and another volley was fired, and the rebel lines fell to pieces. Hancock watched the collapse of the attack, saw the rebels backing down, off the crest, and he turned, yelled to Custer, gave the order, yelled for him to carry the order through the lines, then yelled to Colonel Gray and Colonel Cobb, whose men waited in line close beside him, “Charge!”
His men moved up the gentle slope in one motion and met the jumbled and broken lines of gray troops at the crest of the hill. The strong advance by his deep rows of men, visible now across the open field as one long blue wave, sent the rebel lines back down the slope in complete confusion. Hancock’s men crossed over the rise, began to pursue the rebels back toward the dam. He rode to the top of the crest, could see nothing for the thick smoke, gradually pushed his horse forward, rode slowly for several minutes down the gradual slope, over the bodies of the Confederate troops, a bloody carpet across the entire ridge. The sounds of the battle faded. The only musket fire came from far away now, across the dam, and now his men began to come back up the hill. The chase was over, the rebel soldiers were pushed back to their defenses.
The smoke began to clear, and he noticed for the first time that it was nearly dark. A light breeze blew toward the trees where Wheeler had his guns, and now the field showed the signs of battle, a stark change to the way he had first seen it, the smooth green grass pockmarked by the craters of exploded shells, the heaped dead and crawling wounded, nearly all from the Confederate side. He saw an officer running toward him, holding a flag, saw: Custer. The young lieutenant came up the hill, had lost his hat, and his hair flew about in a great blond tangle.
“General, sir, I have captured this here flag. Took it right out of the man’s hand. He just . . . gave it to me. I reckon we won this one, General. That was some fine work, if I am allowed to say, sir.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant. We have a fine brigade here. They should be proud. But I may have some explaining to do at headquarters.”
AS HANCOCK’S men pulled back from their field of battle,