It turned the fortune of the battle on the right, for the
Confederates were seen to pause, and finally to give back slowly and
stubbornly. Then the advancing rainfall began to blot the combatants
from view.
Suddenly the Union artillery opened. It seemed to the terrified
spectators on the veranda as if the shells were shrieking directly
toward them, but the iron bolts tore their way through the grove,
although much nearer the house than before. The reason soon became
apparent. On that ridge, and within the gloomy shadows of the trees,
were officers as coolly observant as if playing a game of chess.
They gave no more heed to the terrific peals of thunder than they
would have done to so many Chinese gongs. While watching the attack
upon his centre and providing against it, General Marston was also
seeking to penetrate, by means of a powerful glass, the mask of the
grove, and so detected a concentration on his left. Instantly his
guns began to shell the grove near the house, where the assaulting
force was massing.
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