But the same desolation reigned everywhere. The people had fled
before the advance of the armies. Late in the afternoon they saw pickets
in blue, then the Mississippi, and a little later they rode into a Union
camp.
"Dick," said Colonel Winchester, "I shall want you to go with the senior
officers and myself to report to General Grant on the other side of the
Mississippi. You rode on that mission to Grierson and he may want to ask
you questions."
Dick was glad to go with them. He was eager to see once more the man who
had taken Henry and Donelson and who had hung on at Shiloh until Buell
came. The general's tent was in a grove on a bit of high ground, and
he was sitting before it on a little camp stool, smoking a short cigar,
and gazing reflectively in the direction of Grand Gulf.
He greeted the three officers quietly but with warmth and then he
listened to Colonel Winchester's detailed account of what he had seen and
learned in his raid toward Jackson. It was a long narrative, showing how
the Southern forces were scattered, and, as he listened, Grant's face
began to show satisfaction.
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