Refreshed by
abundant sleep and good food he was in the highest of spirits. They
were embarked upon a great adventure and he believed that it would be
successful. His confidence was shared by all those about him. Meanwhile
the army advanced in diverging columns upon the Mississippi capital.
Jackson, on Pearl River, had suddenly assumed a vast importance in Dick's
mind, and yet it was but a tiny place, not more than three or four
thousand inhabitants. The South was almost wholly agricultural, and
cities, great in a political and military sense, were in reality but
towns. Richmond, itself the capital of the Confederacy, around which so
much centered, had only forty thousand people.
The Winchester regiment was detached that afternoon and sent to join
the column under McPherson, which was expected to reach Jackson first.
Dick was mounted again, and he rode with Warner and Pennington on either
side of him. They speculated much on what they would find when they
approached Jackson.
"If Joe Johnston is there," said Warner, "I think we'll have a hard
fight.
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