But, owing to the need of horses for the regular cavalry,
it had become an infantry regiment once more. Only the officers rode.
At dawn they were with Grant approaching a ridge called Champion Hill.
CHAPTER VIII
CHAMPION HILL
Dick on that momentous morning did not appreciate the full magnitude of
the event about to occur, nor did he until long afterward. He knew it
was of high importance, and yet it might have ranked as one of the
decisive battles of history. There were no such numbers as at Shiloh
and Chancellorsville, but the results were infinitely greater.
Nor was it likely that such thoughts would float through the head of a
lad who had ridden far, and who at dawn was looking for an enemy.
The scouts had already brought word that the Southerners were in strong
force, and that they occupied Champion Hill, the crest of which was bare,
but with sides dark with forests and thickets. They were riding at
present through forests themselves, and they felt that their ignorance
of the country might take them at any moment into an ambush.
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