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The Soldier Boy; or, Tom Somers in the Army - A Story of the Great Rebellion by Oliver Optic
page 100 of 291 (34%)

The regiment remained in Washington about a fortnight. The capital was no
longer considered to be in danger. A large body of troops had been massed
in and around the city, and the rebels' boast that they would soon capture
Washington was no longer heeded. Fear and anxiety had given place to hope
and expectation. "On to Richmond!" was the cry sounded by the newspapers,
and repeated by the people. The army of newly-fledged soldiers was burning
with eagerness to be led against the rebels. "On to Richmond!" shouted
citizens and soldiers, statesmen and politicians. Some cursed and some
deprecated the cautious slowness of the old general who had never been
defeated.

"On to Richmond!" cried the boys in Tom's regiment, and none more
earnestly than he.

"Don't hurry old Scott. He knows what he is about. I know something about
this business, for I've seen old Scott where the bullets flew thicker'n
snow flakes at Christmas," was the oft-repeated reply of Hapgood, the
veteran of Company K.

The movement which had been so long desired and expected was made at last,
and the regiment struck its tents, and proceeded over Long Bridge into
Virginia. The first camp was at Shuter's Hill, near Alexandria.

"Now we are in for it," said Tom Somers, when the mess gathered in their
tent after the camp was formed. "I hope we shall not remain here long."

"Don't be in a hurry, my brave boy," said old Hapgood. "We may stop here a
month."

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