was always their policy to take the enemy by surprise if possible. Their
favorite plan was to wind their way through the Federal pickets during
the night, and make the attack at break of day. The rattling of the
carbine and saber would have made it impossible to execute these
movements with the silence necessary to success. To the uninitiated it
would be surprising to see with what noiseless secrecy these manoeuvers
could be accomplished. Only whispered commands were necessary from the
officers, and the presence of danger insured silence in the ranks. This
silence, which was observed so long as silence was proper, served to
make the charge, with its shout and its cheer, the more terrible to the
foe.

But it must not be imagined the Rangers were always successful. They
were themselves sometimes surprised, sometimes repulsed. Nothing else
could be expected from almost daily encounters in a country abandoned to
the enemy. There were occasions when they were saved from total ruin
only by their knowledge of the country and the swiftness of their
steeds.




A ROMANCE OF MORGAN'S ROUGH-RIDERS

THE RAID, THE CAPTURE, AND THE ESCAPE




I. THE RAID