insurgent army, for Dru had conducted every move in the great game with
masterly skill, and no man was ever more the idol of his troops, or of
the people whose cause he was the champion.

It was told at every camp fire in his army how he had won the last medal
that had been given by the War Department and for which General Newton
had been a contestant, and not one of his men doubted that as a military
genius, Newton in no way measured up to Dru. It was plain that Newton
had been outmaneuvered and that the advantage lay with the insurgent
forces.

The day before the expected battle, General Dru issued a stirring
address, which was placed in the hands of each soldier, and which
concluded as follows:--"It is now certain that there will be but one
battle, and its result lies with you. If you fight as I know you will
fight, you surely will be successful, and you soon will be able to
return to your homes and to your families, carrying with you the
assurance that you have won what will be perhaps the most important
victory that has ever been achieved. It is my belief that human liberty
has never more surely hung upon the outcome of any conflict than it does
upon this, and I have faith that when you are once ordered to advance,
you will never turn back. If you will each make a resolution to conquer
or die, you will not only conquer, but our death list will not be nearly
so heavy as if you at any time falter."

This address was received with enthusiasm, and comrade declared to
comrade that there would be no turning back when once called upon to
advance, and it was a compact that in honor could not be broken. This,
then, was the situation upon the eve of the mighty conflict.