"
The orderly stepped pompously to the door to usher them out and John
Vaughan bowed and returned to his commander.
Hay sprang to his feet livid with rage and spoke to his Chief with
boyish indignation.
"You are not going to take this insult from him?"
The tall figure slowly rose and stood in silence.
"Remove him from his command," the younger man pleaded. "For God's sake
do it now. Write the order for his removal this minute--give it to me!
I'll kick his door open and hand it to him."
The deep set dreamy eyes were turned within as he said in slow intense
tones:
"No--I'll hold McClellan's horse for him if he'll give us one victory!"
CHAPTER XXI
THE BLOODIEST DAY
The struggle opened with disaster for the Union army. Though Lee's plan
of campaign fell by accident into McClellan's hands, it was too late to
frustrate the first master stroke. Relying on Jackson's swift,
bewildering marches, Lee, in hostile territory and confronted by twice
his numbers, suddenly divided his army and hurled Jackson's corps
against Harper's Ferry. The garrison, after a futile struggle of two
days, surrendered twelve thousand five hundred and twenty men and their
vast stores of war material.
The contrast between General White, the Federal officer in command who
surrendered, and Jackson, his conqueror, was strikingly dramatic.
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