And yet Richmond, like the rest of the South, felt the great uplift of Chickamauga, the most gigantic battle of the West.  It told South as well as North that the war was far from over.  The South could no longer invade the North, nor could the North invade the South at will.  Even on the northernmost border of the rebelling section the Army of Northern Virginia under its matchless leader, rested in its camp, challenging and defiant.

Harry was glad to return with his friends to the army.  His brief period of festival was over, and his fears for his father had been relieved by a letter, stating that he had received no serious harm in the great and terrible battle of Chickamauga.

After the failure of the armies of Lee and Meade to bring about a decisive battle at Mine Run, the Army of Northern Virginia established its autumn and winter headquarters on a jutting spur of the great range called Clarke’s Mountain, Orange Court House lying only a few miles to the west.  The huge camp was made in a wide-open space, surrounded by dense masses of pines and cedars.  Tents were pitched securely, and, feeling that they were to stay here a long time many of the soldiers built rude log cabins.

General Lee himself continued to use his tent, which stood in the center of the camp, the streets of tents and cabins radiating from it like the spokes of a wheel.  Close about Lee’s own tent were others occupied by Colonel Taylor, his adjutant general, Colonel Peyton, Colonel Marshall, and other and younger officers, including Harry and Dalton.  A little distance down one of the main avenues, which they were pleased to call Victory Street, the Invincibles were encamped, and Harry saw them almost every day.

The troops were well fed now, and the brooks provided an abundance of clear water.  The days were still warm, but the evenings were cold, and, inhaling the healing odors of the pines and cedars, wounded soldiers returned rapidly to health.

It was a wonderful interval for Harry and his friends associated with him so closely.  Save for the presence of armies, it seemed at times that there was no war.  Deep peace prevailed along the Rapidan and the slopes of the mountain.  It was the longest period of rest that he and his comrades were to know in the course of the mighty struggle.  The action of the war was now chiefly in the Southwest, where Grant, taking the place of Rosecrans, was seeking to recover all that was lost at Chickamauga.

Harry had another letter from his father, telling him that his own had been received, and giving personal details of the titanic struggle on the Chickamauga.  He did not speak out directly, but Harry saw in his words the vain regret that the great opportunity won at Chickamauga at such a terrible price had not been used.  In his belief the whole Federal army might have been destroyed, and the star of the South would have risen again to the zenith.