It was now about one o'clock in the afternoon, and as the last gun took its place the whole artillery of the Southern army opened with a fire so tremendous that Harry felt the earth trembling, and he was compelled to put his fingers in his ears lest he be deafened.
A storm of metal flew across the valley toward the Northern ranks, but the guns there did not reply yet.

The Union troops lay close behind their intrenchments and mostly the storm beat itself to pieces on the side of the hill.

The smoke soon became so great that Harry could not tell even with glasses what was going on in the enemy's ranks, but he inferred from the fact that they were not yet replying that they were not suffering much.
But in a quarter of an hour the tremendous cannonade was suddenly doubled in volume.

The Union guns were now answering.

Two hundred cannon facing one another across the valley were fighting the most terrible artillery duel ever known in America.