They were commissioned officers, and he gave them all the respect due to rank, but in his mind they were only his boys, whom he must watch and protect.
While the fires sprang up about them and they ate and talked of the victory, Washington was knowing its darkest moments.

Lee had already been marching thirteen days toward Gettysburg, and he seemed unbeatable.
Grant, who had won for the North about all the real success of which it could yet boast, was lost somewhere in the Southern wilderness.

The messages seeking him ran to the end of the telegraph wires and no answer came back.

The click of the key could not reach him.

Many a spirit, bold at most times, despaired of the Union.
But the old and hackneyed saying about the darkest hour just before the dawn was never more true.