The charging became intermittent. Then out of the night, as Hood sat listening, again came the old man, his face as white as his long hair, his horse once black, now white with foam. "General Gist too, is dead," he said sadly. "Tell Granbury, Carter, Strahl--General! Throw them in there and capture that battery and break that line." The old man vanished once more and rode into the shock and shout of battle. General Strahl was leading his brigade again against the breastworks. "Strahl's and Carter's brigade came gallantly to the assistance of Gist's and Gordon's" runs the confederate report sent to Richmond, "but the enemy's fire from the houses in the rear of the line and from guns posted on the far side of the river so as to enfilade the field, tore their line to pieces before it reached the locust abatis." General Carter fell mortally wounded before reaching the breastworks, but General Strahl reached the ditch, filled with dead and dying men, though his entire staff had been killed. Here he stood with only two men around him, Cunningham and Brown. "Keep firing" said Strahl as he stood on the bodies of the dead and passed up guns to the two privates. The next instant Brown fell heavily; he, too, was dead. "What shall I do, General?" asked Cunningham. "Keep firing," said Strahl. Again Cunningham fired. "Pass me another gun, General," said Cunningham. There was no answer--the general was dead. Not a hundred yards away lay General Granbury, dead. He died leading the brave Texans to the works. To the commanding General it seemed an age before the old man returned. Then he saw him in the darkness afar off, before he reached the headquarters. The General thought of death on his pale horse and shivered. "Granbury, Carter, Strahl--all dead, General," he said. "Colonels command divisions, Captains are commanding brigades." "How does Cheatham estimate his loss?" asked the General. "At half his command killed and wounded," said the old soldier sadly. "My God!--my God!--this awful, awful day!" cried Hood. There was a moment's silence and then: "General?" It came from General Travis. The General looked up. "May I lead the Tennessee troops in--I have led them often before." Hood thought a moment, then nodded and the horse and the rider were gone. It was late--nearly midnight. The firing on both sides had nearly ceased,--only a desultory rattling--the boom of a gun now and then. But O, the agony, the death, the wild confusion! This was something like the babel that greeted the old soldier's ears as he rode forward: "The Fourth Mississippi--where is the Fourth Mississippi?" "Here is the Fortieth Alabama's standard--rally men to your standard!" "Where is General Cleburne, men? Who has seen General Cleburne?" "Up, boys, and let us at 'em agin! Damn 'em, they've wounded me an' I want to kill some more!"