It was Walter, coming out of the shadows. "Yes."

"General Longstreet is coming in." "Yes. Thank you, Walter."

He headed back toward the tent The cavalry captain stepped before him and saluted. "Sir, the minister for this church; we found him."

Lee nodded.

"And?"

"He gave us permission, sir. Said he was a Southern man and would be honored."

"Thank you, Captain, and in the future, always check first When we are finished here, make sure everything is returned to its proper place."

"Yes, sir."

That detail taken care of, Lee went back to the fire in front of the tent and settled down on one of die pews. The straight hard back of it was somehow comforting, a reminder of more peaceful times.

He caught the eye of the cook and handed back his earthen mug.

"It was very good. Could you please pour another cup? And I think General Longstreet will want one as well." As he spoke softly, he looked sharply at the trooper who had sworn at the cook. The trooper dropped his gaze and turned away.

Taking the refilled mug, Lee stood up as Longstreet approached, trailed by his staff, all of them dust-covered, hollow-eyed. The two exchanged salutes, Longstreet taking the mug offered by the cook, who nervously withdrew.

'Tell me everything, General," Lee said, motioning for the two of them to sit down on one of the pews by the fire.

Longstreet all but collapsed and leaned back for a moment, stretching, looking up at the sky. "Hancock attacked at midday. Almost overran our position, then withdrew. If he had pressed harder, he might have taken it. I only had two brigades up at that point; he hit with all three of his divisions."

"Winning with those odds; then it must be an excellent position," Lee interjected. Longstreet nodded.

"It seems that a couple of officers with Meade's staff had surveyed the ground on the morning of the first Meade was thinking of establishing his line there before he got drawn into Gettysburg."

"Which officersr

"Gouvenor Warren and Henry Hunt" Lee smiled sadly.

"I remember Hunt from New York. Very good man."

He fell silent Yes, Hunt knew good ground. Malvern Hill a year ago was proof of that

"I've had my people out examining the south bank of the stream all day. Before coming here I rode most of it myself. Sir, it's highly defensible. The creek, locals call it Pipe Creek, is open bottomland, in some places a quarter-mile wide and flat The land slopes up sharply on our side. The right flank is very secure. There's a millpond blocking the approach, and then the creek curves back to the south and southeast with a very high ridge looking down on it Most all of the countryside is clear cut to feed several mills and forges along the creek. Open fields of fire along most of the front

'The other side, they have some advantage. At a number of points the land on their side is higher, fine positions for massed batteries."

"The range?"

"Eight hundred to twelve hundred yards at a couple of points."

Lee nodded.

"I didn't get across the creek, but locals tell me that there's a fairly decent road behind the ridge, perfect for them to shift troops to one flank or the other and to keep men concealed until they attack."

"And you believe they will attack?"

Longstreet took a sip of the tea and set the mug down on die ground. He leaned over, hands clasped, gazing at the fire. "They have to."

"I have my reasons to believe so, General," Lee said. 'Tell me yours."

"Meade will be forced to. We trumped him these last two days. He's new in command. Communications with Washington are most likely still down for him, though a courier might have slipped past Stuart by now and gotten in. If so, that courier will describe what is most likely a mad panic in Baltimore and Washington."

Longstreet chuckled sadly and, lifting up the mug, took another drink.

"First off, he'll be ordered to break through at any cost, an order he cannot deny or refuse. Second, he is new in command. If he allows us to achieve what we did without a fight, he'll be branded an incompetent and a coward. If he turns back, retreats toward York or Harrisburg, he will definitely be branded a coward and relieved of command. Therefore he will attack."

"What would you do if you were Meade?" Lee asked.

Again the sad chuckle. "I'd retreat"

What would I do? Lee wondered. There was a flash of arrogance, a sense that he never would have allowed this to happen in the first place. Then again, I did attack frontally at Gettysburg two days ago and was within a hairsbreadth of doing it again the following morning, until Pete talked me out of it. Don't be so quick to judge.

"I believe he will attack come dawn," Lee said.

"I do too."

"What will he have?"

"I know that Second Corps is there. Additional troops were spotted on the flank of Second, a skirmisher reporting he recognized Slocum commanding the Twelfth Corps riding along the line."

"The Fifth attacked in front of Taneytown today" Lee interjected.

"I heard."

Longstreet looked at him, and he flushed slightly. Most likely word of the incident with the Texans had spread.

"I understand Pickett did it right this time."

"Masterful," Lee replied. "If it hadn't been for one regiment holding out, diverting Armistead, we might have bagged the lot."

"Sir, that still leaves four of their corps unaccounted for."

"Where you are, the road toward Westminster, that's where you will see them next."

"You mean Union Mills."

"Yes, where the road crosses Pipe Creek. That's what he'll drive for."

"You expect everything then on that flank?" Longstreet asked, cradling the mug of tea and then taking another sip.

"Yes."

"What about Taneytown?"

"If his intent had truly been to try and cut our flanking march, the time to act was this time yesterday. Meade sent down only one corps, and I suspect that the commander of that corps took upon himself the responsibility of hitting as hard as he did. If he had been backed up by another corps, he'd have cut us apart today.

"No," Lee continued, 'Taneytown is not his focus. It's Union Mills."

'Tomorrow then?"

"Five corps most likely. Maybe one in reserve or back even at Gettysburg. The last report from Stuart, dated at noon today, reported a mass movement of troops on the road from Gettysburg toward Westminster. But some infantry, Stuart identified it as Eleventh Corps, remains at Gettysburg and still holds the high ground there." "And what of Stuart, sir?"

"He's doing his tasks as ordered. He continues to shadow Gettysburg, but reports, as well, that he has heavily engaged the Union cavalry on the road from Gettysburg to Hanover. The results are not conclusive, but at least he is keeping them occupied, which is all he need do at the moment."

Lee turned and looked off.

"At dawn," Lee said, his voice now cool, eyes half-closed as if he were looking off into some distant land, "they'll open with a barrage, every gun they have. Under cover of that, they'll advance. It won't be piecemeal, as at Fredericksburg. I suspect Meade is still bitter about that fight, how he almost broke through when commanding his division there but wasn't backed up. Meade will have time to think about this, and he will come in with everything at once. His goal will be to overwhelm with sheer numbers."

Lee fell silent and like Longstreet he sipped at his tea.

"We've lost fifteen thousand men so far in this campaign," Lee whispered. "Johnson's division is shattered almost beyond repair. Hood has taken heavy losses as well. We can't afford another day of losses like the last three."

"I know that, sir. But we're dug in now."

"You'll finally have that defensive battle you've talked about so much," Lee offered.

Longstreet looked over at his commander, not sure if there was a touch of reproach in the last comment