The Second Battle of Greenbrier; installment five.

To the front

Three columns intersect at Greenbrier on their way toward the sound of the guns three miles distant to the east.

The Third Michigan yields the road to the regulars of Battery K, 4th U.S. artillery and the greenhorns of the 17th Maine regiment of volunteers.

Where only two hours earlier old mister Newcomer watched his grand daughter evacuate with the family wagon, now, from the same vantage point,

he ponders the earnest parade before him.

The jaded veterans of the Third Michigan casually watch the rookies of the 17th Maine jauntily swing by, oblivious of what awaits them.

In service for less than two months the men from Cape Elizabeth are eager to

"see the elephant", however...

the sight of the ambulance corps stretching for a quarter of a mile down the road sobers the older and wiser men of the Pine Tree state.

 Colonel Warren West has been in command only since August, a mere month and a half.

The intersection now clear, colonel Champlin orders the men of Michigan -
"Forward to the sound of the guns."

And with grim determination the Wolverines step off.

TUEBOR  "I will defend!"

Mr. Christian Newcomer stands alone, watching the receding column and
 thinking about his bygone youth.

Soldier on!

Mannie