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The low pines and cedars, which abound everywhere, had
taken a fresh green; the deciduous trees, the tangled thickets,
impenetrable in many places by horse or man, were putting forth a
new, tender foliage, tinted with a delicate semblance of autumn
hues. Flowers bloomed everywhere, humbly in the grass close to the
soil as well as on the flaunting sprays of shrubbery and vines,
filling the air with fragrance as the light touched and expanded
the petals. Wood-thrushes and other birds sang as melodiously and
contentedly as if they had selected some breezy upland forest for
their nesting-place instead of a region which has become a synonym
for gloom, horror, and death.
Lonely and uninhabited in its normal condition, this forbidding
wilderness had become peopled with thousands of men. The Army of
the Potomac was penetrating and seeking to pass through it.
Vigilant General Lee had observed the movement, and with
characteristic boldness and skill ordered his troops from their
strong intrenchments on Mine Run toward the Union flank.


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