noon
His old obsession that his enemy was double his real strength seized him , and he was not willing to risk his army in a second rush upon Lee . While Dick and his comrades were waiting through the long morning hours , Lee and Jackson and his other lieutenants were deciding whether or not they should make an attack of their own . But when they studied with their glasses the Northern lines and the great batteries , they decided that it would be better not to try it . When noon came and still no shot had been fired , Colonel Winchester shook his head . `` We might yet destroy the Southern army , '' he said to Dick , `` but I 'm convinced that General McClellan will not move it . '' The hot afternoon passed , and then the night came with the sound of rumbling wheels and marching men . Dick surmised that Lee was leaving the peninsula , and , crossing the Potomac in to Virginia , and that therefore tactical victory would rest with the Northern side .