midnight before
All this time the stream of troops -- regiments , brigades and divisions -- had flowed on . Of course , soldiers who were with their colors had the right of way , and the stragglers were obliged to stumble along as best they could , over the logs and through the bushes at the sides of the roads or skirt along the edges of the fields and woods adjoining . It was this fact added to their exhausted and crippled condition , that made it almost impossible for stragglers to overtake their regiments until they halted for the night . Even then it was often midnight before the last of the wayfarers , weary and worn , dragged their aching limbs into camp . Si started forward briskly , but soon found it was no easy matter to gain the mile or so that the 200th Ind. was now ahead of him . It was about all he could do to keep up with the fast-moving column and avoid failing still further to the rear . Presently the bugles sounded a halt for one of the hourly rests .