It is night in Longstreet’s camp, and all the officers are relaxing around the campfire playing poker. Longstreet is renowned at poker, but no longer plays since the death of his children. He prefers to sit off to the side, close enough to listen, far enough away to be left alone.
Through the antics, jokes, and discussions of the officers, Shaara introduces the annoying Sorrel, the sentimental and honorable Armistead, the sad Garnett, the irritable Kemper, and the flamboyant George Pickett. They tease Pickett about finishing last in his class at West Point, his cologne, and his girlfriend, Sallie, who is half his age. They argue with the British observer, Fremantle, about when the British are going to come in on the Confederate side and break the Yankee blockade.
As they bicker, Longstreet ponders a number of things. He is concerned about the lack of information on the enemy so he has sent Harrison, the spy, to gather information at Gettysburg, which is still 30 miles away. When Sorrel reveals that Hill’s men encountered Union cavalry that day but brushed it off as local militia, Longstreet is further worried. He suspects the cavalry are not militia, and where the Union cavalry is, the infantry is not far behind. Longstreet is frustrated with Stuart’s absence and with Lee for not sending out other cavalry to scout ahead.
He has several conversations with various men in his command through the course of the evening, and these reveal each man’s personality, beliefs, and personal history. These meetings also reveal a lot about what Longstreet thinks and feels, and we get a clear picture of the man and his demons. He struggles with the pain he feels for his wife and their dead children, he struggles to control his drinking, and he considers the men in his command more a family than an army.
Back at the campfire, the discussions have become heated. The Southern officers are trying to get the European observers to understand the Cause. The Europeans think the war is about slavery. The Southerners try in frustration to explain it’s about state’s rights to govern themselves.
The chapter ends with Longstreet telling Pickett to look after the men, then chiding himself for being too motherly. Harrison returns with news of Union cavalry, not militia, being nearby. Longstreet tries to get word to Lee; however, Lee’s aide doesn’t think it’s important enough to wake Lee.
The point of view shifts to the weather changing from falling stars to rain and Buford’s pickets readying for dawn. There is the approach of figures moving toward a Union picket in the early morning mist and then a shot.
