Chapter Seven returns to Lieutenant Metcalfe as he stumbles down the road to Corinth, just after the defeat of the Confederate army. He remembers the dramatic death of General Johnston: how events spun out of control in its aftermath, how the disorganized and leaderless Confederate army fell victim to a surprise Federal attack the next day, how Johnston's old-fashioned chivalry had been no match for the reality they had encountered. In the confusion of the retreat he falls in with Forrest and Polly and participates in their valiant rearguard action at Fallen Timbers. Metcalfe decides to join Forrest's unit as an enlisted man; he now believes that any hope the Confederacy has lies with men like Forrest rather than men like Johnston.