about
one A.M.
There were the heavy rumble of artillery wheels , the tramp of men , and the hoarse voices of officers giving orders . In the still night these confused sounds were wonderfully distinct near at hand , but they shaded off in the northeast to mere murmurs . I knew that it was the army of the Potomac arriving and taking its positions . The next day I learned that General Meade had reached the field about one A.M. , and that he had spent the remaining hours of the night in examining the ground and in making preparations for the coming struggle . The clear , white moonlight , which aided him in his task , lighted up a scene strange and beautiful beyond words . It glinted on our weapons , gave to the features of the sleepers the hue of death , and imparted to Strahan 's face , who lay near me , almost the delicacy and beauty of a girl . I declare to you , that when I remembered the luxurious ease from which he had come , the hero he was now , and all his many acts of kindness to me and others , -- when I thought of what might be on the morrow , I 'm not ashamed to say that tears came into my eyes . ''