ten o'clock
At last the Pyramids came in sight , and their spirits rose again , for here , they were told , the whole army of Mamelukes , Janizaries , and Arabs were assembled to give battle , and they hoped therefore to terminate the campaign at a blow . During the whole march they were harassed by the Arabs , and many were cut off and killed . Marches were always performed at night , and at ten o'clock in the morning they halted for the day , preparing themselves for slumber by a dip in the Nile . On the 21st of July they advanced from Omdinar , and at ten o'clock made out the enemy drawn up in line of battle . They had constructed a large entrenched camp , with forty pieces of ancient cannon incapable of movement . In this camp were 20,000 infantry , Janizaries , Spahis , and militia from Cairo . On the right were the Mameluke cavalry , some 10,000 strong , with one or two foot-soldiers to each horseman .