two o'clock
Some die for the rights of Humanity ; with some , the last thought is for their mother , others are influenced by the example of just men who have sacrificed themselves for the race , but the feeling is the same in every case , though each one expresses it according to his own manner of thinking . I gave him the desired promise and we waited for nearly half an hour longer . All the troops as they left the wood came and formed near us , and the cavalry were mustering on our right as if to attack Sombref . Up to half-past two o'clock not a gun had been fired , when an aid-de-camp of the Emperor arrived on the road to Fleurus , at full speed , and I thought immediately , `` Our turn has come now . May God watch over us , for , miserable wretches that we are , we can not save ourselves in such a slaughter as is threatening . '' I had scarcely made these reflections when two battalions on the right set off on the road , with the artillery , toward Sombref , where the Uhlans and Prussian cavalry were deploying in front of our dragoons . It was the fortune of these two battalions to remain in position on the route all that day to observe the cavalry of the enemy , while we went to take the village where the Prussians were in force .