three o'clock in the afternoon
Some had died from heat and excessive exertion . The mortality among the officers was frightful . There were few hopeful hearts in the Southern army . It was now three o'clock in the afternoon and Beauregard , through his glasses , saw a great column of dust rising above the tops of the trees . His experience told him that it must be made by marching troops , but what troops were they , Northern or Southern ? In an agony of suspense he appealed to the generals around him , but they could tell nothing . He sent off aides at a gallop to see , but meanwhile he and his generals could only wait , while the column of dust grew broader and broader and higher and higher .