About six in the afternoon
Jones was directed to dismount and to approach the smoke until he could learn what caused it . He returned very soon , and said there was a house in a small field just before us , and that a wide road ran in front of the house . We made a detour and passed on . About six in the afternoon we reached a road running north , the road , as I supposed , from Richmond to Hanover . We were now about halfway between Hanover Court-House and the railroad bridge across the Chickahominy , and still in the Totopotomoy swamp , or that of one of its branches . We crossed the road , selecting a place where there were two sudden bends , and looking well both ways before venturing . After crossing , I directed Jones to take his stand near the lower bend , and Frank to watch the road from the upper bend , while I threw sand on the tracks our horses had made in crossing the road .