eight o'clock
And now from Indian Valley came the request for more machine-guns , but there was n't one left . General MacArthur telegraphed to Union , the terminus of the field-railway , but the answer came that no assistance could be given for several hours , as the roadbed had first to be repaired . From Toll Gate , too , came stormy demands for more ammunition -- all in vain . And then , at eight o'clock , when the sun had sunk like a ball of fire in the west , and the Blue Mountains , above which hovered puffs of smoke from the bursting shrapnel , were bathed in the golden evening light and the valley became gradually veiled in darkness , the crushing news came from Baker City that large , compact bodies of Japanese troops had been seen on the stretch of broken-down railroad near Sumpter . Soon afterwards Union reported the interruption of railway communication with the rear and an attack with machine-guns by Japanese dismounted cavalry , while Wood 's division in the front continued to report the capture of Japanese positions . With relentless accuracy the arms of the gigantic tongs with which Nogi threatened to surround the entire Army of the North began to close . The American troops attacking both flanks had not noticed the Japanese reserves , which had been held concealed in the depressions and shallow valleys under cover of the woods .