four o'clock
It consisted of two hundred and fifty men of the Sixty-first Regiment , three hundred of the Beloochee battalion , four hundred and fifty of the Fourth Punjab Infantry , three hundred of the Jhind Auxiliary Force , and two hundred of the Sixtieth Rifles , who were to cover with their fire the advance of the storming column , and then to take their places with the reserves . This body was to await the success of the storming column , and then follow them into the city , and assist them as required . The cavalry and the rest of the force were to cover the flank and defend the Ridge , should the enemy attempt a counter attack . Precisely at four o'clock on the morning of the 14th , the Sixtieth Rifles dashed forward in skirmishing order toward the walls , and the heads of the assaulting columns moved out of the batteries , which had until this moment kept up their fire without intermission . The Warreners were on duty by the side of General Nicholson ; and accustomed as they were to danger , their hearts beat fast as they awaited the signal . It was to be a tremendous enterprise -- an enterprise absolutely unrivaled in history -- for five thousand men to assault a city garrisoned by some thirty thousand trained troops , and a fanatical and turbulent population of five hundred thousand , all , it may be said , fighting with ropes round their necks . As the Rifles dashed forward in front , and the head of the column advanced , a terrific fire of musketry broke out from wall and bastion , which the British , all necessity for concealment being over , answered with a tremendous cheer as they swept forward .