nearly noon before
`` Here we are , ready to attack , and the Southerners are ready to defend , but a storm holds us both fast in our tracks . Our duty to protect our cartridges is even greater than our duty to attack the enemy . '' `` The biggest rain must come to an end , '' said Dick . But it was nearly noon before they could advance . Then , as the storm decreased rapidly the trumpets sounded the charge , and horse , foot and artillery , they pressed forward eagerly through the mud . The sun broke through the clouds , and Dick saw before them a wood , a ravine full of thickets , and the road commanded by strong artillery . The Northern skirmishers were already stealing forward through the wet bushes and grass , and soon their rifles were crackling .