midnight
Beverly summoned an old negress to the room , and consigned his sister to her care . Descending the stairs rapidly , he leaped upon his horse , and waving his hand to Philip , who was already mounted , they plunged along the valley , and ascending the crest of the hill , beheld , while they still spurred on , the vast army in motion before them , while far off in the vanward , from time to time , the dull , heavy booming of artillery told that the work was already begun . On the evening of the 20th July , Hunter 's division , to which Harold Hare was attached , was bivouacked on the old Braddock Road , about a mile and a half southeast of Centreville . It was midnight . There was a strange and solemn hush throughout the camp , broken only by the hail of the sentinel and the occasional trampling of horses hoofs , as some aid-de-camp galloped hastily along the line . Some of the troops were sleeping , dreaming , perhaps , of home , and far away , for the time , from the thought of the morrow 's danger . But most were keeping vigil through the long hours of darkness , communing with themselves or talking in low murmurs with some comrade ; for each soldier knew that the battle-hour was at hand .