three in the morning
The battle was a desperate one , the English and Dutch were aided by their comrades on the wall , who shot with guns and arquebuses against the Spaniards , while the later were similarly assisted by their friends along the outer edge of the moat , and received constant reinforcements by boats from their ships . The odds were too great for the assailants , who were forced at last to fall back along the dyke to the south gate and to re-enter the town . It was already five weeks since the English had arrived to take part in the defence , and the struggle now began upon a great scale -- thirty cannon and eight culverins opening fire upon the walls . The heaviest fire was on St. James ' day , the 25th of July , when 4000 shots were fired between three in the morning and five in the afternoon . While this tremendous cannonade was going on , the boys could not but admire the calmness shown by the population . Many of the shots , flying over the top of the walls , struck the houses in the city , and the chimneys , tiles , and masses of masonry fell in the streets . Nevertheless the people continued their usual avocations .