two in the afternoon
`` The firing began at two o'clock in the morning , '' Captain Brookfield said , `` and was so heavy that everyone turned out . It lasted four hours , and there was no doubt that the Boers were making a determined attack . Everyone wondered that we did not at once make a diversion . When the day broke it could be seen that numbers of mounted Boers were hurrying off from their camps among the hills towards Ladysmith , but it was not until two in the afternoon that five battalions of infantry marched down towards Colenso , and the naval guns opened in earnest on their lines . It had the effect of bringing the Boers scurrying down again to their trenches . Our fellows marched in open order and worked their way nearly down to Colenso , which was more strongly garrisoned than it had been at the time of our last attack . No doubt they had seen us preparing to advance , and strongly reinforced the garrison .