about nine o'clock
His eyes had a merry twinkle , however , that won the hearts of the lads as he rode by , scrupulously striking into the fields to save the panting and heavily laden line every extra step he could . Often , in after-days -- when Sherman had become the Turenne of the armies -- Jack , who was often heard to brag of his gift of detecting greatness , used to turn very red in the face when he was reminded of a saying of his on that hot July day : `` That chap is too lean and hungry to have much stomach for a fight ; he looks better fitted for wielding the ferule than the sword . Schoolmaster is written in every line of his face and stamped in his pedagogue manner . '' The march that day was south by a little west , and about nine o'clock a cool morning breeze lifted the clouds of dust far enough above the horizon to reveal the distant blue of the mountains . The whole line seemed to come to a pause in the enchanting , mirage-like spectacle . `` The Shenandoah , '' Jack said , mopping the dust , or rather the thin coating of mud , from his face and brow , for the perspiration , oozing at every pore , naturally covered the exposed skin with an unpremeditated cosmetic . The march to Fairfax Court-House , for which judicial temple the curious soldier looked in vain , was but eight miles from the point of departure in the morning , but it was two o'clock in the afternoon when the Caribees passed the hamlet , turning sharply to the right .