noon
His army surrounded this hill , its left flank resting on the James and covered by his gunboats . It was late in the afternoon before Lee ordered a general attack . The grey army was floundering in the mud in a vain effort to reach its fleeing enemy in force . At noon they were still burying the dead on the blood-soaked field of Glendale where McClellan 's gallant rear guard had stood until the last wagon train had safely arrived at Malvern Hill . Ned Vaughan 's company had been hurried from the West to the defense of Richmond , and reached the field on the night of the 30th , too late for the battle of Glendale , but in time to walk over its scarred soil in the soft moonlight and get his first glimpse of war . He was yet to see a battle . A group of grey schoolboy comrades were burying one of their number beneath a tall pine in the edge of an old field .