midnight
We opened on them with all our guns from one end of our works to the other . They replied with their musketry , and it may well be supposed how terrific appeared that blaze of fire extending throughout the whole length of that wide-stretching line . It was a sight which , although many are the battles I have seen , I shall never forget . Then there were the burning houses , the bursting shells , the roar of the artillery , the rattle of the musketry , the crashing of falling buildings , the blowing-up of mines , the cries of the combatants , the shrieks of the wounded , the loud clang of the martial bands , the wild huzzas of the stormers , the defiant shouts of our gallant fellows , -- all these must be thrown in , and yet after all no adequate conception can be formed of that midnight scene of slaughter and destruction . Our men fought fiercely and desperately ; soldiers and sailors vied with each other in their feats of gallantry . Bravely they stood at the breaches in our crumbling works ; the sick and wounded rushed to the trenches . I heard a voice near me which I recognised as that of Tom Rockets .