noon
The dead had received their portion of reward -- in the jackal 's teeth , in the crow 's beak , in the worm 's caress . And the living received theirs in this glorious , rose-flecked , glittering autumn morning , when the breath of winter made the air crisp and cool , but the ardent noon still lighted with its furnace glow the hillside and the plain . The whole of the Army of the South was drawn up on the immense level of the plateau to witness the presentation of the Cross of the Legion of Honor . It was full noon . The sun shone without a single cloud on the deep , sparkling azure of the skies . The troops stretched east and west , north and south , formed up in three sides of one vast , massive square . The battalions of Zouaves and of Zephyrs ; the brigade of Chasseurs d'Afrique ; the squadrons of Spahis ; the regiments of Tirailleurs and Turcos ; the batteries of Flying Artillery , were all massed there , reassembled from the various camps and stations of the southern provinces to do honor to the day -- to do honor in especial to one by whom the glory of the Tricolor had been saved unstained .