noon
Evidently it was known that he was ordered to report by telegraph , yet who could have `` given it away '' ? The despatch was still in his waistcoat-pocket , for Devers , unlike his trimmer juniors , wore that unsoldierly garment underneath his sack-coat . Even the adjutant had not seen the despatch , and the operator was sworn to secrecy . He had reported by wire , and in these words : `` Discreet officer and twenty cavalrymen left post at noon with orders to hasten to Ogallalla agency and report to Lieutenant Boynton for temporary duty . '' This was sent at 1.15 , and he had only just received another inquiring name of the officer detailed . This he did not mean to answer until after five o'clock , by which time he knew the Omaha offices would be deserted and Davies some thirty miles away . `` The horses are hard and sound , '' he had said to the silent subaltern .