five in the morning
Archer , it 's your turn for a song . '' And so merrily the hours passed away , until it was time to break up and put out the lights . And as the young fellows laughed and sung , while the mist and rain came down pitilessly outside , they little thought what was preparing for the morrow , or dreamed that the churches in Sebastopol were crowded with Russian soldiers praying the saints to give them victory on the morrow , and to aid them to drive the enemies of the Czar into the sea . It was soon after five in the morning when the pickets of the second division , keeping such watch as they were able in the misty light , while the rain fell steadily and thickly , dimly perceived a gray mass moving up the hill from the road at the end of the harbor . Although this point was greatly exposed to attack , nothing had been done to strengthen the position . A few lines of earthworks , a dozen guns in batteries , would have made the place secure from a sudden attack . But not a sod had been turned , and the steep hillside lay bare and open to the advance of an enemy .