About noon
There were no hills -- a bare but not bleak champaign , mostly without houses or farms , as the North knows them . Sluggish brooks became more frequent , but none that were not easily fordable . There were no landmarks to hold the mind to the scene , nor , in case of battle , give the strategists points of vantage for the iron game . About noon , the detached groups stalking a little negligently now over the tedious plains , were startled by the unexpected . On the green slope of a hill , a mile or more ahead , a score of little puffs of white smoke were seen , then a sharp report , and , in some places near by , the ground was broken as if by a thrust of a spear , and little scraps of clay scattered over the greensward . Then the bugle sounded a halt . A few minutes later the horsemen spread in a chain across the line of march , rode swiftly to a common center , formed in a solid group , turned to the rear and rode back of the skirmishers to the main body .