six o'clock
On the 26th , 27th , and 28th of the month , the fighting was very severe , and Rodney 's regiment , which was at the front , was badly cut up . Although Dick Graham was now a private he was called upon at times to do duty as a sergeant , and on the afternoon of the 28th , he was sent with a small squad , one of whom was Rodney Gray , to take charge of an advanced post . It was much nearer our lines than were the trenches in which the regiment was fighting , but it was also much safer , for the shells from both sides went high over their heads . Here they remained in perfect security , talking , laughing and telling stories while the roar of battle was going on all around them , and waiting for their relief , which was to come at six o'clock . It did not come , however , until after nine , and by that time it had grown so dark that it was only after infinite trouble and bother that they succeeded in finding their way back to the main line , only to learn after they arrived there , that their regiment had been withdrawn three hours before , and nobody could tell where it was now . Dick Graham did n't care much where it was , for he had no intention of going to it that night . It was more than three miles to camp , and Dick saw , when he passed that way three days before , that the road was blocked with wagons , artillery trains and stable-lines , and to these obstructions were now added sleeping men , who would not be over civil to any one who chanced to stumble against them in the dark .