about seven o'clock
If we were on a level with them it would be very well , but to climb up across those hedges under the enemy 's fire will cost a trifle , unless something should happen in the rear as is sometimes the case with the Emperor . '' The old soldiers were talking in this fashion on all sides , and the conscripts were listening with open ears . Meanwhile the camp-kettles were suspended over the fire , but they were expressly forbidden to use their bayonets for this purpose as it destroyed their temper . It was about seven o'clock , and we all thought that the battle would be at St. Amand . The village was surrounded by hedges and shrubbery , with a great tower in the centre , and higher up in the rear there were more houses and a winding road bordered with a stone wail . All the officers said : `` That is where the struggle will be . '' As our troops came from Charleroi they spread over the plain below us , infantry and cavalry side by side ; all the corps of Vandamme and Gérard 's division .