quarter to five in
the morning
But soon a suspicion was excited , and the pair were captured just as they were about to pass out of the Union lines . They were searched , and the sword of one was found to be marked C. S. A. -- Confederate States of America . General Rosecrans was telegraphed to and denounced them as pretenders . A drum-head court-martial was ordered at quarter to five in the morning , and the two Confederates broke down and confessed . They begged for clemency , but orders had been to hang them if they were found guilty , and at half past ten in the morning they were executed in the presence of a large body of troops . This act was denounced in the South , but , terrible as it was , it was in strict accord with the rules of war . From the negro , the three captains , riding abreast , in advance of the mounted infantry , learned in what direction lay the road Major Gossley would most likely use in returning from Rover .