midnight
`` So I do , and this is as far as we ought to go . A hundred yards or two farther and we 'll be in the territory of the enemy 's sharpshooters instead of our own . '' They remained for a while among some bushes , and secured positive knowledge that the bulk of the Army of the Potomac was drawing near . Toward midnight Harry returned to his commander-in-chief and found him awake and in consultation with his generals , under some trees near the Potomac . Longstreet , Rhodes , Pickett , Early , Anderson , Pender and a dozen others were there , all of them scarred and tanned by battle , and most of them bearing wounds . Harry stood back , hesitating to invade this circle , even when he came with dispatches , but the commander-in-chief , catching sight of him , beckoned . Then , taking off his cap , he walked forward and presented a note from Colonel Talbot .