four o'clock in the afternoon
Occupied alternately by each side , the opposing batteries stormed it in succession , and the squadrons , now of one army , now of the other , marched up to assault it . But though they marched up , Manasseh saw none of them return . Austrians , French , and Italians , all seemed to be swallowed up alike in that maelstrom of blood and fire . At four o'clock in the afternoon the battle was at its height . In the heat of the conflict one could see uniforms of all three armies mingled in inextricable confusion . The Austrian forces were at last becoming exhausted with toil and hunger . Whole regiments were there that had not tasted meat for a week -- where were those forty thousand cattle ?