9:30
I was also ready , with a stenographer . We were in a room called the Rope-Walk . This is a formidably long room , as is indicated by its facetious name , and is a good place for reviews . At 9:30 the F.-D . - B. took his place near me and gave the word of command ; the drums began to rumble and thunder , the head of the forces appeared at an upper door , and the `` march-past '' was on . Down they filed , a blaze of variegated color , each squad gaudy in a uniform of its own and bearing a banner inscribed with its verbal rank and quality : first the Present Tense in Mediterranean blue and old gold , then the Past Definite in scarlet and black , then the Imperfect in green and yellow , then the Indicative Future in the stars and stripes , then the Old Red Sandstone Subjunctive in purple and silver -- and so on and so on , fifty-seven privates and twenty commissioned and non-commissioned officers ; certainly one of the most fiery and dazzling and eloquent sights I have ever beheld . I could not keep back the tears .