six o'clock in the evening
Here Fritz had an opportunity of distinguishing himself . In charging an entrenched outwork held by the enemy , the captain of his company got struck down by a bullet ; when , as no officer remained to take his place , Fritz gallantly seized the sword of the fallen man , leading on his comrades to the capture of the battery , which had been annoying the German reserves greatly by its fire . Fortunately , too , for Fritz , his commanding officer , General Von Voigts-Rhetz , not only noticed his bravery on the occasion , but let him know that it should not be forgotten at headquarters . Meanwhile , the continual bombardment of the French position was maintained , and about half-past six o'clock in the evening a last desperate attack was made on Gravelotte -- the outlying farmhouse of La Villette , which was the key to the defence , being especially assailed . The reserve artillery being brought up commenced playing upon the still staunchly guarded slopes with storms of shot and shell ; and , presently , the farmhouse was in flames , although the garden was still held by the French , who had crenellated the walls , making it into a perfect redan . A gallant foot regiment then took the lead of the German forces , charging up the deadly slope , followed by a regiment of hussars ; when , after more than an hour spent in the most desperate fighting of the day , the French at last began to retire from the entrenchments which they had defended so gallantly up to now , the infantry being protected in their retreat by the murderous mitrailleuses that had so disunited the ranks of their stubborn foes , the hoarse growl of their discharge being yet heard in the distance long after the louder and sharper reports of the guns and howitzers had generally ceased . The evening was now closing in , and soon darkness reigned around , the prevailing gloom being only broken by the fiery path of some bombshell winging its parabolic flight through the air , or the long tongue of fire darting forth from the mouth of a stray cannon ; while , in the sky above , the lurid smoke-clouds of burning houses joined with the shades of night in casting a pall over the scene of hideous carnage which the bright day had witnessed , hiding it for ever save from the memories of those who were there and had shared its horrors .