about
nine o'clock
We went down across the oat-field to the wood , and entered a close thicket of young trees . We had both kept our guns and knapsacks and cartridge-boxes . We laid our knapsacks on the ground for a pillow , and it had long been broad daylight , and the retreating crowd had been passing for hours , when we awoke and quietly pursued our journey . Numbers of our comrades and of the wounded remained behind at Gosselies , but the larger part of the army kept on their way , and about nine o'clock we began to see the spires of Charleroi in the distance , when suddenly we heard shouts , cries , complaints , and shots intermingled , half a league before us . The whole immense column of miserable wretches halted , shouting : `` The city closes its doors against us ! we are stopped here ! '' Consternation and despair were stamped on every face .