two o'clock
The walls were four feet high , and twenty-two inches thick , strengthened at the angles by stakes driven firmly into the ground . Fancy the rage of the South-Enders the next day , when they spied our snowy citadel , with Jack Harris 's red silk pocket handkerchief floating defiantly from the flag-staff . In less than an hour it was known all over town , in military circles at least , that the `` Puddle-dockers '' and the `` River-rats '' -LRB- these were the derisive sub-titles bestowed on our South-End foes -RRB- intended to attack the fort that Saturday afternoon . At two o'clock all the fighting boys of the Temple Grammar School , and as many recruits as we could muster , lay behind the walls of Fort Slatter , with three hundred compact snowballs piled up in pyramids , awaiting the approach of the enemy . The enemy was not slow in making his approach -- fifty strong , headed by one Mat Ames . Our forces were under the command of General J. Harris . Before the action commenced , a meeting was arranged between the rival commanders , who drew up and signed certain rules and regulations respecting the conduct of the battle .