midnight
Corti , with his Berbers , lingered in the vicinity of the field of fight watchful of the enemy . In the evening , having forwarded a messenger to the Emperor , he took stand at the bridge ; and well enough , for about dusk a horde of Turkish militia swept down from the heights in search of plunder and belated victims . At the first bite of his sword , they took to their heels , and were not again seen . By midnight the settlements and farmhouses of the up-country were abandoned ; almost the entire district from Galata to Fanar on the Black Sea was reduced to ashes . The Greek Emperor had no longer a frontier or a province -- all that remained to him was his capital . Many of the fugitives , under quickening of the demonstration at the bridge , threw their burdens away ; so the greater part of them at an early hour after nightfall appeared at the Adrianople gate objects of harrowing appeal , empty-handed , broken down , miserable . Constantine had the funeral escort met at the gate by torch-bearers , and the sextons of the Blacherne Chapel .