eleven o'clock
The heavy guns at St. Maur must have silenced the German batteries , and I fancy , by the heavy firing from the other end of the village , that we have been reinforced . '' This was indeed the case . For some time the Prussians continued to make obstinate efforts to advance , but gradually the number of defenders of the village increased , as the French officers managed to rally small parties of the fugitives at the bridge and led them forward again , their efforts being aided by the mounted gendarmes , who , riding among the soldiers , beat them with the flat of their swords , and literally drove them forward again . By eleven o'clock the line of the Franc-tireurs had been thickened by the fresh arrivals , and the roar of rifles along the wall was continuous . The French , who had hitherto fought silently , now began to cheer , and when a regiment came up in something like fair order through the gardens , its colonel shouted , `` Forward men , and drive the Germans out . '' With a cheer of anticipated triumph those who had so stubbornly defended the position sprang up , and the whole rushed forward against the enemy . A tremendous volley flashed from the wall in front of them .