nearly noon before
Tents were a mockery . The earth was transformed into a vast morass . The storm had its compensations for the Northern army though divided . Its frightful severity had so demoralized the Confederates that it was nearly noon before General A. P. Hill moved to the attack . The entrenched army was ready . The Union pickets lay in the edge of the woods and every soldier in the pits had been under cover for hours awaiting the onset . With a shout the men in grey leaped from their shelter , pouring their volleys from close charging columns .