three o'clock
`` The general says , sir , that the men may take the rail fence over there , but the regimental officers are to see that under no circumstances is the fence about Mrs. Wilson 's yard to be touched . '' The night passed . Officers had had a hard day ; they slept perhaps somewhat soundly , wrapped in their oilcloths , in the chilly rain , by the smallest of sputtering camp-fires . The rain stopped at three o'clock ; the August dawn came up gloriously with a cool freshness . Reveille sounded . Stonewall Jackson came from the farmhouse , looked about him and then walked across the grassy yard . A little later five colonels of five regiments found themselves ordered to report to the general commanding the brigade .