nine o'clock
On a vast tableland , slightly undulating on the surface , was drawn up the whole Prussian army in battle array , -- a splendid force of nigh thirty thousand infantry , flanked by ten thousand sabres , the finest cavalry in Europe . By some inconceivable error of tactics , they had offered no other resistance to the French ascent of the mountain than the skirmishing troops , which fell back as we came on ; and even now they seemed to wait patiently for the enemy to form before the conflict should begin . As our columns crowned the hill they instantly deployed , to cover the advance of those who followed : but the precaution seemed needless ; for , except at the extreme left , where we heard the firing before , the Prussian army never moved a man , nor showed any disposition to attack . It was now nine o'clock ; the sky clear and cloudless , and a bright autumnal day permitted the eye to range for miles on every side . The Prussian army , but forty thousand strong , was drawn up in the form of an arch , presenting the convexity to our front ; while our troops , ninety thousand in number , overlapped them on either flank , and extended far beyond them . The battle began by the advance of the French columns and the retreat of the enemy , -- both movements being accomplished without a shot being fired , and the whole seeming the manoeuvres of a field-day . At length , as the Prussians took up the position they intended to hold , their guns were seen moving to the front ; squadrons of cavalry disengaged themselves from behind the infantry masses ; and then a tremendous tire opened from the whole line .