Three o’clock
Nunc dimittis . Te Deum laudamus . Thus in one battle fell the three strong hostages which an old man had given to fortune . Three o'clock the Union batteries were ordered to be silent , for it was well known to those in command that presently there would be a powerful attack by infantry , for which the cannonade was supposed to have paved the way with death and disorder , and it was necessary that the pieces should be kept cool in order to be in efficient condition to grapple with and suppress this attack . Sometimes a regiment , stung to a frenzy of courage by bullets and the death of comrades , will rise from its trench without the volition of its officers , and go frantically forward against overwhelming odds . A different effect of an almost identical psychological process is patience . Men will sometimes lie as quietly under a rain of bullets , in order to get in one effective shot at an enemy , as cattle in the hot months will lie under a rain of water to get cool .