noon
We had come to deliver them without knowing it , and nobody in their country knew it either , which shows the sagacity of the Emperor , for there were already in that corner of the Sambre et Meuse , more than one hundred thousand men , and not the slightest hint of it had reached the enemy . The treason of Bourmont had prevented our surprising them as they were scattered about in their separate camps . We could then have annihilated them at a blow , but now it would be much more difficult . We continued our march till after noon , in the intense heat and choking dust . The farther we advanced the greater the number of troops we saw , infantry and cavalry . They massed themselves more and more , so to speak , and behind us there were still other regiments . Toward five o'clock we reached a village where the battalions and squadrons filed over a bridge built of brick .