seven o'clock
They prepared for the fight as one would prepare for the next county ball or a fox-hunt on the morrow . The stirring notes of the bugle ringing over the camp brought me to my feet with a bound , and I looked out of the tent to see a heavy mist over everything , and hear the sound of men 's voices coming through it all around me . It does not take a soldier long to don his uniform , and I was soon out attending to my duties . At seven o'clock we were on our march to the ferry , crossing the East River at the foot of the main street of the small town of Brooklyn ; then we took a road leading over a creek called Gowanus , and knew that we were marching to guard the right of the American line . Low-lying hills , heavily wooded , lay before us ; it was in these woods that our line was called to a halt , and we took up our position for the battle . We lay there several days , with constant rumours flying through the camp of the enemy 's advance , but yet they would not come . It was on the morning of the 27th of August that the great battle of Long Island , so disastrous for the patriot forces , broke upon us .