nearly noon
It was better to ride ahead than to remain with an army that was pulling itself along slowly through the mud . The fort itself was only about three miles away , and as it stood upon low , marshy ground , the backwater from the flooded Tennessee had almost surrounded it . Despite their horses , Winchester 's men found their own advance slow . They had to make many a twist and turn to avoid marshes and deep water before they came within the sight of the fort , and then Dick 's watch told him that it was nearly noon , the time for the concerted attacks of army and fleet . But it was certain now that the army could not get up until several hours later , and he wondered what would happen . They saw the fort very clearly from their position on a low hill , and they saw that the main Confederate force was gathered on a height outside , connected with the fort , and as well as he could judge , the mass seemed to number three or four thousand men . `` What does that mean ? ''