twelve o'clock
The battle had begun . Bang , bang , went the guns ; and soon the cannonade , drawing in closer and closer upon the doomed villages , became a deafening roar , with streams of hurtling missiles shrieking overhead and bursting with a crash at intervals . Masses of men could be perceived winding in and out along the main road and the side lanes like ants , a gap every now and then showing in their ranks when some shot had accomplished its purpose . By twelve o'clock the engagement had become general ; although , as yet , it had been only a battle of the guns , which bellowed and hurled destruction on assailant and defender alike -- the curious harsh grating sound of the French mitrailleuse being plainly perceptible above the thunder of the cannon and rattle of musketry , `` just like the angry growl of a cross dog under a wagon when some one pretends to take away his bone ! '' as one of the men said . The Ninth Army Corps , composed of Schleswig-Holsteiners , Fritz 's compatriots and close neighbours , were the first to come into collision with the enemy 's van but soon the Hanoverian artillery had to follow suit ; and bye-and-bye , in the main attack on Gravelotte , the infantry became engaged at last , much to the relief of the men , who were bursting with impatience at being allowed to rest idly on their arms when such stirring scenes were being enacted before their eyes . This was not , however , until the French positions in front of Vionville had been carried , a success only achieved late in the afternoon , after the most desperate fighting and when the slaughter-dealing Steinmetz ordered an advance in front of the enemy 's defences .