eight o'clock
And if so , what did it all mean ? In the meantime double guards had occupied all the men 's quarters , in which Uncle Sam 's soldiers began gradually to wake up . The guns and ammunition had long ago passed into the hands of the Japs , and when at last the reveille from a Japanese bugle woke up the garrison completely , there was nothing to be done but to grind their teeth with rage and submit to the inevitable . They had to form in line in the court-yard at eight o'clock , and then , disarmed and escorted by Japanese troops , they had to board the ferry-boats and cross over to Angel Island , while the cannon on Fort Point -LRB- Winfield Scott -RRB- thundered out the last notes of American resistance in San Francisco . * * * * * When , shortly after midnight , the guard had been relieved for the last time , and only a few sleepy soldiers remained in the sentry-boxes of the coast batteries of San Francisco , the enemy lay in ambush behind the coast-line , ready , to the last man , to rise at a given signal and render the unsuspecting American troops _ hors de combat _ in their sleep . And thus , before the sentinels had any idea what was going on , they were disarmed and gagged . Not a single cry or shot was heard to warn the sleeping soldiers .