eleven o'clock
A white breath of smoke flashed from the _ Carondalet 's _ bow , and Dick watched the shell rise with a shriek and fall short of the fort . The fleet moved closer and another shell screamed through the sky and again fell short . They moved again , found the range , and for four hours the earth trembled beneath the steady roar of their forty-six guns . At eleven o'clock Dick saw the long lines of men in blue deploy for an assault on the entrenchments . They moved with quick sure step , these men under Grant . He was sorry for them . They were marching to certain death .