eight o'clock in the
morning
Here Major Tempe posted his men along in the wood . Several coils of wire had been brought with them ; and these were now stretched tightly from tree to tree , at a distance of about eighteen inches from the ground . Some forty yards farther back , young trees were felled and branches cut ; and these were laid with the bushy parts towards the road , wires being twisted here and there among them , so as to form abattis perfectly impenetrable for horsemen , and difficult in the extreme for infantry . All worked hard and , by eight o'clock in the morning , everything was in readiness . A small party had been left upon the high ground near Halloville , and one of them had brought down news every half hour . Soon after daybreak , a party of Uhlans had been seen to leave Blamont , and to visit Barbas and Harboise -- two villages in the flat of Blamont -- and then to retire , driving some cattle and sheep before them . At ten o'clock the rest of the men from Halloville came down , with the news that the Uhlans -- about two hundred strong -- had just left Blamont , and were coming down the valley .