about nine o'clock
But our confidence in our commander , General Rosecranz , was so great that we would have fought them just the same if we had known of the great odds against us . `` Heavy skirmishing began quite early in the morning along the picket lines . This gradually swelled into the incessant roar of pitched battle . At about nine o'clock we were ordered to the front at a double-quick . We crossed a field , then into a wood where we met the fire of the enemy . Being a musician I was counted a noncombatant , and my duties during battle consisted in helping the wounded back to hastily extemporized hospitals . `` So on we charged into the woods , already densely filled with smoke .