six o'clock
in the afternoon
The two armies had rushed for this point in waving parallel lines , flashing at each other death-dealing volleys as they touched . Both armies immediately began to entrench in their chosen positions . Lee , familiar with his ground , had chosen his position with consummate skill . On June the 1st , the preliminary attack was made at six o'clock in the afternoon . It was short and bloody . The Northern division under Smith and Wright charged and lost two thousand two hundred men in an hour . Again Lee had placed his guns and infantry in a fiery crescent on the hills arranged to catch both flanks and front of an advancing army .