About noon
Dick 's throat and mouth burned with the dust and heat of the pitiless August day , and his bones ached with the tension and the long hours in the saddle . But his spirit was high . They were holding off the Southern cavalry and he felt that they would continue to do so . About noon he ate more cold food , and then rode on , while the sun blazed and blazed and the dust whirled in clouds like the `` dust devils '' of the desert , continually spitting forth bullets instead of sand . Late in the afternoon he heard the sound of many trumpets , and saw the Southern cavalry getting together in a great mass . A warning ran instantly among the Union troops and the horsemen in blue and one or two infantry regiments drew closer together . `` They 're going to charge in force , '' said Colonel Winchester to Dick .