nearly ten o'clock
Even then , he knows , he and his long Springfields will be needed . The cavalry can fight their way in to the succor of the besieged , but once there will be themselves surrounded and too few in numbers to begin aggressive movements . He and his will indeed be welcome reinforcements ; and so they trudge ahead . The moon is up and it is nearly ten o'clock when high up on the rolling divide the springs are reached , and , barely waiting to quench their thirst in the cooling waters , the wearied men roll themselves in their blankets under the giant trees , and , guarded by a few outlying pickets , are soon asleep . Most of the officers have sprawled around a little fire and are burning their boot-leather thereat . The colonel , his adjutant , and the doctor are curled up under a tent-fly that serves by day as a wrap for the rations and cooking-kit they carry on pack-mule . Two company commanders , -- the Alpha and Omega of the ten , as Major Sloat dubbed them , -- the senior and junior in rank , Chester and Armitage by name , have rolled themselves in their blankets under another tent-fly and are chatting in low tones before dropping off to sleep .