midnight
It rained and rained , and all the mountain streams came down in torrents and still further swelled the turbid creek . One night , about halfway through their stay , the creek came out of its banks and flooded the surrounding land . All tents , huts , and shelters of boughs for a hundred feet each side acquired a liquid flooring . There arose an outcry on the midnight air . Wet and cursing , half naked and all a-shiver , men disentangled themselves from their soaked blankets , snatched up clothing and accoutrements , and splashed through a foot of icy water to slightly dryer quarters on the rising ground . Snow , rain , freeze , thaw , impatience , listlessness , rabid conjecture , apathetic acquiescence , quarrels , makeups , discomfort , ennui , a deal of swearing -LRB- carefully suppressed around headquarters -RRB- , drill whenever practicable , two Sunday services and one prayer meeting ! -- the last week of April 1862 in Elk Run Valley was one to be forgotten without a pang .