about three o'clock
We had been repulsed the first time , but the battle was begun , and we could not go back . After the charge of the cuirassiers , it took a little time for us to re-form : the battle continued at Hougoumont , and the cannonade re-opened on our right , and two batteries had been brought up to sweep the highway in the rear of Haie-Sainte , where the road begins to mount the hill . We all saw that that was to be the point of attack . We stood waiting with shouldered arms , when about three o'clock Buche looked behind him on the road and said , `` The Emperor is coming ! '' And others in the ranks repeated , `` Here is the Emperor . '' The smoke was so thick that we could barely see the bear-skin caps of the Old Guard on the little hill of Rossomme . I turned round also to see the Emperor , and immediately recognized Marshal Ney , with five or six of his staff officers .