three in the afternoon
As soon as the enemy had retired , we all set to work to prepare a defensive position ; by setting fire to the crops , so as to prevent the enemy from creeping up unseen , and by making an abattis . `` The night passed off quietly . At six in the morning the enemy were seen advancing in force , but Lieutenant Grant sent out thirty men to the farthest wall of the village , some four hundred yards in advance of the enclosure ; and their fire checked the enemy , and forced them to retire . At three in the afternoon the enemy advanced in great force , their line being over a mile long . Grant again occupied the front wall , and held his fire till the enemy reached a point which had been carefully marked as being six hundred yards away . Fire was then opened , the muskets being sighted for this known range . The tribesmen fell in great numbers , and drew back under the protection of their artillery , who now opened fire at a range of about a thousand yards .