Nearly noon
The eagerly expectant men moved back toward their picketed horses in anticipation of a hurried call , but as the minutes slowly passed and none came , they broke into little groups , sitting about on the ground , seemingly careless as to the dread rumbling in front , and the continuous zip of Minié bullets through the trees overhead . One or two , I noticed as I walked about , were writing what , possibly they dreamed , might be final words of love to dear ones far away ; one more careless group were playing poker upon an outspread blanket ; while a grizzled old sergeant , a God-fearing man , had drawn forth his well-worn pocket Testament , and was reading over again the familiar story of the Nazarene . The sullen boom of the great guns , deep , ominous , began to blend with the sustained rattle of musketry , telling plainly of heavy fighting by massed infantry ; the smoke clouds , obscuring the blue sky , rolled high above the fringe of trees ; the battle-line lying along the crest at our front swept down the hill out of our sight into that hail of death below ; but we seemed to be forgotten . Nearly noon by the red sun hiding behind the drifting powder cloud . The ever-deepening roar of ceaseless contest had moved westward down the valley , when an aide wheeled his smoking horse in front of the Colonel , spoke a dozen hasty words , pointed impetuously to the left , and dashed off down the line . The men leaped to their feet in eager expectancy , and as the `` Fall in , fall in there , lads , '' echoed joyously from lip to lip , the kindling eyes and rapid movements voiced unmistakably the soldier spirit . We moved westward down the long , bare slope in the sunshine , through a half-dozen deserted , desolate fields , and along a narrow , rocky defile leading into a deep ravine .