about one o'clock in the
morning
`` Wayne heard that something of the kind was intended , but did not believe it . Still , he took every precaution ; ordered his men to sleep on their arms with their ammunition under their coats -- to keep it dry I suppose , as the night was dark and stormy . `` Grey and his men marched stealthily on them in the night , passing through the woods and up a narrow defile . It was about one o'clock in the morning that they gained Wayne 's left . Grey was a most cruel wretch , called the no-flint general because of his orders to his soldiers to take the flints from their guns ; his object being to compel them to use the bayonet ; his orders were to rush upon the patriots with the bayonet and give no quarter . In that way , in the darkness and silence , they killed several of the pickets near the highway . `` The patrolling officer missed these men , his suspicions were aroused , and he hastened with his news to Wayne 's tent .