midnight
On the night of the 12th a proclamation was carried with beat of drum through the streets , commanding all the men of the city , Hindu and Mohammedan alike , to assemble at the Kashmir gate , bringing picks and shovels ; the king himself would lead them forth , and they would fall on the infidels and sweep them away . The Hindus paid no heed ; but ten thousand faithful Mohammedans , inflamed with fanatic ardour , their religious feelings wrought upon by shrieking fakirs and mullahs , congregated at the gates waiting the arrival of their king . But he came not . Till midnight they remained ; then hope died away , and with despairing hearts the great throng dispersed to their homes . On the night of the 13th , ere the bombardment ceased , every available man in the British force , including men just risen from their sick beds in the hospital , went to his appointed station . The assault was to be made in four columns . A thousand men , -- detachments from the 1st Fusiliers , the 15th Regiment , and the 2nd Panjab Infantry -- under Nicholson himself , were to storm the breach in the Kashmir bastion , and escalade the walls .