midnight
Their very reverses had secured for them a position worth half a dozen regiments ; and I trembled as I thought of our raw militia advancing under conditions that would try the courage of veterans . You remember that if Washington , in the Revolution , could get his new recruits behind a rail-fence , they thought they were safe . `` Well , there was no help for it . The hill and plateau must be crossed under a pointblank fire , in order to reach the enemy , and that , too , by men who had been under arms since midnight , and the majority wearied by a long march under a blazing sun . `` About half-past two , when the assault began , a strange and ominous quiet rested on the field . As I have said , the enemy had disappeared . The men scarcely knew what to think of it ; and in some a false confidence , speedily dispelled , was begotten .