Between two and three o’clock in the morning, the several companies were formed and the march toward Rivas began, Dr. J. L. Cole acting as guide. Owing to the darkness of the night and the obscurity of the trail, the march was for a time slow and interrupted by frequent halts; but when day broke, and the command fell into the road through Potosi, the pace of the men became brisk and lively. The quick yet firm step of the soldiers showed that their spirit was good, and the dust of the road, though thick and heavy, affected them little. The deep silence of the expectant ranks was only broken by the low voice of one asking his comrade for a drop of water from his gourd; and the bark of the watch-dogs, common in the huts along the roadside, was passed unheeded, save with the half-uttered hope that the noise of the brute might not give the enemy notice of their approach. Soon after they passed Potosi the sun rose in all the splendor of his southern skies, and when the Americans, making a detour toward the lake, fell into the road from San Jorge to Rivas, about a mile from the latter place, it was near eight o’clock. Not more than half a mile from the edge of the town Walker met some market-women, who told him the enemy were not aware of his approach; they had left the Plaza only a few minutes previously, and the Costa Ricans—_hermaniticos_, as the San Jorge women called them—were as careless and indifferent as if they were in their own country. A short halt was made at the Cuatro Esquinas to give the rear time to close up; and when the rear-guard appeared the order was given for the several divisions of the force to advance in the manner indicated the night before.