Confusion erupted in both armies when heavy black powder smoke billowed along the lines and the cacophony of discharging muskets made it difficult and in many cases impossible for the enlisted men to hear their officers shouting orders. As a New Jersey surgeon named Ebenezer Elmer from Lord Stirling’s division later recalled, “A large Column Came on in front playing ye Granediers March & Now the Battle began wh[ich] proved Excessive severe the Enemy Came on with fury our men stood firing upon them most amazingly.” The grenadiers dropped to the ground under the flying lead, temporarily halting their advance while they fixed bayonets into place. Once all was in order, the grenadiers stood and continued their attack. From this point forward the grenadiers quickened their pace to reduce the time spent under fire. As Lt. William Hale so eloquently observed, the method grenadiers typically employed with such success was to level their weapons and fire, not waste any time reloading, and instead “rush on, trusting entirely to that most decisive of weapons the bayonet; will ever be superior to any troops the Rebels can ever bring against them.”10