In one hour and fifteen minutes after the first gun was fired,
not a shot came from the fort. Two magazines had been blown
up, and the fort set on fire in several places. Such a torrent
of missiles was falling and bursting that it was impossible
for anything human to stand."*
[Footnote]
* Badeau's "Military History of General Grant," Vol. 3, p. 314.
[End of Footnote]
In this condition of things General Butler arrived upon the
scene. Not a soldier had been hurt on the Union side.
"General Curtis was now within fifty yards of the fort, and
sent word to General Ames that he could take the work, whereupon
Ames, not knowing Butler's determination, gave orders for
an assault. Curtis at once moved forward, but by the time
he reached his position, night had come on, and the fleet
had nearly ceased its fire .... At this juncture Butler's
orders to reembark arrived, and no assault was made. Curtis
and the officers with him, declared that the fort could have
been carried; that at the moment they were recalled, they
virtually had possession, having actually approached so close
that a rebel flag had been snatched from the parapet and a
horse brought away from the inside stockade.
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