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she retreated up the river. Damage to De Kalb was comparatively light, but three of her crew were dead and three wounded.
The Southerners did not make it through the all-day shelling unscathed, but they fared much better than the Federals. Worst episode was a 13-inch Yankee morter shell that failed to explode but penetrated one of the fort?s ammunition magazines and set a tub of cartridges on fire. Sixteen members of the Pointe Coup? Artillery were badly burned. Other casualties among the Southerners were two wounded and one killed in the rifled 32-pounder crew. But despite the rain of shells from the gunboats, not one of the guns at Fort Pemberton was damaged or dismounted.
That night brought no sleep to Baxter or any other able-bodied man in the garrison. Earthworks had taken a terrific beating from the day?s shelling, and shovels and axes were the needed weapons that night. By midmorning the fort?s defenses had been largely repaired, and the exhausted soldiers took what rest they could before the Federals started shooting again. But the day turned out to be a relatively quiet one. In the middle of the afternoon the Union shore battery opened up, the guns in the fort responded, and a hot exchange went on for half-an-hour. But there were no casualties and little damage.
The next day, the 15th, was a Sunday, and each side honored the Sabbath by making repairs and licking its wounds. Late in the day, Loring?s garrison was cheered up by the arrival of a steamer from Yazoo City with an 8-inch naval cun. Under cover of darkness it was manhandled up from thelanding and mounted on an emplacement near the rifled 32-pounder. At the same time, the Federals were moving an 8-inch Dahlgren from De Kalb to the land battery.
Monday morning started off cold and clear. The only sound Baxter heard was the crackle of the breakfast fires and an occasional birdsong. But that morning silence was shattered just before noon when the three guns the Yankees had mounted on land began firing. The Confederates were ready with loaded guns and fired back instantly after that first salvo. A few minutes later, Chillicothe and De Kalb steamed into view.
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