Whereupon General Pillow said, "Then I shall leave this place." General Floyd turned to General Pillow and told him, "General Pillow, I turn the command over, sir." General Pillow said, "And I pass it." General Buckner said, "And I assume it," and countermanded the order for the destruction of the commissary and quartermaster stores, and ordered white flags to be prepared and a bugler to report to him. At eleven o'clock that night Floyd telegraphed to General A.S. Johnston a glorious victory. Four hours later, at the close of the council or conference, he telegraphed: "We are completely invested by an army many times our numbers. I regret to say the unanimous opinion of the officers seems to be that we cannot maintain ourselves against these forces." Colonel Forrest reported that upon examination he found that deep mud and water made an escape by land, between the investing force and the river, impracticable for infantry. Forrest marched out with all the cavalry but Gantt's Tennessee battalion and two companies of Helm's Kentucky cavalry, taking with him the horses of Porter's battery and about two hundred men of various commands. There was not a steamboat at the landing; General Floyd had sent all up the river with wounded and prisoners. Not a skiff or yawl could be found. A little flatboat or scow was got by some means from the other side of the river, and on this General Pillow crossed the river with his staff and Colonel Gilmer. Two steamboats returned at daybreak, one of them bringing "about four hundred raw troops." The four hundred raw troops were dumped on shore, and Floyd took possession of the boats. Floyd's brigade, consisting of four Virginia regiments and the Twentieth Mississippi, had been divided during the siege. The four Virginia regiments were organized into two brigades, and the Twentieth Mississippi attached to another command. Two Virginia regiments were ferried across the river, and the Twentieth Mississippi, understanding that they were to be taken on board with Floyd, stood on guard and kept off the growing crowd of clamorous soldiers while the other two Virginia regiments embarked. The rope was cut and Floyd steamed up the river, leaving the Twentieth Mississippi and his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Breckenridge Drake, behind. It was said afterward that word was received from General Buckner that the boat must leave at once, or it would not be allowed to leave.