It had been intended to concentrate nearly all the artillery near the river in the vicinity of Ross Landing in such a manner as to engage, or at least divide, the attention of the lower batteries of Port Hudson; but the maps were even more imperfect than usual, and when a reconnoissance, naturally retarded by the enemy's advance guard, showed that the road by which the guns were to have gone into position did not exist, the daylight was already waning. A broken bridge also caused some delay. At five o'clock in the afternoon Banks received a despatch from Farragut announcing an important change in the hour fixed for the movement of the fleet. Instead of making the attempt "in the gray of the morning," as had been the admiral's first plan, he now meant to get under way at eight o'clock in the evening. When darkness fell, therefore, it found the troops substantially in the positions already described, yet with their outposts well thrown forward. About ten o'clock the fleet weighed anchor and moved up the river. The flagship _Hartford_ took the lead, with the _Albatross_ lashed to her port side, next the _Richmond_ with the _Genesee_, the _Monongahela_ with the _Kineo_, and last the side-wheeler _Mississippi_ alone. The _Essex_ and _Sachem_ remained at anchor below, with the mortar boats, to cover the advance. An hour later a rocket shot up from the bluff and instantly the Confederate batteries opened fire. They were soon joined by long lines of sharpshooters. To avoid the shoal that makes out widely from the western bank, as well as to escape the worst of the enemy's fire, both of musketry and artillery, the ships hugged closely the eastern bluff; so closely, indeed, that the yards brushed the leaves from the overhanging trees and the voices of men on shore could be distinctly heard by those on board. Watch-fires were lighted by the Confederates to show as well the ships as the range; yet this did more harm than good, since the smoke united with that of the guns ashore and afloat to render the fleet invisible. On the other hand, the pilots were soon unable to see. The _Hartford_, meeting the swift eddy at the bend, where the current describes nearly a right angle, narrowly escaped being driven ashore. The _Richmond_, following, was disabled by a shot through her engine-room when abreast of the upper battery at the turn. The _Monongahela's_ consort, the _Kineo_, lost the use of her rudder, and the _Monongahela_ herself ran aground on the spit; presently the _Kineo_, drifting clear, also grounded, but was soon afloat again, and, with her assistance, the _Monongahela_ too swung free, after nearly a half hour of imminent peril. Then the _Kineo_, cast loose by her consort, drifted helplessly down the stream, while the _Monongahela_ passed up until a heated bearing brought her engines to a stop and she too drifted with the current.