Two days later he told Sherman that on the next day, April 29th, Grand Gulf was to be attacked, and he suggested that Sherman would do well to make at the same time a feint on the Rebel batteries on the Yazoo, near Haines's Bluff. Sherman undertook to do this, making as great a show of attack as possible, with the object of preventing the Rebels from sending reinforcements from Vicksburg to Grand Gulf. This movement succeeded admirably. Sherman went up the Yazoo with a number of gunboats and on April 30th, early in the morning, began a vigorous fire upon the enemy's batteries. This was continued for four hours. Later in the day he landed his troops in full view of the enemy as though about to order a charge upon their works. The Rebels evidently expected that the charge was to be made, for they kept themselves in a state of preparation to meet it. Sherman's troops, however, contented themselves with keeping up appearances until night, when they returned to the boats. The next day the same manoeuvres were continued. Then orders came from Grant to proceed at once to Grand Gulf, and Sherman quietly dropped back from the scene of the sham attack. His losses amounted to one man wounded. Meantime the Thirteenth Army Corps had been moved down to Grand Gulf, ready to storm the Rebel work as soon as Porter's gunboats had silenced the batteries. A vigorous fire was kept up for more than five hours, but the enemy's batteries proved too strong, and a change of plan was necessary. Grant accordingly took his troops back some distance, disembarked and marched across to the plain just below Grand Gulf. That night the transports and barges were conveyed past the batteries in safety, the gunboats following, and early on the morning of April 30th the troops were taken across the river. Some days of skirmishing and manoeuvring followed, and on the third of May it was found that the enemy had fled from Grand Gulf, toward either Vicksburg or Jackson. Grant accordingly halted his army to wait for Sherman's arrival, and personally went back to Grand Gulf.