On the twenty-fourth of July, Colonel Clinch commenced a reconnoisance of the fort. On the twenty-fifth, he cleared away the brush and erected a battery, and placed upon it two long eighteen-pounders, and commenced a cannonade of the fortress. At the time of this investment, there were about three hundred Exiles in the fort, including women and children, besides thirty-four Seminole Indians:[32] yet in the official report of Colonel Clinch, he makes no mention of his fire being returned; nor does he say that any of his men were killed or wounded by the occupants of the fort. On the twenty-sixth of July, Sailing-Master Loomis, with his command, reached a point on the river some two miles below the fort. Colonel Clinch met him at that place, for consultation, and informed him that his fire had thus far proved ineffectual, and that a nearer approach of artillery by land would be difficult.[33] Judging from the language used in his official dispatch, Sailing-Master Loomis must have entertained some feelings of distrust towards Colonel Clinch, as they evidently separated in bad temper: yet no officer in the service of the United States ever exhibited greater prudence in his preparations, or more firmness in battle, than Colonel Clinch. He was, however, a man of kind and humane feelings, and high notions of honor. It has been supposed by many of his friends, that he shrank from the perpetration of the outrage which he had been detailed to commit.[34] On the morning of the twenty-seventh, Loomis, with his boats, ascended the river and cast anchor opposite the fort, while Colonel Clinch and the Creek Indians took positions so as to cut off retreat by land. The cannonade was resumed, and the land and naval forces of the United States were engaged in throwing shot and shells for the purpose of murdering those friendless Exiles, those women and children, who had committed no other offense than that of having been born of parents who, a century previously, had been held in bondage. Mothers and children now shrieked with terror as the roar of cannon, the whistling of balls, the explosion of shells, the war-whoops of the savages, the groans of the wounded and dying, foretold the sad fate which awaited them. The stout-hearted old men cheered and encouraged their friends, declaring that death was to be preferred to slavery.