On the night of the 13th Foote, with the _St. Louis_, _Louisville_, and _Pittsburg_, arrived, and at 3 P.M. on the 14th the squadron advanced in line abreast to the attack. Opening fire at a range of a mile, they steadily lessened the range until at last within 400 yards of the lower Confederate battery. The Confederates were rapidly abandoning their guns at this moment (4.30 P.M.), when a shot passed through the pilot-house of the flagship _St. Louis_, wounding Foote seriously, the pilot also, and smashing the wheel; and at the same moment a shell cut the tiller ropes of the _Louisville_. The preventer tackles that had been provided proved utterly inadequate in both cases--a most serious fault that should have been foreseen--and both vessels drifted helplessly out of the fight. Seeing this, the Confederates rallied to their guns and renewed the fight. The _Carondelet_ and _Pittsburg_ were soon seriously damaged, and followed the disabled boats down stream. Mahan says of this fight: “Notwithstanding its failure, the tenacity and fighting qualities of the fleet were more markedly proved in this action than in the victory at Henry. The vessels were struck more frequently (the flagship fifty-nine times, and none less than twenty), and though the power of the enemy’s guns was about the same in each case, the height and character of the soil at Donelson placed the fleet at a great disadvantage. The fire from above, reaching their sloping armor nearly at right angles, searched every weak point. Upon the _Carondelet_ a rifled gun burst. The pilot-houses were beaten in, and three of the four pilots received mortal wounds. Despite these injuries, and the loss of fifty-four killed and wounded, the fleet was only shaken from its hold by accidents to the steering apparatus, after which their batteries could not be brought to bear. “Among the injured on this occasion was the flag-officer, who was standing by the pilot when the latter was killed. Two splinters struck him in the arm and foot, inflicting wounds apparently slight; but the latter, amid the exposure and anxiety of the succeeding operations, did not heal, and finally compelled him, three months later, to give up the command.” [Illustration: Explosion on Board the _Carondelet_ at the Battle of Fort Donelson. _From a painting by Admiral Walke._]