As said, for six days the mortar flotilla hurled shells high in air to drop in and around Fort Jackson. By day each mortar threw a shell every ten minutes--the flotilla of twenty threw 120 per hour--and at night they threw one every half-hour each. On the 19th one of the schooners was sunk by a shot from the fort, and another was thrown out of the fight later on; but on an average about 1,900 shells were thrown each day. The effect of these shells was to destroy all the buildings in the fort, and, by cutting the levee, to flood the floors of the bomb-proofs. They kept the men under cover, and rendered them so uncomfortable that in the end they became desperate. What they did then will be told further on. The garrison lost fourteen killed and thirty-nine wounded in the course of the fighting. Having the way clear, Farragut, on the 23d of April, 1862, issued his orders for an advance that night. The squadron was divided into two divisions, and Capt. Theodorus Bailey had the honor of commanding the first division. His division flag was hoisted on the _Cayuga_, that was to lead the line in what was supposed to be the post of real danger. A ship’s cutter under Caldwell rowed up to the break in the barrier and found it still open. The Confederates had a big wood-fire burning, and the cutter crossed its light, but was not attacked. It was a dark, still night--not the best for the work--but at 2 o’clock in the morning of the 24th two red lanterns were hoisted at the peak of the flagship _Hartford_, and a moment later the shrill piping of the boatswain’s whistle was heard throughout the squadron with the call “All hands up anchor!”