The larger squadron was to steam in past the fort on Hilton Head (on the south side of the channel), at a distance, when abreast, of 800 yards, and bombard it while passing in; the small squadron was to keep at the north side of the larger one and give such attention as it might at long range to Fort Beauregard over on the north side of the channel. When the forts had been passed, the larger squadron was to turn back and steam out past Hilton Head, firing as before, while the little squadron remained in the harbor to head off any attack from Commodore Tatnall, and, what was of more importance as the event proved, to attack the forts from the rear. For both forts had been planned to face the roadstead and open sea, and very little had been done to protect the landward faces from an attack from within the harbor. An offshore gale of wind prevented an attack on the 6th, but the morning of the 7th came with scarcely a ripple on the sea, and at 9 o’clock the two squadrons of warships, in the order named, headed with a flood tide in close order to attack the fort on Hilton Head. They steamed along at six knots per hour, and at 9.26 o’clock precisely a puff of white smoke was seen on the parapet of the fort at the south. Instantly an answering puff was seen on Fort Beauregard at the north, and a round black ball from each came bounding over the smooth water, to fall short and sink out of sight. In a minute the _Wabash_ replied with her two big ten-inch pivots, the _Susquehanna_ followed with an eight-inch pivot, and in ten minutes more the whole fleet was engaged. A hundred huge shells were falling upon and around the fort, burying themselves for a moment in its walls, and then bursting and throwing great masses of sand in the air--masses of sand that fell upon the gunners and the guns there. But, though inexperienced in war, and but slightly trained in the handling of great guns, the men within the forts were a sturdy host, and fought back in a way that must excite the admiration of all who read the story. The ships were drawing nearer steadily, and there was need for rapid work. To bring one cartridge from the magazine every time a gun was to be loaded required too much time, and the gun’s crews in the forts, regardless of the bursting shells that fell thickly around them, brought cartridges by the armful, and piled them beside the guns.