noon
The boy did not know whether or not pilots were in the habit of going aloft in the heat of action , but he thought it was the proper thing to do under the circumstances . He went , and he did not go any too soon , either ; for when he had climbed up where he could see over the thickest of the smoke , he found to his consternation that the vessel was heading diagonally across the channel far to the eastward of the position in which she ought to be , that she would be hard and fast aground if she held that course five minutes longer , and that her shells were exploding in the edge of a piece of timber where he could not see any signs of a fort or breastwork . It was the work of but a few seconds for Marcy to make Captain Benton understand the situation , and when the latter had brought his ship to her proper course by following the instructions the young pilot shouted down to him , he came up and took his stand in the top by Marcy 's side . There they both remained as long as the fight continued , and their dinner consisted of a sandwich and a cup of coffee , which the cabin steward brought up to them at noon . The first object of the bombardment was accomplished about five o'clock that afternoon , when a heavy smoke was rolling over Fort Bartow , caused by the burning of the barracks , which had been set on fire by a shell from the fleet , the defiant roar of its guns being almost silenced , and its flaunting banner sent to the dust by the shooting away of the staff that sustained it , and the enemy , all along the line , had been driven so far back that the transports could come up with the troops . It was at this juncture that the services of Mr. Daniel 's black boy , Tom , came into play . He piloted General Burnside 's launches and lighters into Ashby 's Harbor , and , by midnight , ten thousand soldiers were landed in readiness for the real battle , which was to begin on the following morning .