half past four
At two o'clock the vessels were seen approaching , and Lawrence called a council of officers . `` All were determined to resist to the last , and if finally compelled to surrender , to do so only on condition that officers and privates should retain their arms and private property , be treated as prisoners of war , and protected from the savages . `` The words adopted as the signal for the day were , ` do n't give up the fort . ' `` At half past four the battle began , the four vessels opening fire simultaneously , and pouring broadside after broadside upon the fort , which returned a fearful fire from its circular battery . `` While this was going on in front , Captain Woodbine was assailing our men in the rear , from behind his sand-dune , with a howitzer and a twelve-pounder . `` So the battle raged for an hour ; then the flag of the _ Hermes _ was shot away , and Lawrence stopped firing to learn if she had surrendered ; but the _ Caron _ fired another broadside , and the fight went on with renewed vigor . Soon a shot cut the cable of the _ Hermes _ , and she floated away with the current , her head toward the fort , and her decks swept of men and everything by a raking fire from the fort .