four o'clock in the afternoon
At daylight on the 5th the signal was made for the whole fleet to weigh . At this time , it must be understood , the rebels held the shore of Long Island on our starboard hand in considerable force , and there were bodies of them on Staten Island on the larboard hand , which forms the southern side of the harbour . It was a fine sight to see the fleet , the Phoenix , Rose , and Senegal leading , standing for the channel of the Narrows ; but our hopes of entering into action were again disappointed in consequence of the wind falling away and compelling us to anchor . At four o'clock in the afternoon , however , once more the signal was made to weigh , the flat-bottomed boats destined to land the troops were manned , and in the same order as before we proceeded onwards . The moment we entered the Narrows the rebels opened fire on us from field-pieces and small arms , but without doing us much injury , but very few men on board any of the ships being killed . By seven o'clock we had dropped anchor close in with the north shore of Staten Island , and were actively engaged in landing the troops . So rapid and unexpected had been our movements at the last that a body of the enemy , to the number of nearly three hundred men , were unable to escape and were taken prisoners by the first division of Grenadiers who landed .