[4] On July 29, Steedman led the wooden gunboats USS Paul Jones, Unadilla, Huron and Madgie against the work in a 90-minute long-range exchange.

John L. Davis the Federal gunboats USS Wissahickon and Dawn and a mortar schooner engaged the fort for several hours on November 19.

The fort did not reply to the initial long-range bombardment and waited until the warships ascended the river to the guns' effective range.

When the lead vessels reached 3,000 yards the garrison opened fire and immediately scored a hit, holing the Wissahickon below the waterline.

[9] Adm. Du Pont dispatched an ironclad in an attempt to capture the fort, sink the Nashville and burn the Atlantic and Gulf railway bridge farther up the river.

Commander John L. Worden of the Montauk shelled the fort for five hours at a range of 1,500-1,800 yards, penetrating and tearing up the parapets, but causing no lasting damage or casualties.

Likewise, thirteen hits scored by the fort's artillery did little beside denting the monitor's plate and sink a small launch.

[16] Unable to run the Federal blockade, the Nashville had been sold and converted into an armed commerce raider under Capt.

It was renamed the Rattlesnake and on February 27 Baker attempted to make the open sea during rainy weather, but was deterred by a blockader.

Quick action by the commander and pilot steered the vessel onto a mud bank as the tide receded, sealing the leak until repairs could be effected.

[18] After the early engagements with the fort, Adm. Du Pont recognized that a single monitor turret lacked the rate of fire to force the capitulation of the earthen battery.

He therefore ordered three ironclads—USS Patapsco, Passaic, and Nahant—to test their guns and mechanical appliances and practice artillery firing by attacking the fort.

The Montauk was to be held in reserve as its 15" gun had already fired a large number of rounds and its durability was unknown at the time.

[27] The first test of the 15-inch Dahlgren gun and single-turret monitors against the sand parapets of Fort McAllister had revealed several things: Du Pont attempted to address the shortcomings as best he could while preparing for the attack on Charleston.

Adm. Du Pont's warnings and concerns about the inability of monitors to reduce earthen forts would go unheeded as he prepared the assault on Charleston harbor.

[29] Fort McAllister would not be subdued by naval bombardment, but would succumb to an infantry assault at the end of Sherman's March to the Sea in December 1864.