[3][4] Before the troops arrived, Admiral David D. Porter sent USS Wyalusing and two escort ships on an expedition to try to capture Rainbow Bluff and a Confederate ram.

[3][4] The Navy began bombarding the fort and the Union troops started landing on Christmas morning, with Brig.

After setting up a defensive line, Ames ordered N. Martin Curtis' brigade to reconnoiter the fort to see if it could be attacked.

Curtis found the land wall lightly defended and was prepared to attack, but was prevented from doing so by Ames.

By then, believing the fort to be too strong to assault, and with another storm forming in the area, Butler decided to halt the landings.

He called off the campaign on 27 December, ignoring General Grant's orders to besiege the fort if an attack failed.