On April 29, 1863, with the river at flood stage and falling, overflowing from the eastern bluffs to high ground beyond the flood plain to the west, the bend upstream above the Point of Rocks forced the main channel against the bluffs where the Confederate forts of Coburn and Wade stood. Rear Admiral Porter deployed seven gunboats along a line in this area in very strong currents and countercurrents, and firing began at seven o'clock a.m. and continued for about five and one-half hours. Fort Wade, on the bluff above to the right, was knocked out, but Fort Coburn, upstream to the left of the Point of Rocks, was never silenced. Several boats were estimated to be damaged and one was disabled. Porter communicated with General Grant, who remained with his army on transports a short distance above Grand Gulf, and Grant decided to land his troops on the Louisiana side and march south across Coffee Point to Disharoon's Plantation below the Confederate fortifications. At eight o'clock p.m., under cover of darkness, the gunboats and empty transports slipped safely by and tied up about four miles below Grand Gulf, where they met Grant's troops, carried them to Bruinsburg, Mississippi, and put them ashore to begin their march to Port Gibson and eventually the movement to surround Vicksburg.