As Reed's Bridge burned and Confederate artillery broke up the charge of the First Iowa Cavalry Regiment, Union artillery opened fire on Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke at his position near Lieutenant Charlie Bell's "little teaser" prairie gun. An exploding shell killed Bell and wounded Major C.C. Rainwater, Marmaduke's aide, among others. As Bell's crippled gun was pulled to the rear, Marmaduke called up Captain Joseph Bledsoe's Battery of two ten-pounder Parrott rifles and a pair of six-pounder smoothbore cannon. Using information Lieutenant Richard Collins had gathered by crossing Bayou Meto to scout out the Union artillery position, Bledsoe's Battery opened a blistering barrage on the Yankee cannon. As the big guns of the opposing forces blasted away at each other, both Union and Confederate riflemen paused to watch the spectacle of an artillery duel.