After a long, bitterly cold night, two armies lined up here for a second day of fighting. Confederate artillerists placed their guns along the edge of the woods, facing a Union battle line only 500 yards away across wide open fields. At 8:00 a.m., Union cannon opened their first volley and concentrated on the Confederate artillery positions, and Confederate gunners fired back. The roar of the big guns carried for more than 50 miles as the Union barrage continued nonstop for two hours, becoming the largest artillery shelling of the Civil War up to that point. With ammunition running low and under unrelenting bombardment, the surviving Confederate cannoneers withdrew to safety at Elkhorn Tavern.