Thirteen Federal guns poured shot and shell into Camp Bartow while seven Confederate six-pounder cannons replied in a prolonged artillery fight. The Federals lay behind trees and rail fences for protection, and Confederate defenders huddled in the relative safety of their trenches. In the Confederate trenches, a small kitten moved back and forth, seemingly oblivious to the danger, and played whenever a ball kicked up dirt nearby. James E. Hall of the 31st Virginia recalled that the smoke so obscured the fighting that he did not realize how heavy the fire was, and that a cloud of smoke rolled up from the valley like a city on fire. Gus Van Dyke of the 14th Indiana Infantry remembered four hours without intermission that shook the mountain on either side and nearly deafened those present with their echo. Clayton Wilson of the 1st Georgia Infantry said the Federal guns fired an average of four rounds to the Confederates' one.