attacking force. Farragut accepted the offer. This almost casual mingling of the services was found quite useful during the battle. On August 3, 1864, 1,500 men were landed approximately 15 miles west of the fort in preparation for the Siege of Fort Gaines, while under protection from one of Farragut's flotillas. The troops consisted of infantry detachments from the 77th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 34th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 96th Ohio Infantry, and 3rd Maryland Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, with General Gordon Granger as commander. The troops then marched toward Fort Gaines. On the evening of August 4, they entrenched and formed their skirmish line less than a half mile away. Opposing forces Union Confederate Battle and siege The army landing force under Granger was ready to launch the attack on August 3, but Farragut wanted to wait for his fourth monitor USS Tecumseh, expected at any moment but delayed at Pensacola. The admiral almost decided to proceed with only three monitors, and the army went ashore on Dauphin Island, acting under a misapprehension of naval intentions. The fleet was not ready to move yet, so the defenders were able to rush additional forces to Fort Gaines. After the battle, Farragut concluded that the delay had actually worked to the advantage of the Federal forces, as the reinforcements were not great enough to have any effect on the battle, but they were included in the surrender. While the army was going ashore, Tecumseh made her belated appearance and Farragut made his final dispositions for the fleet. The 14 wooden-hulled vessels would be lashed together in pairs, in a reprise of a tactic that the admiral had used earlier at the Battle of Port Hudson at Port Hudson, Louisiana. The intent was that, if a ship were to be disabled by battle damage to her engines, her partner would be able to keep her moving. The monitors would form a column and lead the way into the bay, moving in close to Fort Morgan on the right side of the channel as they went in. The other ships would form a separate double column and pass on the port side of the monitors, so that the armored ships would shield their wooden sisters from the guns of the fort. When the Confederate fleet made its expected appearance, the monitors would move to attack the armored Tennessee, while the rest of the fleet