expedition cleared Steele's Bayou. He had his division commander Major General Dabney H. Maury order Brigadier General Winfield S. Featherston to take his brigade to the Rolling Fork–Deer Creek juncture. The order was intercepted by Brigadier General Stephen D. Lee, who decided on his own to reinforce Featherston's brigade with one of his own regiments. By March 20 Confederate troops began to arrive at the Rolling Fork and the upper end of Deer Creek. The earliest Rebel troops to arrive were those of Lee, a battalion of infantry, six field pieces of artillery, and 40 to 50 cavalry, all led by Lieutenant Colonel Samuel W. Ferguson. They had been at Fort Pemberton, the most serious impediment to the Yazoo Pass expedition. The removal of Ferguson's men gave the Federal commander there, Brigadier General Isaac F. Quinby, a good chance to take the fort, but Quinby remained unaware of his advantage. The opportunity to satisfy that part of Grant's strategy was missed. The Rebel soldiers began by felling trees across Deer Creek, further impeding the progress of the flotilla. Porter sent some 300 of his sailors ashore under Lieutenant Commander John M. Murphy with orders to clear away the opposition. They occupied a small Indian mound that dominated the field and were for a time able to drive the enemy away, and the gunboats managed to crawl forward to within of the Rolling Fork. There they skirmished with Ferguson's force until the light failed, and the Union shore party retired to the protection of the armor of their vessels. Ferguson renewed the attack the next day, March 21. Ferguson put his soldiers again to work obstructing the stream. Porter realized that he was blocked, so he began to reverse his course back down Deer Creek. About the time the ships began to move, however, a plantation slave brought word that some of the Confederate troops had slipped around the flotilla and were felling trees in their rear. The report was confirmed by (Union) Colonel Giles Smith of the 8th Missouri Infantry, who had come up Deer Creek and had counted more than forty large trees lying across the stream. Smith's regiment was welcome protection, but they were not strong enough to drive the enemy off. Sherman's army comes Porter now had to consider the possibility that his vessels would be trapped. Although they were in no immediate danger, the Rebels could