 Initially, de Peyster had been selected to lead an assault on the breastworks outside the city, however the night before the assault he noticed the city aflame from a signal tower and informed General Weitzel. The men of the corps then entered the city unmolested. Admiral David Farragut later claimed that de Peyster was due as much credit as he would have received had he actually taken the city by storming it, because doing it without bloodshed still carried the same intent.
