The British brought up guns from their ships and built earthworks for them under cover of darkness. This was to counter the American guns mounted on their earthworks as well as those on the anchored cutter in the river. On the morning of 1 January 1815 the British opened up with their artillery and rockets. The surprised Americans quickly returned fire but with greater accuracy. Jackson’s line lost two of their guns in the exchange but one by one the cannon fire from the American line took out all fourteen of the British guns. By noon the British had been driven back from their artillery emplacements and the artillery duel was over for the present. Both the Americans and British had placed artillery on the opposite bank of the Mississippi and those batteries exchanged fire most of the afternoon. At night Jackson’s backwoodsmen kept shooting sentries, driving back the pickets and gave the British camp no peace.