After the fighting died down, commander Alonzo W. Slayback sent Ewing a note that the African Americans within the fort would be massacred if captured. Price decided to try further attacks the next day. Believing that the moat had been the primary obstacle, Price ordered his men to spend the night building ladders to be used in crossing the moat. Meanwhile, Ewing decided to abandon the fort that night. The Union soldiers slipped past Confederate soldiers of Dobbins's brigade surrounding the fort, and a trailing group detonated Fort Davidson's magazine. The Confederates neither noticed the escape nor reacted to the explosion. Union casualties were 213. Castel placed Confederate casualties as between 800 and 1,000, while Sinisi placed Confederate casualties at around 500. Cabell's brigade lost about 10 percent of its strength.