Vicksburg is the Key!
Spring 1863
At the time of the Civil War, the Mississippi River was the single most important economic feature of the continent; the very lifeblood of America. Upon the secession of the southern states, Confederate forces closed the river to navigation, which threatened to strangle northern commercial interests.
President Abraham Lincoln told his civil and military leaders, "See what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key! The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.... We can take all the northern ports of the Confederacy, and they can defy us from Vicksburg." Lincoln assured his listeners that "I am acquainted with that region and know what I am talking about, and as valuable as New Orleans will be to us, Vicksburg will be more so."
It was imperative for the administration in Washington to regain control of the lower Mississippi River, thereby opening that important avenue of commerce enabling the rich agricultural produce of the Northwest to reach world markets.
It would also split the South in two, sever a vital Confederate supply line, achieve a major objective of the Anaconda Plan, and effectively seal the doom of Richmond. In the spring of 1863, Major General Ulysses S. Grant launched his Union Army of the Tennessee on a campaign to pocket Vicksburg and provide Mr. Lincoln with the key to victory.
Grant's March Through Louisiana
March 29 - April 30, 1863
The spring of 1863 signaled the beginning of the final and, for the Union, the successful phase of the Vicksburg Campaign as General Grant launched his Army of the Tennessee on a march down the west side of the Mississippi River from Milliken's Bend to Hard Times, Louisiana. Leaving their encampments on March 29, Union soldiers took up the line of march and slogged southward over a muddy road. Building bridges and corduroying roads, Grant's column pushed first to New Carthage then to Hard Times where the infantrymen rendezvoused with the Union fleet.
Porter's Fleet Passes the
Vicksburg Batteries
April 16, 1863
On April 16, while Grant's army marched south through Louisiana, part of the Union fleet commanded by Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter prepared to run by the Vicksburg batteries. At 9:15 p.m. lines were cast-off and the vessels moved away from their anchorage with engines muffled and all lights extinguished to conceal the movement.
Rear Admiral Porter
As the boats rounded De Soto Point, above Vicksburg, they were spotted by Confederate lookouts who spread the alarm. Bales of cotton soaked in turpentine and barrels of tar which lined the shore were set on fire by the Confederates to illuminate the river. Although each vessel was hit repeatedly, Porter's fleet successfully fought its way past the Confederate batteries with the loss of only one transport and headed toward a rendezvous with Grant on the Louisiana shore south of Vicksburg.
Bombardment of Grand Gulf
April 29, 1863
It was Grant's intention to force a crossing of the river at Grand Gulf and move on "Fortress Vicksburg" from the south. For five hours on April 29, the Union fleet bombarded the Grand Gulf defenses in an attempt to silence the Confederate guns and prepare the way for a landing. The fleet, however, sustained heavy damage and failed to achieve its objective. Admiral Porter declared, "Grand Gulf is the strongest place on the Mississippi."
Not wishing to send his transports loaded with troops to attempt a landing in the face of enemy fire, Grant disembarked his command and continued the march south along the levee.
Crossing at Bruinsburg
April 30--May 1
Undaunted by his failure at Grand Gulf, Grant moved farther south in search of a more favorable crossing point. Looking now to cross his army at Rodney, Grant was informed that there was a good road ascending the bluffs east of Bruinsburg. Seizing the opportunity, the Union commander hurled his army across the mighty river and onto Mississippi soil at Bruinsburg on April 30--May 1, 1863. In the early morning hours of April 30, infantrymen of the 24th and 46th Indiana Regiments stepped ashore on Mississippi soil at Bruinsburg. The invasion had begun.
The landing was made unopposed and, as the men came ashore, a band aboard U.S.S. Benton struck up "The Red, White, and Blue." The Hoosiers were quickly followed by the remainder of the XIII Union Army Corps and portions of the XVII Corps--17,000 men. This landing was the largest amphibious operation in American history until the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II. Elements of the Union Army pushed inland and took possession of the bluffs thereby securing the landing area. By late afternoon of April 30, 17,000 soldiers were ashore and the march inland began. Having pushed inland from the landing area at Bruinsburg, Union soldiers rested and ate their crackers in the shade of the trees on Windsor Plantation. Late that afternoon the decision was made to push on that night by a forced march in hopes of surprising the Confederates and preventing them from destroying the bridges over Bayou Pierre. The Union columns resumed the advance at 5:30 p.m. Instead of taking the Bruinsburg Road, which was the direct road from the landing area to Port Gibson, Grant's columns swung onto the Rodney Road, passed Bethel Church and marched through the night.
This section of the Rodney Road has changed little since the days of the Civil War. Imagine if you will, soldiers marching down this road tightly packed in columns of four; the stillness of the night broken by the sounds of marching feet, clanking accouterments, and the rumbling of wagons and artillery pieces. It was a clear, moon-lit night. Tension and fear were in the air for these soldiers were on enemy soil and the enemy was near, but where? As they marched along in the late night hours many of the soldiers dozed. One bluecoat recalled the night march as being "romantic in the extreme."
Battle of Port Gibson
May 1, 1863
Shortly after midnight the crash of musketry shattered the stillness as the Federals stumbled upon Confederate outposts near the A. K. Shaifer house. Union troops immediately deployed for battle and artillery, which soon arrived, roared into action. A spirited skirmish ensued which lasted until 3 a.m. The Confederates held their ground. For the next several hours an uneasy calm settled over the woods and scattered fields as soldiers of both armies rested on their arms. Throughout the night the Federals gathered their forces in hand and both sides prepared for the battle which they knew would come with the rising sun.
At dawn, Union troops began to move in force along the Rodney Road toward Magnolia Church. One division was sent along a connecting plantation road toward the Bruinsburg Road and the Confederate right flank. With skirmishers well in advance the Federals began a slow and deliberate advance around 5:30 a.m. The Confederates contested the thrust and the battle began in earnest.
General U.S. Grant
Most of the Union forces moved along the Rodney Road toward Magnolia Church and the Confederate line held by Brigadier General Martin E. Green's Brigade. Heavily outnumbered and hard-pressed the Confederates gave way shortly after 10:00 a.m. The men in butternut and gray fell back a mile and a half. Here the soldiers of Brigadier General William E. Baldwin's and Colonel Francis M. Cockrell's brigades, recent arrivals on the field, established a new line between White and Irwin branches of Willow Creek. Full of fight, these men re-established the Confederate left flank.
The morning hours witnessed Green's Brigade driven from its position by the principal Federal attack. Brigadier General Edward D. Tracy's Alabama Brigade astride the Bruinsburg Road also experienced hard fighting. Although Tracy was killed early in the action, his brigade managed to hold its tenuous line.
It was clear, however, that unless the Confederates received heavy reinforcements they would lose the day. Brigadier General John S. Bowen, Confederate commander on the field, wired his superiors: "We have been engaged in a furious battle ever since daylight; losses very heavy. The men act nobly, but the odds are overpowering." Early afternoon found the Alabamans slowly giving ground. Green's weary soldiers, having been reformed, arrived to bolster the line on the Bruinsburg Road.
Even so, late in the afternoon, the Federals advanced all along the line in superior numbers. As Union pressure built, Cockrell's Missourians unleashed a vicious counterattack near the Rodney Road which began to roll up the blue line. The 6th Missouri also counterattacked hitting the Federals near the Bruinsburg Road.All this was to no avail for the odds against them were too great. The Confederates were checked and driven back. The day was lost. At 5:30 p.m. battle-weary Confederates began to retire from the hard-fought field.
The battle of Port Gibson cost Grant 131 killed, 719 wounded, and 25 missing out of 23,000 men engaged. This victory not only secured his position on Mississippi soil, but enabled him to launch his campaign deeper into the interior of the state. Union victory at Port Gibson forced the Confederate evacuation of Grand Gulf and would ultimately result in the fall of Vicksburg.
The Confederates suffered 60 killed, 340 wounded, and 387 missing out of 8,000 men engaged. In addition, 4 guns of the Botetourt (Virginia) Artillery were lost. The action at Port Gibson underscored Confederate inability to defend the line of the Mississippi River and to respond to amphibious operations. Confederate Soldiers are buried at Wintergreen Cemetery in Port Gibson.
Grant's Army Pushes Inland
May 2-11, 1863
General John Pemberton
To support the army's push inland, Grant established a base on the Mississippi River at Grand Gulf. (Contrary to popular belief, the Union army relied heavily on supplies from Grand Gulf to sustain its movements in Mississippi. Only after reaching Vicksburg and re-establishing contact with the fleet on the Yazoo River did Grant abandon the supply line from Grand Gulf.) Instead of marching directly on Vicksburg from the south, Grant marched his army in a northeasterly direction with his left flank protected by the Big Black River.
It was Grant's intention to strike the Southern Railroad of Mississippi somewhere between Vicksburg and Jackson. Destruction of the railroad would cut Pemberton's supply and communications line and isolate Vicksburg. As the Federal force moved inland, McClernand's Corps was on the left, Sherman's in the center, and McPherson's on the right.
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