Roberts 1
The Vicksburg Campaign
In 1861, when the war first began, many people had believed that
the war would not last more than a few weeks. But by the end of 1862
there was no end in sight and by the beginning of 1863 the people of the
South had grown tired of the war and the magnitude of destruction and
the large number of casualties it had produced. 1863 is regarded as the
turning point of the war. The year began by President Abraham Lincoln
issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared all slaves in the
states that were still in rebellion to be free in the eyes of the federal
government. It didn’t however free the slaves in the four remaining slave
holding states still in the Union, for Lincoln feared if he were to abolish
slavery completely at this stage in the war, might cause those remaining
states to also secede. 1863 would also see two major victories for the
Union, both occurring in the summer, first the battle of Gettysburg saw
the defeat of General Robert E. Lee and the end of his second attempt to
invade the North. The second major victory was the surrender of
Vicksburg. General U.S. Grant had had the city under siege since early
May and the city finally fell on July 4, 1863. This was by far one of the
greatest gains for the Union. With Vicksburg in their hands they now
controlled the entire Mississippi River and they had cut the Confederacy
in half. The countdown to the end of the war had begun. Throughout
this paper I intent to illustrate how the Union prepared for Vicksburg,
Roberts 2
how the city was eventually taken and what effect the fall of Vicksburg
had on the Confederacy as well as the Union armies.
The Union army began the year of 1862 with a series of victories in
the Upper South. In February Fort Henry, which is located on the
Tennessee River, fell to Union Forces, then ten days later the
Confederates lost Fort Donelson. Then finally the Union forces won
control of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. The Confederates’ defense line in
Kentucky also fell for good when Albert Sydney Johnston withdrew from
his position there and fell back through Tennessee. Now Kentucky and
much of Tennessee in Union hands the Confederates were on the run
trying to create a new line of defense in order to keep some of their most
important strategic points out of Union hands. The most sought after
position for the Union was without question the city of Vicksburg. And
with their advance down the Mississippi River they were setting up their
approach, but first there were several other key positions that needed to
be secured before they could embark on the task of taking the city and
with it, the entire control of the Mississippi River. After they lost they
control in Kentucky, the Confederates set out to put as many troops as
possible in the town of Corinth, Mississippi. Two major railroad lines
crossed here, which made it a key target for Union forces. If the Union
forces could take the railroad then they could sever the backbone of the
Confederacy. Now with the with Union forces, led by General Grant,
Roberts 3
stationed only 20 miles away at Pittsburg Landing, the Confederates had
to move quickly is they were going to defend one of their few remaining
strongholds in the west. Grant’s plan was to take Corinth then move
south through the heart of Mississippi and eventually take Vicksburg.
Jefferson Davis had sent word to General Johnston that if he didn’t stop
Grant before his forces were united with General Buell then the chances
of holding Corinth would be drastically effected. So Johnston set out to
meet up with the Union army at Shiloh. The Confederates saw success
the first day of fighting as they drove Grant’s forces back to the river but
had not completely defeated his army. The Confederates had also lost
Johnston as he had been killed during the battle. During the night
Buell’s army joined Grant and when the Confederates awoke in the
morning they found themselves with a new leader and up against a
revived opponent. The Confederates would eventually retreat to Corinth
and Grant’s plans would be put on hold for at least a month. By the end
of May the Union forces controlled the town of Corinth, but they did not
have to take it by force. Under the command of Beauregard, the
Confederates had evacuated and abandoned the city to avoid a major
altercation with the Union army. Now with Corinth in their hands, along
with New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Natchez, then Union armies set
their sights on Vicksburg the last major stronghold the Confederates
held in the west.1
Roberts 4
Vicksburg, known as “the Confederate Gibraltar,” was very
important to the Confederates because the city occupied the first high
ground located on the river below the city of Memphis. There was also a
railroad that began at Vicksburg that ran east and connected with roads
and other major points throughout the CSA. Another railroad, running
west, began there and running all the way to Shreveport, Louisiana.
Vicksburg was the last remaining port on that was still in Confederate
control that connected the western states, which were divided by the
Mississippi River, to those in the east. These are the reasons that made
it so important for the Union to take control over the city.2 To occupy
this area was essential for the Union if they were to take over complete
control of the Mississippi River and succeed in splitting the Confederacy
in half. From the very beginning Abraham Lincoln was quoted as saying,
“Vicksburg is the key. The war can never be brought to a close until the
key is in our pocket.”3 Lincoln knew that if the Union Army was unable
to secure the city then the Confederates could prolong the war as long as
they controlled the city. This is the very reason Lincoln wanted Grant to
stop at nothing to put the city securely in Union hands. After the
occupation of Corinth the Union forces had move the headquarters to
Oxford, then to Holly Springs, now with Grant’s offensive failing, he was
on the move to Memphis. During this period Grant had had his lines of
communication disrupted on the behalf of Van Dorn and Nathan Bedford
Roberts 5
Forrest, who had destroyed his large supply depot at Holly springs. With
word that Sherman had been defeated on his approach to Vicksburg and
with Halleck’s direction to go at once with all available forces to help
Sherman; Grant abandoned his overland advance and headed for
Memphis to back up Sherman. After Sherman was unable to break
through the Confederate lines at Chickasaw Bayou, he decided to
withdraw and instead begin with a combined naval and land movement
against Fort Hindman which was on the Arkansas River at Arkansas Post
some 50 miles up the Arkansas River from where in met with the
Mississippi. Sherman began his expedition without informing Grant. On
the evening of January 9 Union boats began landing troops near
Arkansas Post. They started up river and overran Confederate trenches
and which caused them to retreat to the protection of the fort. Now with
the Confederates on the run the Union forces began bombarding the Fort
on January 10. By the afternoon of January 11 the Confederates had
surrendered. Even though there were a high number of Union casualties
and it didn’t contribute to the capture of Vicksburg, it did eliminate one
more obstacle to Union shipping on the Mississippi. Grant was not
happy to learn the McClernand had conducted the operation without
approval but since it was a successful operation, he did not take punitive
action against him or Sherman. Now Grant prepared to withdraw all his
forces from North Mississippi and concentrate them at Young’s Point
Roberts 6
which lay opposite of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River.4 He now began
a series of attempts at building a canal, the first at Young’s point, the
second at Lake Province and the third at Yazoo pass.5 The 1862 attempt
at a canal had been abandoned because of an insufficient amount of
troops. But it had the potential to offer a route downriver that would
bypass Vicksburg’s guns. In late January Sherman’s men resumed the
digging of the canal. They were urged by Grant who had been advised
that President Lincoln like the idea and believed that it would work well.6
The canal was not however, properly engineered for the hydrology of the
Mississippi River. A sudden rise in the river broke through the dam at
the head of the canal and flooded the area. In a desperate effort to
rescue the project the Union forces brought in dredges, but they were
exposed to confederate artillery fire from the bluffs at Vicksburg and
forced to retreat. By late March, work on the canal was abandoned.7
Grant then ordered General McPherson to construct a canal of several
hundred yards from the Mississippi to Lake Providence, northwest of the
city. This would allow passage to the Red River, through Bayous Baxter
and Macon, and the Tensas and Black Rivers. Reaching the Red River,
Grant's forces could join with Banks at Port Hudson and bypass the
Vicksburg defenses. This was the only successful bayou expedition to
bypass Vicksburg defenses.8 The next attempt was to get to the high
ground of the bluffs above Haines Bluff and below Yazoo City by blowing
Roberts 7
up the levee near Moon Lake, which was located about 150 miles north
of Vicksburg, then following the Yazoo Pass into the Coldwater River and
then on to the Tallahatchie River and finally into the Yazoo River at
Greenwood, Mississippi. The dikes were exploded on February 2,
beginning the Yazoo Pass Expedition. Union boats began moving
through the pass on February 7, but low-hanging trees over the pass
destroyed anything on the gunboats that was above the deck and to add
to it the Confederates felled more trees that blocked the way. The delays
allowed the Confederates time to build Fort Pemberton near the
Greenwood which held off the naval force on three separate occasions.
The Union attempt to use the Yazoo Pass ended in early April as plans
for another canal began.9 On March 16, Admiral Porter began an effort
to go up the Yazoo Delta by way of Steele’s Bayou, which was just north
of Vicksburg, to Deer Creek. This is known as the Steele’s Bayou
Expedition. The plan was to outflank Fort Pemberton so that the Union
army could land troops between Vicksburg and Yazoo City. However the
Confederates once again felled trees into the path of the Union boats and
they eventually became immobilized. The Confederates then moved into
and threatened to capture the Union forces. Sherman sent in infantry to
help resist the Confederates and Porter’s approach was abandoned as too
difficult.10 The final attempt at a canal was from Duckport Landing to
Walnut Bayou. It was aimed at getting lighter boats past Vicksburg. It
Roberts 8
was eventually decided by Sherman and Grant to abandon the canal and
plan something new.11 From December through March, including
Chickasaw Bayou and the Mississippi Central advance, seven
"experiments", by Grant had failed. Grant claimed, “All of these failures
would have been very discouraging if I had expected much from the
efforts; but I had not.”12
All of the Bayou Operations were failures, but Grant wasn’t going
to quit just yet. His final options were to try and cross the river south of
Vicksburg at Hard Times, Louisiana and attack from the south and east,
or he could join with Banks and attempt to capture Port Hudson and
then together try to take Vicksburg. Porter would have to sneak past the
guns at Vicksburg to get enough gunboats south of the city but, once
downstream of Vicksburg; they would not be able to return.13 On March
29, Grant sent McClernand and his troops out to begin building bridges
and roads with the hopes that he might also capture Grand Gulf. By
April 17, they had a road from Milliken’s Bend to the proposed river
crossing below Vicksburg.14 On the night of April 16, a clear and
moonless night, Porter sent seven ironclad gunboats and three empty
troop transport boats, which were loaded with supplies, down the river.
Their objective was to run past the bluff, so they took great care to
minimize the noise and the lights. They were spotted by Confederate
sentries and they opened with massive artillery fire from the bluffs.
Roberts 9
There were fires set along the banks to help improve the visibility and the
Union gunboats answered with artillery fire of their own. The
Confederates only managed to hit the tops of the Union boats and they
hug the east shore and went right under the Confederate cannons. The
fleet managed to survive with little damage; however the Henry Clay was
disabled and burned.15 The Union sent six more boats loaded with
supplies on April 22, with one boat failing to make it.16 Now Grant
needed to divert the attention of Pemberton away from the site of the
river crossing. Grant sent Sherman on a feint against Snyder’s Bluff
which was inconclusive.17 He also sent Colonel Benjamin Grierson on a
raid through central Mississippi, known as Grierson’s Raid. Grierson
was successful at drawing out Confederate forces to chase him which
spread out Pemberton’s forces and made the fall of Vicksburg a step
closer to reality.18 Now with the ironclads past Vicksburg, Porter began
attacking the fortifications and batteries at Grand Gulf. The intentions of
Porter were to silence the Confederate guns and secure the area with
McClernand’s troops who were to accompany the transport barges.
Grant marched his men to Coffee Point below Grand Gulf then embarked
the troops across the Mississippi River to Bruinsburg, then marched
towards Port Gibson, Mississippi. On May 1, on their way to Port
Gibson, Grant’s army encountered Confederate forces on two different
occasions, forcing them back each time and eventually securing a
Roberts 10
beachhead on the Mississippi River. From here Grant was suppose to
head south to Port Hudson and me up with Banks and together they
would capture Vicksburg. But instead Grant decided to go ahead and
advance towards Vicksburg. The Confederates evacuated Grand Gulf
and headed towards Hankinson’s Ford which was across the Big Black
and barely escaping a Union trap. Grant had intended to follow along
the same path but, scouting parties had found that Pemberton had a
defensive position setup to the south of Vicksburg so Grant instead
decided to seize the railroad from Jackson and cut off the railroad supply
lines to Vicksburg. On May 12, the Confederates attempted to ambush
the Union forces at Raymond. The Confederates had success at first but
eventually were forced to retire when additional Union troops arrived and
counterattacked. The Confederates were ordered to withdraw to Jackson
leaving the Southern Railroad of Mississippi exposed to the Union forces.
This proved too severe the lifeline of Vicksburg. Two days later
Sherman’s and McPherson’s troops were able to capture the Mississippi
capital of Jackson when Johnston ordered the Confederates to evacuate
the city. The Union forces celebrated by burning parts of the town and
destroying several factories there. Two days after the fall of Jackson the
Union forces engaged with the Confederates at the Battle of Champion
Hill. Pemberton and the Confederates were determined to keep the
Union forces from advancing to Vicksburg. By the time Grant had
Roberts 11
arrived the Confederates began to retreat in disorder. The Union forces
continued to advance and eventually sealed off the escape route with was
the Jackson Road. With the Union on the advance the Confederates
were on full retreat to Vicksburg. By night fall the Confederates had
reached the Big Black River Bridge. Union advance continued and the
Confederates began to withdraw across the two bridges and as soon as
they had all crossed they burned the bridges to prevent the Union from
pursing onward. The following day, on May 18, the Union army
converged on Vicksburg and trapped Pemberton and his troops within
the city. Grant attempted to break through to the city on May 19 and
22, but each was repulsed. Pemberton was ordered to evacuate the city
and save his army, but he didn’t think he would be able to withdraw
safely. Johnston had planned to attack Grant in hopes to relieve
Pemberton, but it was not arranged in time and Grant besieged the
Confederate Army inside the city of Vicksburg. For six weeks the Union
army constantly bombed the city continually weakening the forces there.
Johnston reached the Big Black River on July 1 attempting to attack
Grant. He delayed a potential difficult encounter with Sherman until it
was too late and then fell back to Jackson. On July 4, 1863, after six
weeks of siege, the city of Vicksburg finally surrendered to Grant’s army
and thus ending the campaign for Vicksburg which had been ongoing
since December of 1862.19
Roberts 12
The Union Army now controlled the entire Mississippi River and
had successfully cut the Confederacy into two parts. In Jefferson Davis’
book, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, he said that, “The
loss of Vicksburg and Port Hudson was the surrender of the Mississippi
[River] to the enemy.”20 On the previous day Robert E. Lee had been
defeated at the battle of Gettysburg combined with the fall of Vicksburg
the war seemed to be drawing closer to an end. After Vicksburg Grant
and Sherman continued across the South, on his way out of Mississippi
Sherman burned a path from Jackson to Meridian which would be the
precursor to what he would also do in Georgia. After successfully
capturing Vicksburg Grant was promoted to Major General in the Union
Army; he was then brought east to fight the armies in Virginia and
eventually would defeat Robert E. Lee. Vicksburg turned out to be the
key to the war as Lincoln had stated before. Although it took two years
after Vicksburg fell before the Confederate Army would surrender it was
the beginning of the end for the Confederate States of America.
Roberts 13
Notes
Ben Wynne, Mississippi’s Civil War, (Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 2006),
58-70.
1
Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, (New York: Cosimo, 18851886), 165.
2
Paul Calore, Land Campaigns of the Civil War. Jefferson, (North Carolina: MacFarland
& Company, Inc., 2000), 95.
3
John Fiske, The Mississippi Valley in the Civil War (Cambrige: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.,
1902), 197-210.
4
William T. Sherman, Memoirs of General William T. Sherman, (St. Louis: Plain Label
Books, 1875), 477.
5
6
Fiske, 207-209.
7
Fiske, 211.
8
Fiske, 212-213.
9Grant,
176-177.
10Fiske,
217-218.
11
Sherman, 492-495
12
Grant, 178.
13
Fiske, 224.
14
Grant, 181-182.
15
Sherman, 497-498.
16
Grant, 185.
17
Sherman, 498.
18
Grant, 191-192.
19
Grant, 188-224.
Jefferson Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, (New York: Appleton
and Company, 1881), 425.
20