DK - The American Civil War

The Vicksburg Campaign

By late 1862, Vicksburg was the last significant Confederate bastion along the entire length of the

Mississippi River. General Ulysses S. Grant resolved to capture the city, but faced a long initial struggle

to get his army into position to attack. With control of the Mississippi at stake, this was a vital battle.

THE UNION TIGHTENS ITS GRIP 1863

roads. Vicksburg itself was

defended by well-placed

heavy cannon that could

devastate any Union fleet

floating downstream. Four

times Grant tried to bypass

the city to the west by

cutting canals and using the

bayous to get his army

below, but torrential rains

aggravated the already

formidable logistical

challenges, and he failed.

Grant now resolved to march

his army down the western bank of the

river. David Porter’s fleet would run past

the Vicksburg batteries, rendezvous with

the troops downstream, and ferry them

to the eastern bank just south of the city.

It was a bold plan, and Sherman and

James Birdseye McPherson, Grant’s

chief lieutenants, both balked at it. They

urged him instead to reconsolidate at

A

fter consolidating his
army at Memphis,
Tennessee, in the fall
of 1862, Grant decided on a
two-pronged offensive
downriver against the
Confederate Mississippi
bastion at Vicksburg.
A swift descent by 40,000
men of General William
Tecumseh Sherman’s wing
of the army along the
Mississippi would be
followed by Grant himself
taking an overland route.
But Confederate cavalry
raids by Earl Van Dorn and
Nathan Bedford Forrest so
badly disrupted Grant’s
logistical and supply lines,
that the Union commander
was compelled to call off his advance.
The telegram informing Sherman of
this change never reached him, and so
the Confederates at Vicksburg, under
the command of General John C.
Pemberton, mobilized to meet Sherman
head-on. At Chickasaw Bayou on
December 29, Sherman launched
20,000 of his troops against the steep

BEFORE

During 1862, a series of Union successes on
land in Tennessee and by river flotillas on
the Mississippi cleared most of the
Confederate positions along the river.

NORTH AND SOUTH
The capture of New Orleans ❮❮ 96–97
opened the Mississippi to Union warships
coming up from the south. Union river forces
also gained the upper hand in actions on the
Ohio and attacked south from Missouri on the
Mississippi itself. After defeating Southern
vessels near Memphis in June 1862, they
reached the Yazoo River above Vicksburg and
were joined there by some of Farragut’s
force from New Orleans ❮❮ 100–101.

GRANT’S FIRST VICTORIES
In the spring of 1862, General Grant fought the
successful Henry and Donelson campaign in
northern Tennessee ❮❮ 104–105, then
narrowly avoided defeat at Shiloh ❮❮ 106–107.
By fall 1862, further victories had confirmed the
Union hold on Memphis and Corinth.

Memphis, but Grant knew that both

the Union and Lincoln needed a military

success. It was now or never—so on

March 31, the long march began.

Preliminary moves

On the night of April 16, 1863, Porter’s

gunboats made their bold dash past

Vicksburg. One transport was sunk and

the enemy scored 68 hits on the fleet

overall, but the fast current and the

element of surprise worked to Porter’s

favor. A few nights later, Porter got

most of the rest of his fleet past.

Meanwhile, Grant moved his army

overland to the crossing point of Hard

Times, and stood ready to transport his

men across the river.

Theoretically, Pemberton could still

contest the crossing, so Grant ordered a

diversion. Brigadier General Benjamin

Grierson, in command of a Union

Grant’s routes to Vicksburg

The Vicksburg campaign was not straightforward. Grant

had to march his men through the swampland west of

the Mississippi River, then drive off Confederate forces

east of the city before digging in for a long siege.

bluffs and suffered 1,800 casualties to

the Confederates’ 200. Grant would

never again attack from the north. He

now considered the problem.

The terrain north and west of the

city presented numerous obstacles to

an army on the march. It was swampy,

forested, streaked by bayous and

streams, and offered very few usable

The port of Vicksburg

Steamboats had made Vicksburg a major

trading center. A Confederate stronghold

controlling traffic on the Mississippi River,

the city was an essential strategic target of

Union campaigns in the Western Theater.

To effect his assault on Vicksburg, Grant

had 70 miles (113km) of corduroy road

(made from tree trunks laid across the

route) built between his base and the

river crossing-point at Hard Times.

Utica

Morrisville

Warrenton Raymond

Jackson

Hard Times

Richmond

New

Carthage

Vicksburg

Bruinsburg Port Gibson

Grand Gulf

Pe

ar

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Missis
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Missis
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ive
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Champion Hill
Ch
ick
as
aw
Bl
uff
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M
illik
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JOHNSTON
GRANT
PEMBERTON
McCLERNAND
SHERMAN
McPHERSON
PORTER
LOUISIANA
MISSISSIPPI
Big Black
River Bridge
Memphis
Baton
Rouge
Southern^ Railroad (^) of M
ississipp
i
① Mar 31:
Union troops
start long march
through swamps
west of Vicksburg
⑫ Jul 4:
Vicksburg
surrenders
⑪ Jun 7:
Confederate
raid on Union
supply area
② Apr 16 & 22:
Porter twice runs
gunboats and
transports past the
guns of Vicksburg
⑨ May 19 & 22:
Unsuccessful and
costly assaults on
Vicksburg by Grant
⑩ May 25:
Start of Siege
of Vicksburg
④ May 1: Grant and
McPherson outmaneuver the
Confederates at Port Gibson
⑥ May 14: Union forces
easily take Jackson.
Johnston’s forces withdraw
⑦ May 16: Grant forces
Pemberton to retreat at
Champion Hill
⑤ May 12:
Hard-fought Union
victory at Raymond
⑧ May 17:
Confederates defeated
and forced to retreat
to Vicksburg
Union forces
Confederate forces
Union victory
KEY
③ Apr 30: McPherson
and McClernand’s corps
ferried across the river
to Bruinsburg
0 km N
0 miles 5 10
105