The American Civil War - This Mighty Scourge of War

The fighting 141

supply. Grant concluded then to live off the

land. After all, his army had done this before

in Mississippi during the winter. Now, with

the growing season about to provide

Southern farms with bountiful crops, there
would be plenty for his troops to feed on. In
addition to forage for the animals,
Mississippi farms yielded corn, hogs, cattle,
sheep, and poultry. Many planters had

reduced the cultivation of cotton in favor of

food staples.

By the second week of May, Grant's army

had started east for Jackson. Resupplied and

eager to move, his three corps commanded

by Sherman, Major-General James

B. McPherson, and himself moved along the

Black River, a natural boundary that flowed

north-south and east of Vicksburg and that