142 The Arnerican Civil Warfavored his advance. On 12 May, the Federals
met resistance at Raymond, 15 miles (24km)
south of Jackson. After several hours of
fighting, the Confederates pulled back to the
capital. The following day, Confederate
General Joseph E. Johnston, recently sent to
take command of all the troops in besieged
Mississippi, pulled together 12,000 troops to
protect Jackson. On 14 May, in a severe
rainstorm, Sherman's and McPherson's corps
drove the Confederates through the city and
captured it by mid-afternoon. Outnumbered
nearly five to one, Johnston headed north.
While Sherman's corps destroyed the city
of Jackson, burning manufacturing
installations, Grant ordered McPherson's
corps to head west toward Vicksburg and
threaten the enemy's communications.
Pemberton responded to an order to join
Johnston and strike a counteroffensive
against Grant's army while it remained at
Jackson. The Confederate commander
moved a portion of his army out of
Vicksburg and placed it on the railroad east
of the Black River. The two Confederate
forces were only miles apart.
On 16 May, just before noon, a division
of Grant's army attacked Pemberton's
20,000 Confederates at Champion's Hill, a
commanding ridge east of the Black River,
driving them back on the left. The
Confederates, however, countered and a
full-scale battle ensued. McPherson's men
were called up to support the Union right
flank, bringing the effective Union strength
to 29,000 men, and late in the day, the
Federals managed to take the ridge.
Pemberton fell back to the Black River, and
eventually all the way to Vicksburg. On
18 May, the triumphant Federals crossed the
Black River and seized the bluffs around the
town. Now, having taken the high ground
that skirted the town, Grant dug in.
The siege of Vicksburg
While Johnston was being reinforced by
troops from Tennessee and South Carolina,
Grant collected his troops and, thanks toHalleck in Washington, also received
reinforcements. Pemberton, meanwhile, was
contemplating a way out of Vicksburg.
Realizing that attempting to evacuate the
city would not only be futile, but also give
the Federals complete control of the
Mississippi, Pemberton chose to stay and try
to outlast the siege. Anxious to capitalize on
his string of successful operations and
capture the entire force and the town, Grant
launched a series of quick assaults on
19 May. Within minutes the Confederates
shattered the Union wave, causing about
1,000 casualties. Three days later, a
determined Grant made another attempt on
the town using his entire 45.0000-man force,
but it produced the same bloody result.
Grant resolved not to assault the town again,
and instead began the siege in earnest, using
not only land forces but also his gunboats.
'The enemy are undoubtedly in our grasp,'
wrote Grant on 24 May. 'The fall of
Vicksburg and the capture of most of the
garrison can only be a question of time.'
Elsewhere, Federals were on the move and
shoring up their strongholds. On 21 May,
Major-General Nathaniel Banks moved from
Baton Rouge toward Port Hudson, below
Vicksburg on the Mississippi Riser. His
13,000 Federals besieged the 4,500-man
garrison under the command of Major-
General Franklin Gardner. On 14 June, Banks
ordered the garrison to surrender, and when
they refused he stormed the fort, but the
Confederates held strong. The siege
continued. Meanwhile, on 23 June, Rosecrans
moved south from Murfreesboro against
Bragg's Confederates at Tullahoma. By
outflanking Bragg, the Federal commander
had forced him to retreat across the Tennessee
River by the end of the month.
As the siege progressed, Grant attempted
to break through the Confederate defenses
by mining under them and blowing them
up. On 25 June, Federal engineers detonated
2,200lbs of powder in a tunnel that had been
run under the Third Louisiana Redan. Two
Union regiments stormed into the gap, but
Confederates had ordered a second defensive
line slightly to the rear in case the Federals