Battle Of Vicksburg Essay

The battle of Vicksburg took place in Vicksburg, Mississippi, 250 feet high, overlooking the Mississippi River on the Louisiana-Mississippi state border. It took place between May 18- July 4, 1863. The Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi, was also called the Siege of Vicksburg, was the result of a long land and naval campaign by Union forces to capture a key strategic position during the American Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln recognized the significance of the town situated on a 200-foot bluff above the Mississippi River. The city was the vital logistical link to the resource-rich Trans Mississippi. Large quantities of molasses, cane sugar, sheep, oxen, cattle, mules, sweet potatoes, butter, wool, and salt made it its way to every corner
of the Confederacy through Vicksburg. Also through Vicksburg to the Confederates came weapons and other war fighting materials from Mexico.
Beginning in mid-Oct 1862, Major General Ulysses S. Grant made numerous attempts to take Vicksburg. Despite failing in the first attempts, the Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs, the Yazoo Pass Expedition, and Steele's Bayou Expedition, he prepared to cross his troops from the west bank of the Mississippi River to a point south of Vicksburg in the spring of 1863. This is where he would launch his troops against the city from the south and east. Commanding Confederate batteries at Port Hudson, La. prevented the resupply by vessels and any other communication from the Union forces in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Naval vessels that where supporting Major General Ulysses S. Grant's campaign would have to come from Rear Adm. David D. Porter's fleet north of Vicksburg. Running past the powerful Vicksburg batteries, Porter's vessels could carry Federal Soldiers to the east bank, once they were south of the city. There the infantry would face two Confederate forces, one under Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton at Vicksburg and another around Jackson, Miss., soon to be commanded by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston
On the night of 16 April 1863, at Grant's request, Porter took 12 vessels south past the Vicksburg batteries, losing 1 to Confederate fire. Porter's strategy didn’t prove to be successful the first time. Then, on 17 April, Grierson's Raid began. Led by Brig. Gen. Benjamin H. Grierson, Federal cavalry left La Grange, Tenn., for 16 days riding through central Mississippi to Baton Rouge, La., hoping that Vicksburg Soldiers would pursue after them, weakening their defense. As Porter ran a large supply flotilla past the Vicksburg batteries on the night of 22 April, Sherman's troops, many at work on a canal project at Duckport, abandoned this work, joined in a last action along the Yazoo River, northeast of Vicksburg, and 29-30 April made a demonstration against Confederate works at Haynes' Bluff and Drumgould's Bluffs, diverting more of Pemberton's force. Also on 29 April, as McClernand's and McPherson's troops gathered near Hard Times, Porter's fleet assailed Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf, 33 mi. southwest of Vicksburg, testing the Grand Gulf area as a landing site for Union troops. Though Porter found the guns there too strong, he had succeeded in further diverting Pemberton in Vicksburg. On May 1st the Federal invasion force engaged the Confederates in the Battle of Port Gibson. Pemberton had just over 40,000 men assigned to the Vicksburg region, however, they were scattered throughout the area, chasing Grierson and wary of Sherman, it was very difficult for them to reconsolidate forces to fight against Grant on short notice. Defeated at Port Gibson, Pemberton's troops moved north. Grant pushed his troops northeast. Sherman's corps joined him on May 8th and May 12th where the engagement at Raymond was fought. Johnston took personal command of Confederates at Jackson on May 13th. On May 14th the Federal Soldiers quickly won the battle at Jackson cutting off Johnston from Pemberton. This later proved very valuable, since (since what?) lasted throughout the duration of the campaign. In two weeks’ time, Grant's Soldiers had secured of 130 miles of land. Grant ordered Sherman to destroy the Jackson heavy industry and rail system further crippling the resupply to the Confederates.
He then focused his attention on the west, roughly following the Southern Mississippi Railroad to Bolton. May 16th was another turning point in the campaign, the Battle of Champion's Hill. Although Grant was outnumbered, his Soldiers' unwillingness to loose caused Pemberton to retreat his forces back to Vicksburg. With forces approaching from the east and northeast, McClernand's, McPherson's, and Sherman's corps neared the Vicksburg defenses on May 18th. Sherman's Soldiers veered north to take the hills overlooking the Yazoo River. With Sherman's Soldiers securing the high ground assuring Grant's reinforcement and supply from the North. The next day Federals made the failed first assault on Vicksburg. The second assault, on May 22nd, was a disaster for the Union forces. It showed the strength of the depth of Confederate Soldiers security around the city, and convinced Grant that Pemberton could only be defeated in a protracted siege. The siege of Vicksburg began with the repulse of the May 22nd assault and lasted until 4 July 1863. As the siege progressed, Pemberton's 20,000-man garrison was reduced by disease and starvation due to the cut off of the resupply by Union forces. This forced the city's residents to seek the refuge of caves and bombproofs in the surrounding
hillsides.