GRANT’S FIRST FAILURE AT VICKSBURG.
In October 1862, Grant, who had won the sobriquet of “Unconditional Surrender” at Fort Donelson and had rallied his army from near defeat at bloody Shiloh, was placed in command of the Department of the Tennessee with headquarters at Memphis; his objective—to clear the Mississippi River. The same month, Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton, a West Pointer, born and raised in Pennsylvania, who had served with Grant in the Mexican War, was placed in command of the Confederate troops defending the Mississippi; his objective—to keep the Southern supply line open and prevent loss of the river. Vicksburg would be the focus of military operations for both commanders.
The first full-scale expedition against Vicksburg was initiated in December 1862, with Grant pushing southward through the State of Mississippi to strike Vicksburg from the rear as Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, with an army of 32,000 men aboard 60 transports, proceeded down river from Memphis. Grant anticipated that his advance would pull Pemberton’s army away from Vicksburg, permitting Sherman to make a lodgment on the bluffs immediately north of the city against a greatly reduced garrison. On December 20, Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn, with a striking force of 3,500 Confederate cavalry, swung in behind the Union line of march, capturing and burning $1,500,000 of military goods at Grant’s supply base in Holly Springs. Unwilling to wage a campaign without a base of supply, Grant abandoned his campaign and returned to Memphis.
Sherman made his assault on December 29 at Chickasaw Bayou, 5 miles north of Vicksburg. The land here was a low, swampy shelf lying between the Yazoo River and the bluffs. The few dry causeways over which the Federal infantry could advance were completely covered by Confederate rifle and artillery fire from the bluffs 200 feet above. The Union Army lost nearly 2,000 men against Confederate casualties of less than 200. Tersely, Sherman reported his defeat: “I reached Vicksburg at the time appointed, landed, assaulted and failed.”
GRANT’S FIRST MOVE AGAINST
VICKSBURG
DECEMBER 1862
Grant’s advance was halted and turned back when Van Dorn’s cavalry raid destroyed the huge Union supply base at Holly Springs.
Sherman assaulted the bluffs at Chickasaw Bayou, 5 miles north of Vicksburg and was repulsed.
The Confederate ironclad ram Arkansas engaging the combined Union fleets at Vicksburg. From Battles and Leaders of the Civil War.
The Bayou Expeditions: Grant Moves Against Vicksburg—and Fails
By the end of January, Grant had arrived at the Union encampment at Milliken’s Bend, 30 miles north of Vicksburg, and assumed leadership of the operations against Vicksburg. His army, numbering about 45,000, was divided into three corps under General Sherman, Maj. Gen. John McClernand, and Maj. Gen. James Birdseye McPherson. Cooperating with the army, and providing aid without which the bayou expeditions would not have been possible, was the Western Flotilla under Porter. This fleet consisted of 11 ironclads, 38 wooden gunboats, rams, and sundry auxiliary craft mounting over 300 guns and carrying a complement of 5,500. The war in the West now hinged upon the effectiveness of this combined land and naval force. Under Grant’s direction it maneuvered over hundreds of miles of river and bayou seeking to outflank Vicksburg. The capture of the city would result not from great battles but from a war of movement.