Our Standard-Bearer; Or, The Life of General Uysses S. Grant

by Oliver Optic

This was the crisis of the battle; but Grant himself was on the hill, in a position where he could see all that transpired. His plan always was to take advantage of a favorable turn to repair the mischief of an unfavorable one. He sent a brigade to restore the equilibrium, and Hovey held his ground. McPherson had stationed a battery where it was mowing down the rebels in swaths, and they made an attempt to capture it, but were repulsed with severe loss. Logan was sweeping all before him.

Again the foe drove Hovey, whose battalions were worn out by an incessant fight of three hours, and were also out of ammunition. Grant had been hurrying up McClernand all day; but still he did not appear. The tide of battle seemed to have set against the national army; but this was always the hour when its heroic commander was more than himself. The delay of McClernand galled him, and deranged his plans, but could not defeat him. He ordered McPherson to move on the enemy's right flank, and the contest was renewed with redoubled vigor. Logan marched upon the enemy's left. These dispositions, and a sharp attack, broke the rebels, and they gave way the third time. Logan's movement nearly to the rear of the rebel line, had startled Pemberton, and he made haste to save his line of retreat. The Union troops pressed on, and the bloody battle of Champion's Hill was won. It had lasted six hours, and our loss was twenty-five hundred in killed, wounded, and missing. The enemy lost thirty guns, and six thousand men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. It was the severest battle of the campaign, and reflects a brilliant lustre upon the national arms. So fierce was the struggle, that the soldiers christened the bloody height, where so many had fallen, the Hill of Death.

The pursuit of the fleeing rebels was continued until long after dark, Grant and his staff being at the head of the column. In their enthusiasm they outsped the advance of the army. Finding the situation unsafe, they retraced their steps, and the victorious general slept upon the porch of a house which was used as a rebel hospital, disturbed only by the groans of the wounded and the dying within.

That night came to Grant the order of the general-in-chief, directing him to return to the Mississippi, and coöperate with Banks against Port Hudson. Of course it had been written without a knowledge of the facts. The government had been alarmed at his temerity, and expected to hear that he was crushed in the embrace of the rebel armies, which beset him on both sides. But the campaign had been fought and won; and to obey the letter of the order would have been to disobey its spirit. By the boldness of his conception and the rapidity of his execution, he had effectually prevented the junction of the armies of Pemberton and Johnston.

Sherman left Jackson with his corps on the morning of the battle of Champion's Hill, hurried forward by an order from Grant. He reached Bolton the same day, and there heard of the victory. He was ordered to cross the Big Black at Bridgeport, either to turn the enemy's flank or to move up on Haines's Bluff, as circumstances might dictate, for by this time it was desirable to establish a base of supplies.

The main column pushed on towards Vicksburg, and found the rebels posted on a bridge over the Big Black. They had a line of intrenchments, defended by a garrison of four thousand men, with twenty guns. As soon as the pursuing army came up with this formidable obstacle in its path, the line was formed, and a heavy fire opened upon the works, which were finally carried by storm. Our men fought bravely, and the Confederate line broke and fled like sheep. In their terror the rebels on the opposite side of the river set their end of the bridge on fire, before half their force had crossed. The demoralized wretches fled to the river, and attempted to escape by swimming. The fire of the cannon was turned upon them, and the stream was crimsoned with their blood. Seventeen hundred and fifty prisoners, eighteen guns, and five standards were captured in this lively battle.

Bridging the river, Grant pushed on towards Vicksburg, uniting with Sherman, who came by a more northerly route. The two generals rode together to the farthest height, which looked down upon the Yazoo. The high ground they had longed to possess had been reached, and it was to them the promised land. They were elated at the prospect, and Sherman acknowledged that, until this moment, he had not deemed the movement a success.

In just twenty days Grant had marched over two hundred miles, fought five distinct battles, captured eighty-eight pieces of ordnance, and deprived the enemy of the services of thirteen thousand soldiers. He had destroyed the railroad, captured Jackson and Grand Gulf. Never was so brief a campaign productive of such successes. As Sherman congratulated him upon the splendid results he had achieved, he quietly smoked his cigar, but made no vain-glorious reply—no reply at all.

Vicksburg was immediately invested by a line which extended from the river above to the river below the town. The coveted base of supplies was obtained. Pemberton had thirty thousand men—a number fully equal to that of the besiegers—with two hundred cannon. On the 18th of May Johnston advised him that Vicksburg could not be held without Haines's Bluff, and recommended him to save his troops by withdrawing; but Pemberton decided, with the advice of his officers, to remain.

Grant's men were flushed with victory, and desired to storm the works. They were permitted to do so as soon as the line of investment was completed. A heavy attack was made all along the intrenchments, but it was not crowned with success.