On the 26th we moved up to support the first regular siege guns. Our duty was heavy skirmishing all day and digging rifle pits and planting batteries at night.
On the morning of the 28th our batteries opened a heavy fire all along the line. They blew up one of the rebel’s magazines, thus causing a terrible explosion. The rebels returned fire but after an hour of heavy bombarding they were silenced. On the 30th, a small dram of commissary whisky was issued all along the line.
On the 31st we took our position on the lines where we remained until the surrender. Osterhos moved his brigade back to Black River and began building breastworks to protect our rear.
The rebel generals, Johnson and Breckenridge, had come up with forty thousand men to raise the siege.
On the morning of the first day of June, 1863, our troops were stationed on the lines as follows: General Herring on our extreme left flank, next to the Mississippi River; General Lawman’s division joined on to them; our division, under General Hovey next; the first brigade of General Osterhos’ troops, next, which brigade reached the Vicksburg and Jackson Railroad; Generals Carr, Smith, and Quinby next came in; General Logan’s corps was fronting that strong fort called “The Queen of Vicksburg,” which afterwards became the noted part of the drama of Vicksburg; next General McPherson; and General Sherman’s corps as has already been stated, took their place on the extreme right at Haines’ Bluffs, near the Yazoo River. We were reinforced by Burnsides’ ninth corps, which was moved back to strengthen our rear, and Osterhos’ second brigade, and to fortify the banks of Black River.
We now had one hundred thousand troops in this vicinity. General Logan’s troops began tunneling under the largest fort at Vicksburg that morning. The rebels opened up with several of their heavy guns but they were soon silenced as we were advancing our rifle pits in close range and our sharpshooters were getting to be good marksmen.
At night General Lawman’s division tried to advance their rifle pits, and the rebels in front opposed their advance. There were several hard charges made on both sides. The rebels would drive our boys out of the pits and fill them up and then Lawman’s men would charge back and open up the rifle pits again. It was quite an exciting scene to witness.
Everything was quiet in front of Hovey’s division, but we were looking for the rebels to oppose our advance at night. On the morning of the second of June, our army was digging wells all along the line to supply us with water. We got plenty of water at a depth of eighteen feet.
The rebel batteries opened up a heavy cannonading, but our boys soon silenced them. On the morning of the third we were still advancing our rifle pits and the rebels were getting in a few shots with their big guns. They were now getting short of ammunition and were loading their guns with pieces of our mortar shells and railroad iron.