Early in September the Rebels, under Van Dorn, seriously menaced the line held by Grant's depleted army, and Grant had to call upon Sherman for aid. All through that month Sherman held Memphis with a mere handful of troops, and sent the rest of his forces out to make raids and draw Van Dorn's attention away from Grant. But at the opening of October the Rebels struck the blow they had so long threatened. Van Dorn made a furious attack upon Corinth. Rosecrans defended the place with equal vigor, and the Rebels were repulsed with dreadful slaughter. Unfortunately this Union victory was not followed up with sufficient celerity, and Van Dorn managed to retire to Holly Springs and there reorganize his shattered forces. But the victory at Corinth changed the condition of affairs throughout all that region. In Memphis the Secessionists admitted that their cause was lost. The Union army, so long on the defensive, resumed the offensive. Both sides were reinforced, and preparations were made for another act in the great drama. Of the Union reinforcements, two brigades were sent to Sherman, at Memphis, and he began drilling them for more serious work.
At the middle of November, Grant sent for Sherman to meet him at Columbus, Kentucky, bringing with him a good map of the country to the southward. At that meeting Grant explained his plans for the winter's campaign. His army now occupied the line from Memphis to Corinth, and he proposed to move at once against Pemberton, who was with the Rebel army near Holly Springs, behind the Tallahatchie River. He would personally move on Holly Springs, and McPherson would meet him there with the forces now at Corinth. Sherman was to leave a small garrison at Memphis, and lead the rest of his forces to meet Grant and McPherson. This movement against Pemberton was preliminary to the greater work of taking Vicksburg. The plan was carefully carried out. The three forces moved simultaneously against Pemberton, and at the same time General C. C. Washburne, under Sherman's orders, crossed the Mississippi with five thousand cavalry, from Helena, Arkansas, and marched toward Grenada, in the rear of Pemberton's army. This movement alarmed Pemberton, and he hastily abandoned his works and retreated to Grenada. Sherman joined Grant at Oxford, Miss., early in December, and then a dispatch came from Halleck, who was at Washington, urging Grant to proceed with the campaign against Vicksburg, with the aid of Porter's fleet and any other available assistance.
Grant and Sherman discussed the proposed movement fully, and finally agreed upon a plan. Sherman was to be heavily reinforced at Memphis, and would have the co-operation of Porter's gunboats. He was to make a swift movement on the Yazoo, and take Vicksburg from the rear, while Grant, at Oxford, held Pemberton in check. Banks was then supposed to be moving up the river from New Orleans, and everything bade fair for the opening of the whole Mississippi. Sherman would have about forty thousand men, and would conduct the campaign almost entirely according to his own discretion, Grant's instructions to him being of the most rudimentary description. So he returned to Memphis and prepared for the work before him.
Sherman and Porter met at Memphis. Porter has left on record his impressions of Sherman, and the latter's appearance and conduct at their first interview there. Porter expected to find Sherman in a full-dress uniform, and accordingly arrayed himself in all the splendor of the Navy. But Sherman, having heard that Porter disliked fuss and feathers, and generally dressed in working clothes, decided to do likewise himself. The result was that when they met Porter was sumptuously arrayed in blue and gold, and Sherman had on an old and much worn suit of flannel, and each was much surprised at the appearance of the other. Sherman's first words were: "Hello, Porter, I'm glad to see you. You got here sooner than I expected, but I guess we can get off to-night. Mighty cold, isn't it? Sit down and get warm." Then he turned to a servant and told him to put some shirts and underclothes in a gripsack, and "don't bother me with a trunk and traps enough for a regiment."
It was intended to set out on December 18th, but the lack of steamboat transportation delayed them until December 20th, when the start was actually made. Before embarking Sherman issued the following unique orders:
"I. The expedition now fitting out is purely of a military character, and the interests involved are of too important a character to be mixed up with personal and private business. No citizen, male or female, will be allowed to accompany it, unless employed as part of a crew, or as servants to the transports. Female chambermaids to the boats, and nurses to the sick alone, will be allowed, unless the wives of captains and pilots actually belonging to the boats. No laundress, officer's or soldier's wife must pass below Helena.
"II. No person whatever, citizen, officer, or sutler, will, on any consideration, buy or deal in cotton, or other produce of the country. Should any cotton be brought on board of any transport, going or returning, the brigade quartermaster, of which the boat forms a part, will take possession of it and invoice it to Captain A. R. Eddy, Chief Quartermaster at Memphis.
"III. Should any cotton or other produce be brought back to Memphis by any chartered boat, Captain Eddy will take possession of the same, and sell it for the benefit of the United States. If accompanied by its actual producer, the planter or factor, the quartermaster will furnish him a receipt for the same, to be settled for on proof of his loyalty at the close of the war.
"IV. Boats ascending the river may take cotton from the shore for bulkheads to protect their engines or crew, but on the arrival at Memphis it must be turned over to the quartermaster, with a statement of the time, place and name of its owner. The trade in cotton must await a more peaceful state of affairs.
"V. Should any citizen accompany the expedition below Helena, in violation of those orders, any colonel of a regiment, or captain of a battery, will conscript him into the service of the United States for the unexpired term of his command. If he shows a refractory spirit, unfitting him for a soldier, the commanding officer present will turn him over to the captain of the boat as a deck-hand, and compel him to work in that capacity, without wages, until the boat returns to Memphis.