The Vicksburg Campaign and Siege
March 29-July 4, 1863

The southern bastion of Vicksburg controlled the lower Mississippi River - and control of the Vicksburg area kept the South intact (east and west) and able to exploit interior lines of communication, transportation, and logistics from the Trans-Mississippi West to the heart of the Confederacy in the southeast. Union attempts to take the heavily fortified industrial and commercial river-center (and thereby "open" the Mississippi) by naval assault (mid-1862) and by overland campaigns (late 1862 to Spring 1863) all proved to be significant failures, although Arkansas Post (Fort Hindman) on the Arkansas River north of Vicksburg fell to Union army/navy forces on 11 January 1863. Feeling the political and military pressures caused by repeated shortcomings and unwilling to return to his Memphis, TN supply base (to launch yet another overland offensive from the north), Union MG Ulysses S. Grant began to move (29 March) elements of his Army of the Tennessee down through Louisiana (west of the Mississippi) to a staging area on the west bank opposite Bruinsburg, MS - 30+ miles below the river city. Once across the great river, Grant would attack from the south this time! But before he could begin his new offensive Grant needed strong diversions to confuse and to disperse Vicksburg's numerous defenders (LTG John C. Pemberton, commanding the defenses and the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana). And he also needed transports to effect the Mississippi crossing below the city. During April three diversions were accomplished: first, (1-10 April), MG Frederick Steele's division, moving south from Greenville, AR, ravaged the resources of the Mississippi countryside above Vicksburg; second (17 April-2 May), COL Benjamin H. Grierson (1,700 troopers) conducted one of the most celebrated cavalry raids of the War when he rode the length of Mississippi (covering 600+ miles and damaging railroads and disrupting telegraph communications) from LaGrange, TN to Baton Rouge, LA; and third (29-30 April), infantry from MG William Tecumseh Sherman's XV Corps demonstrated at Hayne's Bluff north of the city, drawing attention from Grant's crossing (30 April). While two of the diversions were in progress, most of RADM David Dixon Porter's Mississippi Squadron successfully ran the Vicksburg batteries (16 April and 22 April) bringing supplies and the necessary transports that enabled Grant to ferry his army unopposed across the river. The Union army (24,000+ men) marched rapidly inland, defeating a Confederate force (8,000 men - BG John S. Bowen, commanding) at the Battle of Port Gibson (1 May). On 7 May Sherman's corps landed at the newly acquired river-base of Grand Gulf, MS (abandoned by the Confederates on 2 May) filling the ranks of the Army of the Tennessee (41,000+ men). Sherman's arrival permitted Grant to move forcefully between Vicksburg and Jackson to disable the railroad link between the river city and the state capital, thereby keeping Confederate GEN Joseph E. Johnston (commanding Department of the West with 12,000+ men enroute to Jackson) from reinforcing Pemberton in the defense of Vicksburg. Advancing steadily toward Jackson, Grant sent one of his three corps (12,000+ men - MG James B. McPherson, commanding) ahead where the Federals defeated a Confederate brigade (4,000+ men - BG John Gregg, commanding) at the Battle of Raymond (12 May). Two days later (14 May) the Army of the Tennessee attacked and occupied the Mississippi capital - Johnston had withdrawn the majority of his troops (6,000+ men) to the north early that morning. By now there was considerable confusion within the Confederate command. Johnston and Pemberton hoped to unite their still widely dispersed forces, but they were unsure of the strength, disposition, and immediate objectives of Grant's army after the fall of Jackson. Determined to forestall any concentration of the Confederate forces, Grant quickly pushed two corps (32,000 men - MG John A. McClernand and MG John B. McPherson) westward (from Jackson and vicinity) to Champion Hill (about 20 miles from Vicksburg). There the Army of the Tennessee defeated the main divisions of Pemberton's army (22,000+ men). The Union victory at the Battle of Champion Hill (16 May) ended any chance for a link-up between Pemberton's and Johnston's armies. Furthermore, Pemberton's demoralized troops were driven back (west) across the Big Black River - the last natural impediment between the Army of the Tennessee and Vicksburg. To this point Grant had led a brilliant campaign - indeed, one of the most remarkable campaigns in American military history. In 19 days his Army of the Tennessee had marched over 200 miles in hostile country, defeated several elements of a large Confederate army (Southern forces in total were numerically superior) in 5 major engagements, and now stood poised on the outskirts of its principal objective. Here Grant would mount two costly and futile frontal assaults (19 and 22 May) against the redans, redoubts, and other fortifications surrounding the city, before beginning formal siege operations (25 May). With Porter's fleet patrolling the river above and below Vicksburg and with reinforcements doubling the size of the Union army (77,000+ men by late June, 30,000 of which guarded the rear to the east) the Federals were able to block any attempt by Johnston (now with 30,000+ men) to lift the siege. The symbolic and proud river bastion resisted for 6 weeks before surrendering on 4 July Soon news of the fall of Vicksburg reached Port Hudson, 15 miles north of Baton Rouge, LA and the last Confederate citadel on the Mississippi. Only then did the beleaguered garrison (7,500 men - MG Franklin Gardner, commanding and under siege for nearly 7 weeks) surrender its now untenable river fortress to the Union XIX Corps (40,000+ men, Department of the Gulf - MG Nathaniel P. Banks, commanding). Vicksburg in the West and Gettysburg (1-3 July 1863) in the East were enormous disasters for the South and turning points in the War. When Vicksburg fell, southern morale and hopes for the future plummeted also - for thereafter the Union would dominate the Mississippi from Cairo, IL to the Gulf, and the Confederacy would remain divided east from west for the duration of the War. Estimated Casualties (Vicksburg Campaign and Siege only): Union - 9,000+; Confederate - 9,000+ and 30,000 taken prisoner at Vicksburg.

Notes:

  1. Numbers in parentheses reflect estimated strength of armies or units.

  2. Estimated casualty figures are totals for killed, wounded, missing in action, and taken prisoner.

  3. Alternative names of battles and campaigns appear in parentheses.

  4. Military and naval rank abbreviations in text: LT - Lieutenant, CPT - Captain, MAJ - Major, LTC - Lieutenant Colonel, CDR - Commander (Navy), COL - Colonel, BG - Brigadier General, MG - Major General, RADM - Rear Admiral (Navy), LTG - Lieutenant General, VADM - Vice Admiral (Navy), and GEN - General.

  5. Army Organization: Although authorized and actual strength and the rank of the commanding officer often varied, the standard military unit during the War was the infantry regiment (1,000 men, COL commanding) which was comprised of 10 companies (100 men each, CPT commanding). 3-4 Regiments = 1 Brigade (3,000-4000 men, BG commanding). 3 (sometimes 4) Brigades = 1 Division (9000-12,000 men, BG or MG commanding). 2-4 (usually 3) Divisions = 1 Corps (18,000-24,000+ men, MG - North and MG or LTG -South commanding). 2 or more Corps = An Army (usually 20,000-100,000+ men - MG, LTG, or GEN commanding). 2 or more Armies = An Army Group (usually 100,000+ men - MG, LTG, or GEN commanding).

Sources:

Photographs courtesy of The Generals of the American Civil War Website.

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