Vicksburg Campaign, Mississippi

Chapter 3: The Wolves Are at the Door

The Federals marched 180 miles inexorably north through Port Gibson, past Raymond, contested every step by Pemberton's men. They captured the Mississippi capital, Jackson. They met at Champion's Hill. And again at Big Black River Bridge. Pemberton and his men looked for reinforcements from Johnston. None came. Outnumbered, exhausted, depressed, hurt, the Confederates stepped back, or rather stumbled back, until they reached the relative safety of the city. Pemberton knew his ultimate duty was to hold Vicksburg against all odds. He believed, too, that his army would be most effective, and at this point certainly most safe, from behind the great works the soldiers had built.

Union General Grant

Grant, of course, was eager to breach those works. On May 19 he ordered his men to assault the lines along the Graveyard, Jackson, and Baldwin's Ferry roads. The fortifications were too strong. Confederate infantrymen, well protected in rifle pits, were too accurate, too blistering. Still, only a quarter-mile separated the Union army from Vicksburg that night.

The Union troops tried again, with an artillery bombardment by 300 guns and a more coordinated assault by all 3 corps, on May 22. Some of the men came close, so close. But they could not take and keep a single Confederate fortification.

There was nothing to do but settle in, dig their own set of trenches closer and closer to the Confederate siegeworks, and outwait the defenders of Vicksburg. For, as Grant knew and history showed, it was only a matter of time before Pemberton would have to surrender.

The Union troops approached this phase of the campaign willingly. The defenses had been proven to be solid against sudden infantry attacks across difficult terrain. But their successes of the past three weeks had convinced them that they would ultimately take the grandest prize, the great citadel of the Mississippi River. The New York Herald's Sylvanus Cadwallader wrote "Officers in high command, including some of the general's staff, believe firmly that we shall be in Vicksburg within a week at farthest. Their means of judging are superior to mine of course, and cause me to doubt my own judgment - which is that the place will hold out for at least another month."

Grant wanted to take the town quickly for several reasons: Joe Johnston's army was liable to come to the city's rescue, and for this Grant had to split his forces so that while one part of his troops faced toward the city, the other part had to face toward Johnston. And the second, over which he had no control, was the weather: summer along the Mississippi was hot, wearying, and liable to debilitate many of his troops with disease bred in the mud and stagnant water that composed the trench floor.

While the navy cruised the river and lobbed artillery into the town, the Federals dug their own trenches. Only two engineers accompanied the Army of the Tennessee. It didn't matter. The troops dug nine approaches to the Confederate works. The trenches had two levels: the upper level was used by the artillery and sharpshooters, and the troops lived in the lower level. They fashioned canopies of cane to provide shade, they set up stools and tables, stacked pork barrels to make chimneys, wove cane mats for rugs and beds.

Pemberton, meanwhile, could do little to contest their efforts. He had to be careful and conserve his ammunition, so artillery fire was out of the question. A general infantry protest would be equally wasteful. His men, therefore, made target practice of the Federals, who to protect themselves devised bullet stoppers which were simply barrels filled with earth that were pushed ahead as they dug. They built a line 12 miles long, until it was 3 miles south of the city, and a mile and a half above it.

So as long as they kept their heads down, they were safe. A favorite Yankee game at this time was to poke a cap on a pole above the works, watch it attract Confederate sniper fire, and bringing it down, count the holes. A simple game to relieve their boredom.

They drew nearer and nearer, and stronger and stronger, as reinforcements arrived to bring the number of men under Grant to 77,000. They lived well, considering, or at least in comparison to the Confederates; after all, they were able to be supplied. They had plenty of food and their ammunition was bountiful. The artillery was rarely silent - to the discomfort of those inside Vicksburg. Eventually 220 pieces of artillery, as well as the navy's guns, focused night and day upon the city.

• Chapter 4: Confederates Dig In
• Chapter 5: Citizens Take to the Hills
• Chapter 6: A Day Without Hope

• Back to Chapter 1
• Back to Chapter 2

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