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Battle of Vicksburg
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McClernand takes command
McClernand joins Sherman at Milliken's Bend (upriver from Vicksburg, on the west bank of the river) and takes command of the expedition. -
Grant takes command of all troops operating against Vicksburg.
Grant takes command of all troops operating against Vicksburg. -
Navy Takes Action
A naval fleet under Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter came down the Mississippi, running the gauntlet of guns firing from the Vicksburg bluff, and rendezvoused with Grant’s Army of the Tennessee at Hard Times, Louisiana. -
Battle Officially Begins
Vicksburg invested; four Confederate divisions (Stevenson's, Bowen's, Forney's, and Smith's) are trapped inside the lines and ready to defend the city. -
1st Conflict at Vicksburg
Grant, hoping for a quick victory over a defeated foe, ordered Sherman’s corps to attack along the Graveyard Road northeast of town. Pemberton, the engineer, had developed a series of strong works around Vicksburg, and the Federals were repulsed by the defenders of Stockade Redan, suffering 1,000 casualties. -
Conferderates Evacuate Hayne's Bluff
The Confederates evacuated Hayne's Bluff, and Union steamboats no longer had to run the guns of Vicksburg, now being able to dock by the dozens up the Yazoo River. Grant could now receive supplies more directly than by the previous route, which ran through Louisiana, over the river crossing at Grand Gulf and Bruinsburg, which then lead back up to the north. -
Union Attacks Vicksburg
Union forces bombarded the city all night, from 220 artillery pieces and naval gunfire from Rear Adm. David D. Porter's fleet in the river, and while causing little property damage, but more importantly they damaged the spirits of the Confederate citizens whom occupied the city. On the morning of May 22, the defenders were bombarded again for four hours before the Union attacked once more along a three-mile front at 10 a.m. -
Grant's New Tactic
Reinforced to over 70,000 strong, for weeks Grant's men dug trenches that zigged and zagged but steadily brought them closer to Pemberton’s positions. -
Grant Explodes Mine
One group of Grants soldiers who were digging the tunnels dug underneath the Third Louisiana Redan, named for its defenders, and on they detonated barrels of black powder that blasted a hole in the works. Union soldiers surged into the breach only to be met by a counterattack. Desperate hand-to-hand fighting ensued for hours before the attackers were driven out. -
2nd Mine Exploded
Another mine exploded under 3rd Louisiana Redan, but no follow-up attack is made. General Pemberton asks his division commanders for their views of the situation and begins to forsee the little chance of an esacpe out of the city. -
Negotiations for Surrender
Pemberton rode out to discuss surrender terms with Grant. Although he had been dubbed "Unconditional Surrender" Grant after his demands to the garrison at Tennessee’s Fort Donelson the previous year, the Union commander agreed to parole Pemberton’s men. -
Vicksburg Falls
Holmes attacks Helena, under Printiss, and is repulsed with help from the navy. Pemberton surrenders Vicksburg and its garrison. Grant now successfully has the Confederacy split in half.
