Under Two Flags by William M. Fowler

Author:William M. Fowler [Fowler, William M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781612511962
Publisher: Naval Institute Press

10

Vicksburg Falls

I

On 20 December 1862, the very day that Sherman and Porter were preparing to steam down to the Yazoo, disaster struck. General Grant had left Colonel R. C. Murphy of the Eighth Wisconsin to guard the army’s supply base at Holly Springs. Such a target was too tempting to ignore, and General Earl Van Dorn, with a force of thirty-five hundred Confederate cavalry, outwitted the Federals, got behind their lines, and swept in on Murphy and his men, many of whom were asleep. After stuffing their pockets and saddlebags with everything they could carry, the Confederates put the rest of their booty to the torch. While clouds of smoke wafted up from Holly Springs, Nathan Bedford Forrest’s men were tearing up track on the railroad line. The Confederates destroyed Grant’s depot, and by attacking the railroad, they made it impossible to send down more supplies. Grant had no choice. He abandoned the campaign and retreated back to Memphis.1

Unaware that Grant was falling back, Sherman and Porter made their way toward the Yazoo. Porter had under his command the largest number of American naval vessels ever assembled. In fact, his squadron was larger than the entire navy had been at the outbreak of the war. On Christmas Day it arrived at the mouth of the Yazoo. Minesweeping began again, and as usual, the Confederates did all they could to harass the boats with both artillery and small-arms fire. Among those hit was Lieutenant Commander William Gwin, the captain of Benton, who refused to take refuge in the pilothouse and eventually took a mortal wound through the breast.2

Porter’s gunboats did what they could to soften up the landing sites and draw the enemy’s fire. The day after arriving, Sherman put his men ashore at three locations near Chickasaw Bayou, five miles northeast of Vicksburg. A swamp with virtually no cover, it was a poor choice. The plan was to move across the lowlands and seize a position on the bluffs a short distance inland. Unfortunately the Confederates had already taken the high ground, and from their protected position they could easily sight down on the advancing Federals. After two days of fighting, Sherman was repulsed. The Union troops suffered losses of nearly two thousand, while the defenders counted only two hundred casualties.

Grant’s withdrawal to Memphis had allowed the Confederate commander Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton to concentrate his forces against Sherman. Vicksburg stood and was in fact becoming stronger every day. Under the direction of the chief engineer, Brigadier General S. H. Lockett, bombproof magazines were built and new batteries were put in place. The work was made easier by the marvelous geography of Vicksburg. The whole area consisted of irregular hills, bluffs, and ridges, all of which made excellent fortifications. Where nature had not been kind enough to provide natural defensive features, she had at least laid down a fine calcareous silt easily moved by engineers to be fashioned into safe refuges for soldiers and civilians. It was futile to continue the campaign, and after some brief discussion Sherman and Porter withdrew down the Yazoo.

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