Jump to content

Jackson expedition: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m Duplicate word removed
→Background: A few copy edits and citations, some revisions to these sections and more citations to come
Line 30: Line 30:


==Background==
==Background==
In late 1862, the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, Mississippi on the east side of the Mississippi River was the last major fortress on the last section of the river controlled by the Confederacy. The stretch of the river from the Confederate defenses of Port Hudson, Louisiana, 25 miles (40 km) upriver from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to the mouth of the [[Arkansas River]] between Memphis, Tennessee and Vicksburg remained under Confederate control. From the Arkansas River, Confederate gunboats could enter the Mississippi River and attack Union gunboats and shipping. Confederate control of this middle segment of the Mississippi River blocked Union navigation over that part of the river and connected the Confederate states west of the Mississippi River to the other Confederate states east of the river.
In late 1862, the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, Mississippi on the east side of the Mississippi River was the last major fortress on the last section of the river controlled by the Confederacy. The stretch of the river from the Confederate defenses of Port Hudson, Louisiana, 25 miles (40 km) upriver from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to the mouth of the [[Arkansas River]] between Memphis, Tennessee and Vicksburg remained under Confederate control. From the Arkansas River, Confederate gunboats could enter the Mississippi River and attack Union gunboats and shipping. Confederate control of this middle segment of the Mississippi River blocked Union navigation over that part of the river and connected the Confederate states west of the Mississippi River to the other Confederate states east of the river.<ref name=”Bearss2006203”>[[Ed Bearss | Bearss, Edwin C.]] ''Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War''. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-7922-7568-8}}. p. 203.</ref>


Newly promoted Union General in Chief Major General [[Henry Halleck]] assigned the task of driving the Confederates from Vicksburg to Major General Ulysses S. Grant in November 1862. Grant opened the [[Vicksburg Campaign]] the following month. Several attempts to capture Vicksburg overland from Tennessee in December 1862 or by operations through the nearly impassible bayous on the west side of the river which would allow crossing the river near Vicksburg in early 1863 failed.<ref name=”Hearn226”>Hearn, Chester G. ''The Civil War State by State''. Devon: BlueRed Press, 2011. Maps by Mike Marino. {{ISBN|978-1-908247-04-9}}. p. 226.</ref> Grant then devised a plan for a second campaign to capture the city.<ref name=”Hearn226”/>
Newly promoted Union General in Chief Major General [[Henry Halleck]] assigned the task of driving the Confederates from Vicksburg to Major General Ulysses S. Grant in November 1862. Grant opened the [[Vicksburg Campaign]] the following month. Several attempts to capture Vicksburg overland from Tennessee in December 1862 or by operations through the nearly impassible bayous on the west side of the river which would allow crossing the river near Vicksburg in early 1863 failed.<ref name=”Hearn226”>Hearn, Chester G. ''The Civil War State by State''. Devon: BlueRed Press, 2011. Maps by Mike Marino. {{ISBN|978-1-908247-04-9}}. p. 226.</ref> Grant then devised a plan for a second campaign to capture the city.<ref name=”Hearn226”/><ref>Bearss, 2006, pp. 203-204</ref>


===Second Union plan to capture Vicksburg===
===Second Union Plan to Capture Vicksburg===
The planned campaign would start with the Union army crossing the Mississippi River from the west at a point south of Vicksburg in large enough force to defeat the Confederate forces defending the city and dominating the river. Under the plan, after crossing the river, the Union army would approach the Confederate forces and the city from that direction, rather than from directly across the river or from the north.
The planned campaign would start with the Union army crossing the Mississippi River from the west at a point south of Vicksburg in large enough force to defeat the Confederate forces defending the city and dominating the river. Under the plan, after crossing the river, the Union army would approach the Confederate forces and the city from that direction, rather than from directly across the river or from the north.<ref>Bearss, 2006, p. 204.</ref>


The plan to cross the Mississippi south of Vicksburg required Union gunboats and transports, including supply barges, to run past the Confederate artillery batteries defending Vicksburg from the north. Eleven of twelve gunboats, mainly ironclads, made the passage past Vicksburg during the night of April 16, 1863 when the operation began. Only a “cotton-clad” Union gunboat was destroyed by fire and only 10 to 12 sailors were wounded. Transports and barges made it through the artillery fire from the Vicksburg shoreline in sufficient numbers to complete the operation on April 22.<ref name=”Hearn226”/>
The plan to cross the Mississippi south of of Vicksburg required Union gunboats and transports, including supply barges, to run past the Confederate artillery batteries defending Vicksburg from the north. Eleven of twelve gunboats, mainly ironclads, made the passage past Vicksburg during the night of April 16, 1863 when the operation began. Only a “cotton-clad” Union gunboat was destroyed by fire and only 10 to 12 sailors were wounded. Six unarmed transports and barges made it through the artillery fire from the Vicksburg shoreline while only one was lost on April 22, 1863.<ref name=”Hearn226”/><ref>Bearss, 2006, p. 207.</ref>


===From crossing the Mississippi River to start of the Vicksburg siege===
===From Crossing the Mississippi River to Start of the Vicksburg Siege===


Unable to move the Union troops south to a crossing point via the short route through the west side bayous by boat, Grant ordered the army to march to the area west of the river across from the small Confederate garrison and artillery batteries at [[Grand Gulf, Mississippi]]. There they waited for Union gunboats to silence the Confederate batteries defending the river at Grand Gulf on April 29, 1863. The gunboats were unable to knock out the batteries. After receiving advice from an escaped slave that the nearest suitable landing site further south was at Bruinsburg, Mississippi, Grant's forces successfully crossed the river without Confederate opposition at Bruinsburg on the night of April 30, 1863 and into the day on May 1.<ref name=”Hearn226”/>
Unable to move the Union troops south to a crossing point via the short route through the west side bayous by boat, Grant ordered the army to march to the area west of the river across from the small Confederate garrison and artillery batteries at [[Grand Gulf, Mississippi]]. There they waited for Union gunboats to silence the Confederate batteries defending the river at Grand Gulf on April 29, 1863. The gunboats were unable to knock out of one of the two batteries, Fort Cobun.<ref name=”Bearss2006209”>Bearss, 2006, p. 209.</ref> Grant and Acting Rear Admiral [[David Dixon Porter]] commanding the naval force decide to move south to cross the river.<ref name=”Bearss2006209”/>. After receiving advice from an escaped slave that the nearest suitable landing site further south was at Bruinsburg, Mississippi, Grant's forces successfully crossed the river without Confederate opposition at Bruinsburg on the night of April 30, 1863 and into the day on May 1.<ref name=”Hearn226”/><ref name=”Bearss2006210”>Bearss, 2006, p. 210.</ref>


The Confederate defense of Vicksburg and vicinity was being conducted by Lieutenant General Pemberton from Mississippi's capital, Jackson, 44 miles by railroad east of Vicksburg. Upon learning of the Union Army's crossing of the Mississippi River, Pemberton removed most of his forces at Jackson to the field closer to Vicksburg.
The Confederate defense of Vicksburg and vicinity was being conducted by Lieutenant General Pemberton from Mississippi's capital, Jackson, 44 miles by railroad east of Vicksburg. Upon learning of the Union Army's crossing of the Mississippi River, Pemberton removed most of his forces at Jackson to the field closer to Vicksburg.

Revision as of 11:12, 27 May 2023

Not to be confused with Battle of Jackson, Mississippi.
Jackson expedition
Part of the American Civil War

Siege of Jackson, Mississippi, July 10–16, 1863
DateJuly 5–25, 1863
Location
Near Jackson, Mississippi
Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States United States (Union) Confederate States of America CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
William Tecumseh Sherman Joseph E. Johnston
Strength
40,000[1] 30,000[1]
Casualties and losses
129 killed
762 wounded
231 missing[2][3][4]		 71 killed
504 wounded
25 missing[2][3][4]

The Jackson expedition, also known as the siege of Jackson, immediately followed the Confederate surrender of Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Union Army Major General Ulysses S. Grant on July 4, 1863. Grant had conducted a successful siege by the Union Army of the Tennessee under his command. The Confederate Army of Mississippi at Vicksburg, Mississippi, which was under the command of Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, had been isolated in the Vicksburg defenses by Grant's army since May 18, 1863. The Confederates were under constant bombardment and had to fight off a series of Union army attacks during the siege. Pemberton was unable to receive supplies of food and ammunition and was compelled to surrender the city and his forces. With the capture of Port Hudson, Louisiana at the conclusion of the Siege of Port Hudson on July 9, 1863, the Union Army and Union Navy gained complete control of the Mississippi River.

Preceding the siege at Vicksburg, Grant's army had devastated the defenses and railroad facilities at Jackson, Mississippi. The Confederate garrison had been placed under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston in the Confederate Department of the West only on May 9, 1863. Attacking the city with two corps, the Union force drove the Confederates out of the city on May 14, 1863, the day after Johnston had arrived under orders to take charge of the area's defense. After driving Johnston and the Jackson garrison to Clinton, Mississippi twenty-five miles away and causing major damage to railroad and other facilities, the Union force immediately left Jackson. They joined the rest of Grant's army in pushing Pemberton's main force in the field back to the Vicksburg defenses by May 18, 1863.

Johnston needed time to receive reinforcements for the 6,000 soldiers of the Jackson garrison before attempting to move back to Jackson and then on to the relief of Vicksburg. Johnston's delayed and cautious effort to relieve Pemberton's forces at Vicksburg in the final days of the siege was too late to get into position to make an attempt to lift the siege. Johnston also had concluded that his force was too small to try to accomplish a relief without also being trapped by Grant's army.

Johnston's forces from the reinforced Jackson garrison of the Confederate Department of the West were still at the Big Black River near Vicksburg as the siege of Vicksburg came to a successful conclusion for the Union army. Grant was concerned about a possible attack by Johnston's force on his army and a Confederate attempt to retake Vicksburg. Major General William Tecumseh Sherman had already deployed his corps in a position to defend against Johnston's approaching force. On the same date as the surrender of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, Grant ordered Sherman to lead an expedition to clear Johnston's forces from the Vicksburg area and to recapture the state capital and railroad center at Jackson. Sherman's corps pushed Johnston's force back to Jackson by July 10, 1863. After a few engagements during a brief siege of Jackson, Sherman's corps, reinforced by two other corps and a detachment of a third corps, drove the Confederates out of Jackson on July 16, 1863. This Union victory helped ensure that Vicksburg, the Mississippi River and Jackson, would remain in Union possession for the rest of the war.

Background

In late 1862, the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, Mississippi on the east side of the Mississippi River was the last major fortress on the last section of the river controlled by the Confederacy. The stretch of the river from the Confederate defenses of Port Hudson, Louisiana, 25 miles (40 km) upriver from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to the mouth of the Arkansas River between Memphis, Tennessee and Vicksburg remained under Confederate control. From the Arkansas River, Confederate gunboats could enter the Mississippi River and attack Union gunboats and shipping. Confederate control of this middle segment of the Mississippi River blocked Union navigation over that part of the river and connected the Confederate states west of the Mississippi River to the other Confederate states east of the river.[5]

Newly promoted Union General in Chief Major General Henry Halleck assigned the task of driving the Confederates from Vicksburg to Major General Ulysses S. Grant in November 1862. Grant opened the Vicksburg Campaign the following month. Several attempts to capture Vicksburg overland from Tennessee in December 1862 or by operations through the nearly impassible bayous on the west side of the river which would allow crossing the river near Vicksburg in early 1863 failed.[6] Grant then devised a plan for a second campaign to capture the city.[6][7]

Second Union Plan to Capture Vicksburg

The planned campaign would start with the Union army crossing the Mississippi River from the west at a point south of Vicksburg in large enough force to defeat the Confederate forces defending the city and dominating the river. Under the plan, after crossing the river, the Union army would approach the Confederate forces and the city from that direction, rather than from directly across the river or from the north.[8]

The plan to cross the Mississippi south of of Vicksburg required Union gunboats and transports, including supply barges, to run past the Confederate artillery batteries defending Vicksburg from the north. Eleven of twelve gunboats, mainly ironclads, made the passage past Vicksburg during the night of April 16, 1863 when the operation began. Only a “cotton-clad” Union gunboat was destroyed by fire and only 10 to 12 sailors were wounded. Six unarmed transports and barges made it through the artillery fire from the Vicksburg shoreline while only one was lost on April 22, 1863.[6][9]

From Crossing the Mississippi River to Start of the Vicksburg Siege

Unable to move the Union troops south to a crossing point via the short route through the west side bayous by boat, Grant ordered the army to march to the area west of the river across from the small Confederate garrison and artillery batteries at Grand Gulf, Mississippi. There they waited for Union gunboats to silence the Confederate batteries defending the river at Grand Gulf on April 29, 1863. The gunboats were unable to knock out of one of the two batteries, Fort Cobun.[10] Grant and Acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter commanding the naval force decide to move south to cross the river.[10]. After receiving advice from an escaped slave that the nearest suitable landing site further south was at Bruinsburg, Mississippi, Grant's forces successfully crossed the river without Confederate opposition at Bruinsburg on the night of April 30, 1863 and into the day on May 1.[6][11]

The Confederate defense of Vicksburg and vicinity was being conducted by Lieutenant General Pemberton from Mississippi's capital, Jackson, 44 miles by railroad east of Vicksburg. Upon learning of the Union Army's crossing of the Mississippi River, Pemberton removed most of his forces at Jackson to the field closer to Vicksburg.

Before moving against Pemberton's main force and eventually against Vicksburg, part of Grant's army, mainly Union Major General John A. McClernand's XIII Corps (Union Army), fought a preliminary battle at the Battle of Port Gibson on May 1, 1863 and forced the abandonment of the Confederate defenses on the Mississippi River defenses at that location. This made the Confederate defenses on the Mississippi River at Grand Gulf, Mississippi untenable and the Confederates abandoned that position. By May 4, Grant had moved his army north of Bayou Pierre and changed his base from Bruinsburg to Grand Gulf. On May 12, 1863, Union Major General James B. McPherson's XVII Corps attacked and defeated a detached Confederate brigade at the Battle of Raymond.

After the Battle of Raymond, Grant was unsure of the size of the Confederate force remaining at Jackson. He decided that he had to eliminate the threat of Confederate forces from Jackson attacking his army from the rear before moving against Pemberton's force and Vicksburg. Grant ordered Sherman's XV Corps to attack Jackson from the southwest while McPherson's XVII Corps would attack from the northwest. Except for a rearguard under Brigadier General John Gregg, the Union attack drove Johnston and the remaining Jackson garrison from Jackson at the Battle of Jackson, Mississippi on May 14, 1863. Soon after Johnston left, Gregg followed and the city was surrendered by militia artillerymen and armed civilians.

Grant's army then marched west and encountered Pemberton's main force attempting to make a stand along the Southern Railroad of Mississippi east of Vicksburg. On May 16, 1863, Pemberton's army was defeated at the Battle of Champion Hill, retreated, and again was defeated in a rearguard action at the Battle of Big Black River Bridge on May 17. The Confederates withdrew into the Vicksburg defenses and on May 18, the siege of Vicksburg began.

End of Vicksburg siege and Jackson expedition

During the siege of Vicksburg, Johnston had been gathering troops at Jackson, intending to relieve pressure on Pemberton's beleaguered garrison. Johnston cautiously advanced his 30,000 soldiers toward the rear of Grant's army surrounding Vicksburg.[1] In response, Grant ordered Sherman to deal with Johnston's threat.

By July 1, 1863, Johnston's force was in position along the Big Black River near Vicksburg. Sherman used the newly arrived IX Corps to counter this threat. On July 5, the day after the surrender of Vicksburg was made official, Sherman was free to move against Johnston. Johnston hastily withdrew his force across the Big Black River and Champion's Hill battlefields with Sherman in pursuit. Sherman had with him the IX Corps, XV Corps, XIII Corps, and a detachment of the XVI Corps.

Siege of Jackson

Siege of Jackson

On July 10, the Union Army had taken up position around Jackson. The heaviest fighting came on July 12, during an unsuccessful Union attack.[12] Brig. Gen. Jacob Gartner Lauman advanced a brigade under Col. Isaac C. Pugh too close to the Confederate works manned by Brig. Gen. Daniel Weisiger Adams's brigade, which resulted in heavy casualties. As a result, Lauman was relieved of command for failing to properly carry out the orders of his superior, Maj. Gen. Edward Ord.[13] Instead of risking entrapment, Johnston chose to evacuate the state capital and withdrew on July 16. Sherman's forces occupied the city on the following day.

The re-capture of the city effectively ended the last threat to Vicksburg.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Korn, Jerry, and the Editors of Time-Life Books. War on the Mississippi: Grant's Vicksburg Campaign. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1985. ISBN 0-8094-4744-4. p. 156.
  2. ^ a b Dyer, Frederick H. [1] A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion Des Moines, IA: The Dyer Publishing Company, 1908. p. 782.
  3. ^ a b Woodrick, Jim. The Civil War Siege of Jackson, Mississippi. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2016. ISBN 978-1-62619-729-9. p. 103.
  4. ^ a b Ballard, Michael B. The Civil War in Mississippi: Major Campaigns and Battles. Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-62846-170-1. p. 171.
  5. ^ Bearss, Edwin C. Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2006. ISBN 978-0-7922-7568-8. p. 203.
  6. ^ a b c d Hearn, Chester G. The Civil War State by State. Devon: BlueRed Press, 2011. Maps by Mike Marino. ISBN 978-1-908247-04-9. p. 226.
  7. ^ Bearss, 2006, pp. 203-204
  8. ^ Bearss, 2006, p. 204.
  9. ^ Bearss, 2006, p. 207.
  10. ^ a b Bearss, 2006, p. 209.
  11. ^ Bearss, 2006, p. 210.
  12. ^ Thompson, Seymour D. [2] Recollections with the Third Iowa. Cincinnati: Published for the author, 1864. Online version OCLC 665223633.. p. 388.
  13. ^ Gue, Benjamin F. [3] History of Iowa from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century. Volume 4. New York, Century History Co, 1903. OCLC 63712359 1903. p. 164. Biographical sketch of Jacob G. Lauman.

References

  • Ballard, Michael B. The Civil War in Mississippi: Major Campaigns and Battles. Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-62846-170-1.
  • Dyer, Frederick H. [4] A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion Des Moines, IA: The Dyer Publishing Company, 1908.
  • Gue, Benjamin F. [5] History of Iowa from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century. Volume 4. New York, Century History Co, 1903. OCLC 63712359 1903. p. 164. Biographical sketch of Jacob G. Lauman.
  • Korn, Jerry, and the Editors of Time-Life Books. War on the Mississippi: Grant's Vicksburg Campaign. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1985. ISBN 0-8094-4744-4.
  • Thompson, Seymour D. [6] Recollections with the Third Iowa. Cincinnati: Published for the author, 1864. Online version OCLC 665223633.
  • Woodrick, Jim. The Civil War Siege of Jackson, Mississippi. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2016. ISBN 978-1-62619-729-9.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jackson_expedition&oldid=1157252678"