Battle of Vicksburg

From the beginning of May to July 4, 1863, the country already in wartime witnessed a period of great conflict and loss between the Union of the United States and the Confederate States of America. Across the course of just seven weeks, the Battle of Vicksburg saw a total of 37,273 casualties and ensured that the Union of the US controlled the entirety of the Mississippi River.

Let's find out what could lead to the surrender of Vicksburg, a hugely important turning point of the American Civil War! Explore the date, map, and outcome in this summary of the Battle of Vicksburg.

Fig. 1: The Siege of Vicksburg

Battle of Vicksburg Background

Founded in 1811, Vicksburg grew into a home for river traffic, agriculture, and commerce. Its location along the Mississippi River made Vicksburg a target to control during the American Civil War, ultimately causing the Battle of Vicksburg and the fight for the import route that the Mississippi river provided.

The Union Strategy

One of the Union's strategies for winning the American Civil War was called the Anaconda Plan.

By the summer of 1863, the Union had taken control over much of the Mississippi River except the area between Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Port Hudson, Louisiana. Therefore, those two sites became highly valuable strategic objectives for the Union to capture. In addition to being a critical urban region along the Mississippi River, Vicksburg was also a major railway junction, vital in supplying the Confederate armies.

Taking Vicksburg and Port Hudson would give the Union full control over the river and Vicksburg's railways. If they succeeded in this, the Union could eliminate a crucial Confederate supply hub and cut off the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas from the rest of the Confederate states.

Battle of Vicksburg: Date

Battle of Vicksburg Date: May 18 - July 4, 1983

Union General Ulysses S. Grant, having succeeded at the Battle of Shiloh and subsequent engagements, began a campaign toward Vicksburg in late 1862. Well aware of the importance of Vicksburg to the Confederate war effort, General John C. Pemberton was ordered to hold the city at all costs. Confederate cavalry forces harassed Union supply lines throughout the 1862-1863 campaign, slowing their movement southward, and ultimately blocking Grant's way to Vicksburg from the north.

In March 1863, Grant sought a new strategy and looked to move his army through the Louisiana swampland and cross the Mississippi well south of Vicksburg, with the support of ironclad gunboats from the US Navy in the river.

On the night of April 16, 1863, Union gunboats made a break past Vicksburg and its gun emplacements. That breakthrough facilitated the advancement of other boats.

Grant ordered a cavalry attack to the east of Vicksburg to cover his movement. He launched a feint attack to the north of the city on April 29, while moving his main force southward to meet with the gunboat fleet as it bombarded Grand Gulf, Mississippi. Though unable to break the defenses at Grand Gulf, Grant succeeded in making his crossing further to the south at Bruinsburg, Mississippi. By the end of April, the main part of Grant's army was in Mississippi.

Battle of Vicksburg: Map

After the battle, Grant's army seized Port Gibson in Mississippi on May 1, which prompted the Confederates to abandon Grand Gulf on the following day and concentrate their defenses to the south of Vicksburg. Grant avoided marching directly northward against the city. Instead, he decided to march northeast to cut the Confederate railway line leading into the city from the east. Joined by reinforcements from General William T. Sherman, the Union advanced toward the railway in preparation to attack Vicksburg's city. Take a look at the battle of Vicksburg map below to study the course of the battle.

Fig. 2 - Battle of Vicksburg Map

Battles of Raymond and Jackson

General Pemberton moved a force to intercept Grant, resulting in the Battle of Raymond on May 12. Grant's superior numbers and advantage in artillery drove the Confederate attackers back, and they retreated eastward to Jackson, Mississippi, the state capital. In response, Grant chose to divide his forces, sending armies under General Sherman and General James McPherson to march on Jackson and prevent the Confederate forces there from striking his rear during his attack against Vicksburg.

Fig. 3: Battle of Raymond

Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston (unrelated to General Albert S. Johnston who died at the Battle of Shiloh) was sent to Jackson to oversee its defense. Meanwhile, Grant's armies cut telegraph lines and any other communications they could between Jackson and Vicksburg. Johnston determined that he would not be able to mount an effective defense at Jackson against the superior Union numbers and ordered the city to be evacuated. The Union forces who attacked on May 14 encountered only light resistance before capturing the city. Upon the capture of Jackson, Grant ordered the rail lines to be destroyed along with any valuable military supplies in the city before turning his armies west again toward Vicksburg.

The Battles and Siege of Vicksburg

Hosting the second-highest single-day toll in Unites States history at the Battle of Antietam, the Union's 18-month, bloody campaign for Vicksburg was ended by the 47-day siege of Vicksburg. Union forces continued to advance, and the Confederate forces were pushed into a retreat, marking the rise in the Union's power and foreshadowing their upcoming success.

The Battle of Champion Hill and Big Black River

As the Union armies moved west to Vicksburg, Confederate General Pemberton moved out to engage them along the railroad, while Johnston moved northeast to gather reinforcements. Cut communication lines made it difficult for the two to coordinate. On May 16, Pemberton set up a defensive line atop Champion Hill against the Union advance. He was initially aware of only two of the Union's three columns, with the third one surprising him along his northern left flank. Pemberton quickly redeployed some of his units to meet them as Grant began to press the attack.

By 11:30 AM, the Union infantry had closed tightly with the Confederate ranks, and fierce fighting ensued. The fighting eventually resulted in a broken and panicked retreat by the Confederate forces, who reorganized to the west at Edwards Station near the Big Black River.

One division commanded by William W. Loring was cut off by Union forces. Loring attempted to move his division east to Jackson. Pemberton, unaware of Loring's intent, waited for his division to arrive at Edwards Station and maintained a defense there. The Union attack that followed quickly resulted in the Confederates further retreating to Vicksburg.

Battle of Vicksburg: Casualties

The fighting at Champion Hill and Edwards Station was a disaster for Pemberton, who lost many of his cannons and hurt the morale of his men. The way to Vicksburg was then opened for Grant to attack. The Battle of Vicksburg saw many casualties.

The Assault on Vicksburg

Pemberton's troops pulled back to an eight-mile-long defensive line around Vicksburg, consisting of nine forts connected by rifle pits and artillery emplacements.¹ One such fort was Stockade Redan, which guarded the Graveyard Road into Vicksburg. General Grant hoped to avoid a long siege of the city and chose to launch a concentrated attack on Stockade Redan on May 19 to open a gap to capture the city. Grant preceded his attack with an artillery bombardment and then ordered his troops forward.

The overlapping fields of fire from the Confederate defenders along with their pre-placed defensive obstacles proved too much for the Union attack. By nightfall, Grant was forced to pull back after suffering around 1,000 casualties, with the Confederates losing only 70 men.¹

The next day, May 17, Grant renewed his attack along a wider front to avoid suffering under concentrated fire from the Confederate defenders. Union forces under General John Alexander McClernand succeeded in penetrating the Confederate defense. McClernand was able to get word back to Grant, urging him to maintain the attack. Despite that, the Confederates succeeded in forcing the Union army back again, and by the end of the day, Grant had suffered another 3,000 casualties.¹ After his attacks fail, General Grant decided he had to lay siege to the city and ordered his troops to dig in.

Battle of Vicksburg: Outcome

Battle of Vicksburg outcome: Union Victory

Though bombardment from Union artillery and gunboats on the river was frequent, no large infantry actions took place at Vicksburg throughout the rest of May and for much of June. In the middle of June, Union forces attempted to dig a secret tunnel under one of the Confederate forts to destroy it with explosives from underneath, thereby opening a new path for an attack. On June 25, the Union plan succeeded, and a huge gunpowder explosion destroyed the 3rd Louisiana Redan and broke open a gap through which the Union soldiers attacked. A fierce battle ensued in which the Union soldiers failed to gain ground, and eventually, Grant ordered an end to the attack.

Fig. 4: Ulysses S. Grant

Despite their failure to exploit the gap created by the explosion, Grant planned to detonate several other places around Vicksburg's defenses simultaneously in a future attack. Such an attack never took place. By the end of June, Vicksburg had run very low on food and basic supplies. Disease had spread throughout the city. With civilians and soldiers dying and deserting, and with no hope of making a breakout against the Union siege, Pemberton was compelled to surrender the city. On July 3, Pemberton traveled out under a white flag to meet with Grant to discuss terms of surrender. After Pemberton initially refused to accept Grant's demand for unconditional surrender, Grant countered with an offer to arrange for many of Pemberton's troops to be allowed to go home instead of being taken prisoner. Pemberton accepted, and on July 4 Vicksburg was given up to the Union army.

Fig. 5: John C. Pemberton

Battle of Vicksburg: Significance

The Vicksburg victory's significance to the Union was overshadowed in popular media by the recent defeat of Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 3, just a day before Vicksburg had surrendered. Nevertheless, in strategic terms, the fall of Vicksburg was a devastating loss for the Confederacy. Followed by the fall of Port Hudson to the Union on July 9, the United States seized complete control over the Mississippi River. This effectively cut off the western Confederate states from their allies and would contribute to a growing scarcity of necessary supplies to the Confederate armies in the east.