Battle of Big Black River Bridge
Battle of Big Black River Bridge | |||||||
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Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
The Battle of Big Black River Bridge, Harper's Weekly, June 20, 1863 issue | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States |
Confederate States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
John McClernand |
John Bowen John Vaughn | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
XIII Army Corps |
Bowen's division Vaughn's brigade | ||||||
The Battle of Big Black River Bridge was fought on May 17, 1863, as part of the
The Confederate force east of the Big Black River was commanded by
Vaughn's troops broke, with the men either running away or surrendering. The collapse of this portion of the Confederate line forced the troops on either side to withdraw. The withdrawal became chaotic and 1,751 Confederate soldiers and 18 cannons were captured, the cannons were captured because their teams of horses were erroneously positioned on the other side of the Big Black River. Fewer than 300 Union soldiers became casualties. The retreating Confederates burned both the railroad bridge over the Big Black River and a steamboat that had been serving as a bridge. Loring had already given up on rejoining his division to Pemberton's army and his troops marched to Jackson, Mississippi. On May 18, the Union army crossed the Big Black River. The surviving Confederate soldiers entered the fortifications at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and the siege of Vicksburg began the next day; it ended in the Confederate surrender on July 4, 1863.
Background
Early in the
In late November, about 40,000 Union infantry commanded by
By late March, further attempts to bypass Vicksburg had failed.[10] Grant then considered three plans: to withdraw to Memphis and retry the overland route through northern Mississippi; to move south along the west side of the Mississippi River, cross below Vicksburg, and then strike for the city; or to make an amphibious assault across the river directly against Vicksburg. An assault across the river risked heavy casualties, and a withdrawal to Memphis could be politically disastrous if the public perceived such a movement as a retreat. Grant then decided upon the downstream crossing.[11] The advance along the west bank of the Mississippi began on March 29, and was spearheaded by Major General John A. McClernand's XIII Corps troops.[12] The movement down the river was masked by decoy operations such as Steele's Greenville expedition,[13] Streight's Raid, and Grierson's Raid.[14] Confederate regional commander John C. Pemberton fell for the Union decoys (especially Grierson's Raid), and lost touch with the true tactical situation, believing Grant was withdrawing.[15]
Prelude
On April 29, the Union Navy's
After Port Gibson, Grant moved his troops to the northeast.[22] McClernand advanced on the Union left with his corps, Sherman and the XV Corps in the center, and Major General James B. McPherson and the XVII Corps on the right.[23] On the morning of May 12, McPherson's corps encountered Confederate troops near Raymond, Mississippi, bringing on the Battle of Raymond.[24] The Union won the battle, but the fighting at Raymond led Grant to change his plans to swing over towards Jackson, Mississippi, to disperse a Confederate force gathering there.[25] The Confederate commander at Jackson, General Joseph E. Johnston, decided to abandon Jackson. A delaying action was fought on May 14 as the Confederates bought time to evacuate the city.[26] The Union took the city and then destroyed military facilities within it.[27]
After he had already withdrawn from Jackson, Johnston sent Pemberton orders to move east, stating that Johnston's army would move west and catch Grant's commend between the two Confederate forces. However, Johnston then marched his army away from the area in which a combination with Pemberton could have been easily be made.
Battle
In preparation for what was likely to transpire, Pemberton had a portion of his army hold the line east of the Big Black River to prevent Loring from being cut off from the main Confederate body at the river crossing.
Manning the position was Pemberton's
Early on the morning of May 17, McClernand's troops advanced through Edwards and then encountered the Confederate line. His advance was led by the division of Brigadier General
The Union artillery opened fire, and an artillery duel developed.[55] Lindsey advanced his brigade along the railroad 300 yards (270 m), placing his men ahead of the rest of the Union line. Osterhaus wanted to position Garrard's men behind Lindsey's,[56] but it was believed that Lawler needed assistance,[57] so two of Garrard's regiments, the 49th Indiana Infantry Regiment and 69th Indiana Infantry Regiment, were sent to support the Union right.[56] Osterhaus suffered a leg wound during the exchange and was replaced by Brigadier General Albert Lee.[57] Grant was confident of victory, and at 8:00 am sent a message to Sherman stating that he believed that the Confederates would be forced to retreat in such a rapid fashion that they could not destroy the bridge.[58] The Confederates, meanwhile, had such poor morale that Lockett believed the position could not be held; he requested and received permission to prepare the bridge and Dot for burning.[57]
Confederate attention was drawn to the center, near the railroad, by the Union artillery fire.[59] Lawler believed that the remains of a meander scar near the Big Black River would shelter his brigade, and had three regiments – the 11th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, the 21st Iowa Infantry Regiment, and the 23rd Iowa Infantry Regiment – dash across open ground to reach the depression. Two cannons were positioned in a small clearing between the right of the woods and the Big Black River, and with the 22nd Iowa Infantry Regiment in support. This position allowed Lawler to enfilade the Confederate position east of the bayou, as well as part of the primary defensive works.[60][61] This advance was accomplished without significant casualties.[62] While these movements were occurring, Brigadier General Stephen G. Burbridge's brigade of Brigadier General A. J. Smith's division arrived and was positioned on the Union far left.[63]
The two regiments sent from Garrard's brigade took the position previously occupied by the 22nd Iowa, and they also moved into the meander scar. Colonel William Kinsman, the commander of the 23rd Iowa, proposed to Lawler that his regiment should attack the Confederates. Kinsman's reasoning was that the Confederates would only have time to fire one volley before the Union soldiers reached the defenses, and the Confederates might not put up a stiff fight after the Champion Hill defeat. Lawler ordered a charge by his whole brigade; with the 21st and 23rd Iowa in the front rank while the other two regiments charged behind. His men were ordered not to fire before reaching the Confederate line.[64] The attack quickly moved across the front of the 1st Missouri Cavalry (dismounted) and out of the regiment's field of fire, although not before Kinsman was killed and the commander of the 21st Iowa, Colonel Samuel Merrill, was wounded.[65][a] The 49th and 69th Indiana joined the attack;[67] while Lawler's men advanced at an angle across Green's front and struck one of Vaughn's regiments, the 61st Tennessee Infantry Regiment.[68] Green's men fired a volley into Lawler's brigade that the historian Timothy B. Smith describes as "wild and ragged".[69] Lawler's men stopped to fire once they reached the abatis; the Tennesseans were routed and the defenders either ran away or surrendered.[68] Bearss describes the attack, which took three minutes, as one of the shortest of the war.[67]
The hole in the Confederate line reached to the railroad, and Green's men withdrew as well, although some were captured.[70] In the 1st Missouri Cavalry (dismounted), 90 men and the unit's commander, Colonel Elijah Gates, were captured. Cockrell watched the Confederate left run away and ordered his men to withdraw, as their position was no longer tenable.[71] Cockrell's retreat became chaotic as well.[70] Confederate artillery west of the river provided covering fire for the retreat.[72] Benton's brigade attacked around the time Lawler broke through the line.[73] Burbridge's and Albert Lee's men charged the Confederate defenses, only to meet no resistance. Once almost all of the fleeing Confederates crossed the bridge, Lockett had the bridge and Dot set on fire. He then formed a new line west of the river by using the brigades of Brigadier Generals Stephen D. Lee and William E. Baldwin, who had arrived from Bovina, Mississippi, and part of Landis's Missouri Battery that had been positioned on the west bank before the battle. Two other Confederate steamboats, Charm and Paul Jones, who had been located downstream from the bridge were also burned.[74]
Albert Lee's men spent the afternoon after the battle in low-intensity fighting across the river against a Confederate force while Carr and Smith's men patrolled the field.
Aftermath and preservation
The Confederates withdrew into the Vicksburg fortifications. Pemberton ordered several outlying positions withdrawn into the main lines and the Vicksburg defenses were also physically improved. There was much outrage against Pemberton within the Confederate army due to the outcome of the movements and battles of the last several days.
The site of the battle was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 as the Big Black River Battlefield.[90] As of 2023[update], portions of the piers of the railroad bridge existing during the battle still remain at the crossing of the Big Black River. A trail runs along the river bank, and a historical marker is placed in the vicinity of the battlefield, although the battlefield itself is privately owned.[91]
Notes
References
- ^ Kennedy 1998, p. 170.
- ^ Miller 2019, pp. 6–7.
- ^ Miller 2019, pp. 117–118.
- ^ Bearss 2007, p. 203.
- ^ Shea & Winschel 2003, pp. 15–16, 18–20.
- ^ Miller 2019, pp. 135–138.
- ^ Miller 2019, p. 153.
- ^ "Grant's Canal". National Park Service. October 25, 2018. Archived from the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
- ^ Winschel 1998, pp. 154, 156.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 19–22.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 20–21.
- ^ Ballard 2004, pp. 192–193.
- ^ Bearss 1991, p. 126.
- ^ Shea & Winschel 2003, pp. 92–93.
- ^ Shea & Winschel 2003, pp. 93–94.
- ^ Shea & Winschel 2003, pp. 96, 103–104.
- ^ Ballard 2004, p. 221.
- ^ Smith 2006, p. 41.
- ^ Ballard 2004, pp. 224–225.
- ^ Shea & Winschel 2003, pp. 110–111.
- ^ Shea & Winschel 2003, p. 116.
- ^ Bearss 2007, pp. 215–216.
- ^ Shea & Winschel 2003, pp. 120–121.
- ^ Bearss 2007, pp. 216–217.
- ^ Bearss 2007, p. 220.
- ^ Ballard 2004, pp. 274–275.
- ^ Shea & Winschel 2003, p. 126.
- ^ Bearss 2007, p. 222.
- ^ Bearss 2007, pp. 222–223.
- ^ Shea & Winschel 2003, p. 129.
- ^ Shea & Winschel 2003, pp. 130–131.
- ^ Bearss 2007, pp. 223–224.
- ^ Bearss 2007, p. 230.
- ^ Smith 2006, pp. 356–361.
- ^ a b Bearss 2007, p. 231.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 653–654.
- ^ a b Smith 2013, p. 176.
- ^ Ballard 2004, p. 310.
- ^ Ballard 2004, pp. 310–311.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 655–656.
- ^ a b Grabau 2000, p. 328.
- ^ Bearss 1991, p. 656.
- ^ Smith 2013, p. 174.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 653–655, 689.
- ^ Smith 2006, p. 391.
- ^ a b Smith 2013, p. 179.
- ^ Smith 2006, p. 235.
- ^ Smith 2013, pp. 178–179.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 656–657.
- ^ a b Ballard 2004, p. 313.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 663–665.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 664–665.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 657, 665.
- ^ Ballard 2004, pp. 313–314.
- ^ a b Smith 2006, p. 392.
- ^ a b Bearss 1991, p. 666.
- ^ a b c Ballard 2004, p. 314.
- ^ Bearss 1991, p. 667.
- ^ Bearss 1991, p. 670.
- ^ a b Ballard 2004, p. 315.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 670–671.
- ^ Smith 2006, p. 393.
- ^ Bearss 1991, p. 671.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 672–673.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 673, 687.
- ^ Bearss 1991, p. 673.
- ^ a b Bearss 1991, p. 674.
- ^ a b Ballard 2004, pp. 315–316.
- ^ Smith 2013, p. 184.
- ^ a b Ballard 2004, p. 316.
- ^ Bearss 1991, p. 675.
- ^ Smith 2013, p. 185.
- ^ Grabau 2000, p. 320.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 657, 676–678.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 679–680.
- ^ a b Ballard 2004, p. 318.
- ^ Smith 2006, p. 394.
- ^ Bearss 1991, p. 657.
- ^ Bearss 1991, pp. 688–689.
- ^ Bearss 1991, p. 688.
- ^ Bearss 1991, p. 687.
- ^ Smith 2006, pp. 395–396.
- ^ Shea & Winschel 2003, p. 115.
- ^ "49th Indiana's own Medal of Honor Recipient". Ohio State University. Archived from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
- ^ Shea & Winschel 2003, pp. 140–142.
- ^ Smith 2006, pp. 360–361.
- ^ Woodworth 2005, pp. 396–397.
- ^ Woodworth 2005, pp. 397–398.
- ^ Smith 2006, pp. 397–398.
- ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form". National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- ^ "Big Black River Bridge Battlefield". American Battlefield Trust. Archived from the original on April 19, 2022. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
Sources
- Ballard, Michael B. (2004). Vicksburg: The Campaign that Opened the Mississippi. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-2893-9.
- ISBN 0-89029-313-9.
- Bearss, Edwin C. (2007) [2006]. Fields of Honor. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic. ISBN 978-1-4262-0093-9.
- Grabau, Warren (2000). Ninety-eight Days: A Geographer's View of the Vicksburg Campaign. Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-1-57233-068-9.
- Kennedy, Frances H. (1998). The Civil War Battlefield Guide (2nd ed.). Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-74012-5.
- ISBN 978-1-4516-4139-4.
- Shea, William L.; Winschel, Terrence J. (2003). Vicksburg Is the Key: The Struggle for the Mississippi River. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-9344-1.
- Smith, Timothy B. (2006) [2004]. Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg. El Dorado Hills, California: Savas Beatie. ISBN 1-932714-19-7.
- Smith, Timothy B. (2013). ""A Victory Could Hardly Have Been More Complete": The Battle of Big Black River Bridge". In Woodworth, Stephen D.; Grear, Charles D. (eds.). The Vicksburg Campaign: March 29–May 18, 1863. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. pp. 173–193. ISBN 978-0-8093-3270-0.
- Winschel, Terrence J. (1998). "Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi". In Kennedy, Frances H. (ed.). The Civil War Battlefield Guide (2nd ed.). Boston, Massachusetts/New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin. pp. 154–156. ISBN 978-0-395-74012-5.
- ISBN 0-375-41218-2.
Further reading
- Fullenkamp, Leonard; Bowman, Stephen; ISBN 0-7006-0922-9.
- Woodworth, Steven E, ed. (2001). Grant's Lieutenants: From Cairo to Vicksburg. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-1127-4.