Battles & Camps

The following are highlights of some of the battles that the Chicago Mercantile Battery and its companion Regiments and Artillery units were involved in just prior to the Campaign and Siege of Vicksburg in May 1863.

     Port Gibson         Jackson         Champion Hill         Big Black River Bridge

Battle of Port Gibson - 1 May 1863
(excerpt)

The battle began about midnight with a three-hour skirmish near the A.K. Shaifer house.  One Union division moved forward along a connecting plantation road, just east of the house, toward the Bruinsburg Road and the Confederate right flank where the brigade of Brigadier General Edward D. Tracy anchored the line overlooking Bayou Pierre.  Tracy was killed as his Alabama brigade fought to maintain control of the Bruinsburg Road.

Battle of Port Gibson
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With skirmishers well in advance, additional Federals began a slow and deliberate advance along the Rodney Road toward Magnolia Church.  About 3:30 a.m. the fighting resumed and raged throughout the morning near the Shaifer house.  The house was converted into a hospital.

Brigadier General John S. Bowen, the Confederate commander on the field, wired his superiors in Jackson, "We have been engaged in  furious battle ever since daylight; losses very heavy. The men act nobly, but the odds are overpowering."  At 5:30 p.m. battle-weary Confederate began to retire from the field.

Source:  A Guide to the Campaign & Siege of Vicksburg, State of Mississippi, Department of Archives and History.

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Battle of Jackson
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Battle of Jackson - 14 May 1863
(excerpt)

On May 13 Major General James B. McPherson’s corps moved north through Raymond to Clinton while Major General William T. Sherman pushed northeast through Raymond to Mississippi Springs. To cover the march on Jackson, Major General John A. McClernand’s corps was placed in a defensive posture on a line from Raymond to Clinton.

A torrential rain slowed the May 14 Federal advance along roads of mud. As Sherman’s and McPherson’s corps converged on Jackson, McPherson’s men were hit by confederate artillery posted on the O.P. Wright farm. The Federals’ attack was delayed by sheets of rain that threatened to soak their cartridge boxes and ruin their ammunition. When the rain stopped, the Federals then advanced with bayonets fixed and banners unfurled. Clashing in bitter hand-to-hand combat, McPherson’s men forced the Confederate back into the fortifications of Jackson.

The Federals captured 17 artillery pieces in the battle. About 3: p.m. the Union troops entered Jackson and placed the Stars and Stripes atop the capitol, declaring their victory. Grant then neutralized Jackson militarily by burning the machine shops and factories, cutting telegraph lines, and destroying railroad tracks. He then turned his army west toward Vicksburg.

Source: A Guide to the Campaign & Siege of Vicksburg, State of Mississippi, Department of Archives and History.

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Battle of Champion Hill - 16 May 1863
(excerpt)

Champion Hill, the decisive battle of the Vicksburg Campaign, began about 7:00 a.m. Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, the Confederate commander, deployed his three divisions in a three-mile-long battle line that ran from southwest to northeast along a ridge overlooking Jackson Creek.

Battle of Champion Hill
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He was however, unaware that one of the three Union columns was pushing down the Jackson Road toward his unprotected left flank on Champion Hill. Federal soldiers arrived near the Champion house, swung from column into double line of battle and unlimbered their artillery. The battle roared into action.

Major General Grant established his headquarters at the Champion house. He ordered his 10,000 men on the Jackson Road to move forward in magnificent style with flags flying. The long blue lines extended westward beyond the Confederate flank and by 11:30 a.m. the Federals closed in on the Confederate main line of resistance. The fighting was intense as the battle raged on Champion Hill and shortly after 1:00 p.m. the strength of numbers prevailed and the blue tide swept over the crest of Champion Hill.

The Union victory at Champion Hill forced Pemberton toward the fortifications of Vicksburg and stopped Johnston from joining his army to Pemberton’s.

Source: A Guide to the Campaign & Siege of Vicksburg, State of Mississippi, Department of Archives and History.

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Battle of Big Black River Bridge
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Battle of Big Black River Bridge
- 17 May 1863
(excerpt)

Lieutenant General Pemberton ordered Brigadier General Bowen’s division and a fresh brigade commanded by Brigadier General John Vaughn to hold the bridges across the Big Black River long enough for Major General Loring to cross. He did not know that Loring was cut off from Edwards and had to head southeast. Major General McClernand’s XIII Corps quickly deployed astride the Jackson Road and opened fire with its artillery.

Brigadier General Michael Lawler on the Federal right saw an opportunity as he deployed his men in a meander scar near the Confederate line. In a fixed bayonet charge that lasted only three minutes, Lawler’s troops swept across the open ground, through the bayou, and over the parapets. The Confederates left 18 cannon behind and ran toward the bridges, but many drowned trying to swim across the river. Badly shaken, the Confederates moved into the Vicksburg defenses. Major General Grant’s forces bridged the river at three locations and pushed hard toward Vicksburg on May 18.

Source: A Guide to the Campaign & Siege of Vicksburg, State of Mississippi, Department of Archives and History.

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