USA > Indiana > The soldier of Indiana in the war for the union, Vol. II > Part 28
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On the twenty-fourth of May Lanman's division, of Hurl- but's corps, with four additional regiments, arrived and went into position on the south side of the city.
General Kimball, who, after recovering from the wound received in the assault on Fredericksburg, was appointed to the command of Hurlbut's third division, and assigned to the district of Jackson, was ordered to the Yazoo, which he 21
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reached the third of June. He went up to Satartia, whence, with two brigades, he marched to Mechanicsburg, where he had a successful engagement with a large force of the enemy. Repeated despatches from Grant warned him against ventur- ing to such a distance as to endanger his rear, and finding the troops he had driven reinforced by a large body of cav- alry, Kimball fell back to Haines' Bluff.
On the eighth, another division, under General Sooy Smith, arrived from Memphis, and was ordered to Haines' Bluff, where also two of Burnside's divisions were posted on their arrival. General Herron's division arrived from Mis- souri on the eleventh, and was stationed on the left of Lan- man, completing the line of investment.
These reinforcements increased Grant's army to seventy- five thousand. One-half remained in the trenches; the other half formed a corps of observation. It was like a double- edged sword, or rather like a sword which turned every way.
Sherman, in command of Haines' Bluff, lengthened and strengthened his line of defense, until it extended from the Yazoo to the Big Black. As occasion demanded, he added to his force Lauman's division, a division from McPherson's corps, and one from his own corps, and abundantly obeyed the order to "whip Johnston fifteen miles off."
The Indiana troops included in Sherman's force at Haines' Bluff, and in the defence of the rear of the besiegers, were the Twelfth, Lieutenant Colonel Goodnow, Colonel Kemp- ton having resigned on account of his health, though too late for its restoration; Hundredth, Colonel Stoughton; Ninety- Ninth, Colonel Fowler, and Sixth battery, Captain Mueller, in Smith's division, and the Fifty-Third, Colonel Gresham, in Lauman's division. The Ninety-Seventh, Colonel Cat- terson, separated from its proper corps, General McPherson's, remained on duty in Missouri until it joined Sherman's force.
The siege was conducted vigorously. Forts were erected; batteries were planted, and breastworks were advanced quite near to the Rebel works. Sharpshooting, for a time exer- cised only in the day, soon ceased neither day nor night, and reached such a degree of accuracy, that in one instance
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OPERATIONS OF THE SIEGE.
a hat placed on a stick and held above a wall was pierced by fifteen bullets in two minutes. The mortars on the penin- sula opposite Vicksburg, after they opened, which was at an early date in the siege, threw every twenty-four hours ten thousand mortar shells into and over the city. The pick, the spade and the barrow were in as lively requisition, and were used to as deadly purpose as the recognized instru- ments of war, roads being opened, covered ways made, the regular approaches of a siege constructed, and mines built. During the siege, eighteen miles of trenches were dug and eighty-nine batteries were construeted, the guns being moved forward from the rear as the troops pushed up.
The enemy's activity was also sleepless. His cannonad- ing was not alarming, as his ammunition was scarce, but he counter-mined, and picked off with the sharpshooter's rifle every visible head. So ceaseless was the rain of fire on the extreme left that the Twenty-Sixth Indiana, posted there, after entering advanced trenches, was unable to leave them for seventeen days. Firing all day, digging all night, and sleeping only by snatches, this regiment was worn out at the end of the time, and of eight hundred healthy, cheerful men who came from Missouri, but four hundred were fit for duty. In all the regiments constant labor in the trenches, frequent pieket duty and sharp shooting, together with the excessive heat of the day and the heavy dews of the night, caused much sickness toward the latter part of June.
Colonel Bringhurst, in a letter dated June 19, minutely describes daily life:
" The siege progresses about as it began. Every possible means of annoyance to the Rebels is adopted. New and heavy batteries are erected; rifle pits are advanced and the volume of projectile rained upon the garrison and people of the devoted city is daily increased.
" Our regiment has taken a permanent position, directly in front of the Rebel fort, where the assault was made the day after our arrival. We furnish two companies daily for the trenches. They fire on an average forty rounds during the tour of duty, and as the entire line is as heavily occupied, the Rebels have but little chance to make observation in their
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front. The two lines are about three hundred yards apart, and the reserves of each side lie at the base of the hills in the ravines.
" Our regiment is within six hundred and fifty yards of the Rebel fortifications. Directly in our rear is a battery of four twenty-four pounders, and singularly as it has happened, two of them are the very guns our regiment hauled from New Madrid to Riddle's Point that terrible night, and the others those we captured at Fulton, below Fort Pillow, the day we occupied that post.
" These guns were brought to Memphis on the wharf boat we were bringing down, and were left there when we went up White river. The two first came to us on the Tallaliat- chie but were not used. Now the four make their appear- anee near us and deliver their messages to Vicksburg directly over our heads. Until yesterday, they threw shells princi- pally, which, passing through the parapet and exploding within the forts must have caused great havoc. Night before last a furnace was completed, and these guns since have been sending balls at a white heat into the city.
" Upon each side of this battery and within three hundred yards are other batteries of lighter ealibre. Along the entire line, so far as we can see, batteries are engaged, and at all times, day and night, some part of the line is in action. Gen- erally the right has been most noisy, latterly the left has been briskest. On the right or left, at any time, a battle can be witnessed from the hills behind or before us. At some points the rifle trenches are within one hundred yards of each other, and whenever a Rebel cannon is run out to fire, everybody within reach opens on it. If the Rebels succeed in firing one round it is all they can do. The shower of rifle balls that enter an embrasure and the ten or a dozen cannon that pour in shot or shell, compels them to withdraw it out of sight.
" The Rebels do not keep their artillery in position. The discharge of the gun sends it back to an inclined plane that conveys it below and entirely out of reach of our artillery. Occasionally the muzzle is seen rising to the embrasure pre- paratory to firing, and it becomes game for our men. It is
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OPERATIONS OF THE SIEGE.
generally fired without aim, and is never brought back imme- diately.
" The Rebel riflemen, in their trenches, take up the fight, and after each discharge of a Rebel gun a skirmish of half an hour occurs.
" The pits or trenches entirely hide the men in them. When they rise to fire they present marks to the opposite side. After a shell explodes the Rebels invariably risc to fire, and our riflemen and artillerists now meet them by a second shell and a volley of balls. If a number is caught by the trick, a loud shout announces its success.
"A trick, common and very successful for a time, was for our side to raise a loud shout, as if a charge was being made. As the Rebels rose up to meet the expected charge, a shower of balls would meet them, while no enemy would be in view.
" Of the execution done by our riflemen we know nothing, but we have every reason to believe the Rebels suffer severely. Our men now seldom fire without a very good prospect of hitting. We have a trench dug into the brow of the hill, into which lead ways or paths from the camp. The brow of the hill is protected by hewn logs, with rifle holes cut in them. These entirely cover the men, except at the opening of the hole. One hole has been especially fatal for us. On the mornings of the seventeenth and eighteenth each, a man of the Twenty-Fourth Indiana was shot through the head.
This morning a piece of cloth was put in the hole, and it soon was shot through in five places.
"At night the pickets are advanced beyond the hill, very close to the Rebel picket lines. Upon some parts of the lines the pickets meet and converse.
"A Vicksburg paper of June 13 was obtained. It was a slip of four columns, printed on wall paper, and without any interest. It vapored largely about the ability of the Rebels to hold Vicksburg, but this, to persons who read the Jackson papers up to the capture of that city, is understood. It stated that it had received no advices from the outside from the six- teenth of May to the fourth of June. Deserters come over frequently. They agree in the statement about the scarcity
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of provisions. Their haversacks contain a very little meat, and a small quantity of pea or bean flour."
The western bounds of the besieging army, from Lake Providence to Richmond, were frequently assailed in the anxiety of the Rebels to open communication between Vicksburg and Louisiana. June 6, a heavy attack on Milli- ken's Bend was most bravely repulsed by negro soldiers.
On the twenty-fifth of June, from the centre round to the river, the army and navy stood ready to add to the tumult and terror of the explosion of a heavy mine, while a chosen band was thrown forward to rush into the anticipated breach. The undermined strong-hold was Fort Hill, in front of Me- Pherson's corps. The storming party consisted of one hun- dred picked men of the Forty-Fifth Illinois, and one hundred of the Twenty-Third Indiana, and was supported by the main part of Logan's division.
It stood breathless, and utter stillness prevailed after the fuse was lighted, until a dull, thundering sound, and the trembling and heaving of the ground indicated that the pow- der, twenty-two hundred pounds, in the vaults beneath, was on fire. Through heavy smoke and dust masses of earth and huge timbers rose slowly and fell back. A cannonade opened along the line of the army and the river-front, such a can- nonade as Vieksburg, with all its experience, had never known, nor had yet any other city. The storming party rushed to the breach. Logan advanced his division rapidly to its support.
A furious struggle took place in the crater. The combat- ants were covered with powder, dirt and blood. The Rebels gradually fell back to a new line, from which, unseen and sheltered, they hurled hand-grenades with deadly effect. The soldiers called the crater "the death hole," but they held it until three days later another mine expelled the Rebels and left a vast chasm where one of the strongest works had stood.
Fort after fort was undermined. Closer and more deadly with each day drew the investing line. One grand assault, and the city would fall. General Grant fixed the day,-the sixth of July.
- -----
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SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG.
Meantime, the citizens of Vicksburg were in sad straits. Many of the wealthy as well as the poor were on the verge of starvation. Flour was a thousand dollars a barrel. Meal was a, hundred and forty dollars a bushel. Beef was two or three dollars a pound. Mule meat was a dollar a pound. Caves dug in the hill sides, and which were damp and low, afforded the only security against shell, and they scarcely. The Rebel soldiers on insufficient rations, com- posed chiefly of bean meal, corn coffee and mule meat, lay in the trenches without relief day or night. Nevertheless, a copy of the Vicksburg Whig, which found its way to the Union pickets, gave out and reiterated assurances of John- ston's speedy approach. General Johnston indeed was their only hope; but he never ventured within fifteen miles.
On the third of July, after forty-seven days of isolation, General Pemberton displayed a flag of truce, and sent two officers with a letter asking an armistice with the view of ar- ranging terms for capitulation. The Rebel officers were blindfolded and taken to Burbridge's tent, where they received Grant's reply demanding an unconditional surrender. Pem- berton requested an interview, and at three in the afternoon met his antagonist in front of McPherson's lines, under a spreading oak. "Never so long as I have a man left me will I submit to unconditional surrender," declared the Confed- erate General. "Then, sir, you can continue the defence," replied the national commander. Pemberton, however, was not satisfied, and after some consultation it was agreed to continue the armistice until nine the next morning, when, if surrender was not determined on, hostilities should be re- resumed.
The next morning, white flags were displayed all along the Rebel lines. At ten the Rebel soldiers poured out of their trenches and forts, laid down their colors and went back within their works, prisoners of war.
Logan's division was the first of the besieging army to en- ter the city. General Grant rode at its head. Dismounting at a Rebel headquarters he entered, in order to confer with General Pemberton. The Rebel commander and his gener- als were sitting on a porch. They received the conqueror
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in sulky silenee; when he asked for a drink of water they told him he could find it inside, and they allowed him to re- main standing, while they sat, during an interview of a half hour. So ignobly did they bear themselves in adversity.
If any thing could add to the rapture of the hard-won, long-delayed victory, it was the fact that it was consumma- ted on the Fourth of July. When the national banner rose over the court-house ten thousand men struck up the song: "Rally round the flag!" The shattered walls of Vicksburg so long trembling under the roar of guns, now quivered with the song of triumph.
The surrender of Vicksburg gave into Grant's hands the largest capture of men and guns ever made in war,-thirty- one thousand six hundred men, including siek and wounded, and one hundred and seventy-two cannon. Twenty-eight thousand eight hundred and ninety-two men were paroled, and after being supplied with three days' rations, were sent across the Big Black. Seven hundred and nine who refused their parole were sent North. More than one thousand avoided being paroled by escape or disguise. Many died in the hospital before their names had been taken.
General Grant reported his losses,from the day he landed at Bruinsburg till the day of the surrender, at nine hundred and forty-three killed, seven thousand and ninety-five wounded, five hundred and thirty-seven missing, total eight thousand five hundred and seventy-five. Four thousand two hundred and thirty-six of the number fell before Vicksburg, chiefly in the assault of the twenty-second of May.
Throughout the United States eannon fired and bells rang, the nation rejoicing at once for the turning back of the Rebel tide at Gettysburg and that the Mississippi once more flowed "unvexed to the sea."
No time for rejoicing nor rest was allowed the greater part of Grant's army. Sherman, already on the Big Black, was reinforced on the night of the fourth and the following day by Ord, the successor of McClernand, and by Steele, who moved out of the trenches without seeing the city in whose conquest they had assisted. Sherman's orders were to proceed to
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MARCH TO JACKSON.
Jackson, retracing Grant's advance from that city, and drive Johnston from the Mississippi Central railroad.
The story of the march is told by Colonel Bringhurst, while following the course of the Forty-Sixth:
"At half past five on the morning of the fifth, our brigade was on the road, but as other corps had to pass out the main road before they reached the roads upon which they diverged, it was near eleven o'clock before we got well under way. Three corps were to form the expedition, and moving on dif- ferent roads, to meet at Bolton on the morning of the seventh, where they were again to diverge to meet again at Clinton.
"The weather was exceedingly hot. Dust filled the air with clouds, penetrated the lungs and blinded the eyes. A part of the march was made along the railroad track. The distance and the dust were lessened by that route, but where the cut ran through high hills, which was often the case, the heat was almost insupportable, the cut being narrow and the perpendicular walls being covered with noxious vines and brush. There was no air, no water. The column moved along the track at a rapid pace to escape from the horrible place; many fell out exhausted, and sought refuge in openings or fissures that were formed in the banks. All of our men came through, but many of other regiments failed and fell by the way. At about five o'clock we encamped a mile and a half from Black river, having made ten miles.
"This march was the most fatiguing and distressing that the regiment ever performed. The regiment remained here until the evening of the next day. The valleys between the hills afforded cool places, and the fields around furnished corn and blackberries in unlimited quantities. The line of march was taken up at five o'clock on the evening of the sixth, and the regiment reached Black river about dark. The bridge was so crowded that it was impossible to cross, and we stop- ped for the night. At five, on the morning of the seventh, we were on the road. We were soon over the river. The weather was very hot, and water was very scarce. Every pond and puddle was surrounded by crowds of parched men who drank the disgusting semi-fluid. We reached Bolton after a march of eighteen miles, at six in the evening. It
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was dark and cloudy. Occasional flashes of lightning dis- closed a confused view of artillery, horses, wagons and men. We settled down along the side of the road. The Second brigade formed in like manner on our left. We knew that we were on a ploughed field with a fence between us and the road. Opposite and across the road was a heavy hedge, and beyond a cornfield. The fence was soon disposed of, the rails were laid down for beds, or taken for fires. In an hour the rain began. It fell with but little intermission for two hours. Fires were put out, suppers were spoiled, and the road and field became inundated with the rising flood.
"The lightning in its vivid flashes revealed a multitude of men covered with ponchos, squatting over the field. A per- tinacious group, here and there, might be seen endeavoring to preserve the fire by holding ponchos over it; and many individuals in desperation, standing entirely naked under the descending floods, with their clothes stored away under sad- dles or logs, 'to be kept dry.' At eleven, another storm came up. This also lasted two hours, and sleep was effect- ually banished for the night. During the entire night, strag- glers came along, wading and splashing through mud and water, enquiring for their regiments; and horses and mules, imperfectly tied, stalked among the men, or got up rows with the teams.
"The sun came out hot next morning, evaporating the moisture from the ground in clouds of steam. About nine, we moved up a little beyond the town and encamped in a pleasant grove. Here we remained until evening.
" Breckinridge, with his division, left Bolton at noon the day before we arrived. He had a line of battle formed along the railroad, but, on the approach of our advance, he fell back to Clinton. At this point the three army corps had concentrated. The movement to Clinton began at three in the afternoon, and as the several divisions passed to reach their appropriate roads, they made a grand appearance. The regiments marched out in columns well closed up, and with their bands playing. The men felt well, and were in high spirits. They laughed, shouted and sang songs, and moved toward Jackson with the fullest faith that it would fall, and
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MARCH TO JACKSON.
the Rebel Johnston be put to flight. This confidence was worth ten thousand men.
"It was dark before we reached our road, and then we were constantly stopped by intervening trains of other divi- sions. We marched until nearly one o'clock, and having made but three miles, halted and lay down by the roadside for sleep; started at eight in the morning of the ninth, and marched very slowly. Skirmishers were used nearly all the day between Bolton and Clinton, ten miles. We reached Clinton about eleven. The Rebels had again fallen back upon our approach.
"At Clinton, we rested an hour. The town was full of Rebel sick and wounded. The court-house and churches were full to overflowing. We here caught up with and took a number of Rebel prisoners. They were of the willing kind, tired of running through the sun without food or water, and very anxious to get home. We picked up several letters that had been dropped in their sudden flight. One, from a Captain to his wife, complained that the people of Missis- sippi were a mean, contemptible set; that they charged the Confederates a dollar a dozen for peaches and tomatoes, the same for a pound of butter, and sixty cents for a pound of beef. Another, also from an officer, said that four of his men had died from heat on the march to Black river, and that he had seen one hundred disabled. They had almost perished for water, and had destroyed what little was in ponds, so that the Yankees could not reach Jackson.
"We encamped a mile beyond Clinton, and remained until the morning of the tenth, when we moved out, each corps upon a different road. The Rebels were in considerable force in front, and threatened our flanks and rear. At noon we had arrived within two miles of Jackson, and the Rebels were driven within their intrenchinents. We marched into camp in a low, heavy wood. It was cut up by a partially dry creek, the puddles of which furnished us with water. It was a close, hot, murky position, and inconvenient in every way. At four, the morning of the eleventh, we were roused by rapid musketry firing in front. But the firing soon ceased. At noon we received orders to proceed to our assigned posi-
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tion in the line of assault. The pioneer corps had to prepare the road, so our progress was slow. From a high point, we could see Rebel cavalry moving round in the direction we had to proceed. About two, we came to a plantation. General Hovey and his staff were making themselves com- fortable on the porch. The soldiers were canvassing the negro quarters, gardens, stables and orchards, when, without any previous intimation, a number of Rebel shots were fired in the orchard. The Forty-Sixth was in the advance of the column, and at the halt was the only regiment within the plantation. The line was soon indicated, and in a few sec- onds the men were ready for the attack. A battery was brought up, taken through to a road, and a couple of guns opened upon the woods. The Twenty-Fourth Indiana, which had been out since early in the morning, reconnoitring the road, here met us. It had got upon the wrong road, and had been skirmishing with the same force that was now in front. A few shells drove the Rebels off, and we proceeded slowly toward town. They made a stand at about every five hundred yards, falling back before our artillery.
"At dark, the Forty-Sixth relieved the Twenty-Fourth, which had been directly in front, and spent the night in line of battle with arms in hand. The rough ground, covered with thistles and other weeds which were heavy with lately- fallen drops of rain, rendered the night's rest of doubtful benefit. At daybreak we were up, and in a few minutes ready for action. We now had the enemy close to his works and reserves. He was in a position to fight, if so disposed. General Lauman's division had crossed the railroad and was moving up."
General Sherman invested Jackson from Pearl river on the north to Pearl river on the east-Ord, including Lauman, forming his right, Steele his centre, and Park, including Sooy Smith, his left. He opened fire with one hundred heavy guns.
"Our line was formed by the two brigades in their order. It extended from the railroad on our right to Benton's divi- sion on the left. Two companies from cach regiment were in advance as skirmishers. Our position was on the extreme
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right, as the Twenty-Fourth and Thirty-Fourth Indiana of our brigade were in the line of reserves. We met the Reb- els after advancing a short distance. They fell back before the rifles of our sharpshooters. When within a short dis- tance of an advanced Rebel post, a division of General Lau- man made a charge upon it. For a few minutes, the divi- sion was subjected to a most terrific fire, and the effect was perfect slaughter.
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