USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II > Part 106
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123
56-II
-
882
MISSISSIPPI
from, and the Big Black forming a strong defensible line in his rear, could defy the Confederacy to loosen his grip on Vicksburg. As it turned out, his position was so strong that he did not need half the men available, and troops could be spared from the West to save the panic-stricken East when Lee marched to the Susque- hanna.
He rapidly put his troops as close as possible along the in- trenched line. The Missourians inside and Missourians outside were near enough to exchange news of home before they met in deadly fight. (J. H. Jones, M. H. S. Publ. VII.) On the 19th an assault was made at the Graveyard road, at the junction of Smith and Forney. The effort was determined, at the cost of nearly a thousand men killed and wounded, and the loss of two flags. But the line was impregnable. Still hoping for success from a general assault, for McPherson and McClernand had not been vigorous in this one, Grant prepared for another and more concerted effort on the 22d. Lauman's division was brought up from Grand Gulf, swelling the apparent strength of Grant's command to about 50,- 000. But he also had suffered heavy losses since leaving Bruins- burg, and the killed, wounded and sick must have aggregated a large percentage of his numbers.
Admiral Porter's mortars bombarded the city on the 20th, and there was an almost continuous fire from the gunboats in the river, and from the batteries Grant had planted upon the nearby hills. On the morning of the 22d the cannonading for over two hours along the entire front of Grant's line was incessant and fierce, the thunder of the guns being accompanied by the steady cracking of the sharpshooters' rifles. From army and navy together it was the greatest bombardment of the great war. The Confederates knew from this that an assault was coming, and they waited in silence, making no reply of artillery or infantry, but preparing for a desperate defense, conscious that some weak spot might be found through which they could be overwhelmed, but all resolved that it should not be where they stood. About half past ten in the morn- ing every gun stopped on Grant's line, though the fire from the fleet increased in intensity.
The almost appalling silence that came so suddenly along the Federal line was followed by the appearance of dense masses of men in blue, in numerous columns of attack, rushing with loud hur- rahs toward every advanced position of the Confederate line. They had not far to run, as their lines had been advanced under cover. to distances varying from 100 to 500 yards. The advance, 30,000 along the whole line, was a grand and thrilling spectacle, but the bravery of the men in blue was equalled by the grim tenacity of the men in gray. The attacking column was met by a fierce fire of artillery and musketry that no troops in the world could stand before. Falling back stubbornly to shelter, there began again the roar of the batteries. The assault was not evenly distributed. On the south end of the line it was feeble. The hard fighting was along the three and a half miles, beginning with Lee's brigade and
883
MISSISSIPPI
northward. Along this line, as the Federals approached, 10,000 Confederates rose and stood in the trenches, pouring volley after volley into the line of assailants. Thirty-three field guns and how- itzers hurled grape and canister. "But even the terrible slaughter could not stop all the valiant Federals. Some of them made lodgment in the ditches of the redans, at some points on the Graveyard road, Jackson and Baldwin Ferry roads, and also in the ditch of the fort, on the railroad cut. They even at this latter fort entered through the breach made by the Federal artillery before the assault, cap- turd a few prisoners and killed or drove out the small garrison." (S. 'D. Lee.) But only one of the twenty Federals got out alive. They were soon forced to surrender by a rescue party of Alabam- ians and Texans led by Col. Pettus, of Alabama. Before this was done two Union flags waved from the fort for three or four hours. When Pettus regained possession a terrific artillery fire was opened upon the fort, but without serious damage. That ceasing, the Confederates pitched hand grenades over the parapet and compelled the Federals holding the ditch to surrender.
General Badeau says: "This assault was in some respects un- paralleled in the wars of modern times. No attack on fortifications of such strength had been undertaken by great European cap- tains, unless the assaulting party outnumbered the defenders by at at least three to one." In this case, according to the statement of each general, Grant had 30,000 in all his columns, on the whole line, and Pemberton 18,500. But the number engaged in the three miles of hard fighting was smaller than these figures, and possibly, in those three miles, there was the proportion of three to one. Confederates and Federals alike demonstrated the magnificent endurance of American soldiers, and admired each other's heroism. The gallant recapture of the railroad fort, memor- able in Confederate traditions, was counterbalanced, writes Gen. S. D. Lee, by the equally heroic assault, and "the magnificent con- duct of the officers and men of the 22d Iowa, not surpassed by any incident of the war on either side." Grant was humiliated by the loss of 3,199 men killed, wounded and missing. At the close of the 22d his casualties had been 4,380 before the Vicksburg lines. Mc- Clernand, being blamed for much of this, as well as the failure to capture Pemberton's army at Baker's Creek, was relieved of com- mand.
After the assault the Federal army settled down to a regular siege, "pushing up their troops by means of running saps, opening ditches and establishing new lines of rifle pits and road coverings for protection of the approaches; and when near the Confederate lines on June 25th they began to explode their mines and blow up, the forts." Constantly, everything was done to wear out the Con- federate garrison. The smallest object that came in sight on the intrenchments was shot at. The artillery fire was incessant, grad- ually dismounting and making useless the Confederate guns which were visible. On June 30 the Union line of batteries was 12 miles long. Two hundred and twenty guns had been mounted, besides
884
MISSISSIPPI
13 guns of the heaviest caliber from the navy, and the Union force facing Vicksburg, the Big Back, and Yazoo was increased to 75,- 000 men. The main part of Grant's army was stationed to meet the expected army of relief. At the same time Admiral Porter was frequently giving battle to the river batteries, and constantly throw- ing shells within the Confederate lines. His estimate of the num- ber of shells thrown upon the city and its defenses during the siege was 16,000, or an average of one every four minutes for 47 days. On the Mississippi river and its tributaries the United States navy had 533 vessels, and had chartered 1,750 more, mainly tributary to the campaign against Vicksburg, transporting soldiers, supplies and munitions of war. It was the greatest concentration of military and naval strength against one besieged city that had been recorded in history.
The Confederates meanwhile held their lines, digging more com- fortable places for the men in the trenches, providing head logs and sand bags for protection from sharpshooters and blanket shades from the sun. Pemberton was rather too careful of his ammuni- tion, it appears, and there was not so much reply of artillery and musketry as might have been effective. There was a scarcity of caps for the rifles, but Lamar, Fontaine, Walker, Sanders and other couriers, brought in several million caps by floating down the river on logs through the Federal fleet. Messages also were ex- changed between Johnston and Pemberton.
In the trenches the men had to work every night repairing the damages made by artillery during the day. The same men were on duty from day to day. At night there were three reliefs for senti- nel duty, and an hour before day the whole force was aroused and ready to repel assault. The supply of water was limited, even for drinking. There was little for washing, and the vermin swarming from the soil became almost unendurable. After the tenth day of the siege, the men were put on half rations, and this was more reduced in the last few weeks. Some soldiers sent a letter to Pemberton, June 28, saying that if they could not be fed, surrender was better than desertion or mutiny. "Our rations have been cut down to one biscuit and a small bit of bacon per day." Pea bread, horse and mule meat were tried, but did not meet with favor. Not until the last were rations of mule meat actually issued. Women and chil- dren had remained in the city, some having taken refuge there from Jackson and other points during the preliminary campaign. They learned to walk the streets when shells were falling, and few were hurt. When houses became untenable they took refuge in caves. Their food was even more meagre than that of the soldiers.
June 25 occurred the first mine explosion, under the salient of the redan of the 3rd Louisiana on the Jackson road. A ton of pow- der blew up a crater, and buried alive six men of the 43d Missis- sippi, who were countermining. A tremendous fire was opened along the Federal line, and an assaulting column entered the crater, but was stopped there by a deadly fire from the interior Confed- erate lines. Mining was resumed, and there was another explosion
885
MISSISSIPPI
July 1, completely destroying the redan. Many men were killed in these operations, which made it apparent that the line must soon be forced.
July 1 Pemberton addressed a letter to each of his division com- manders, regarding the necessity of evacuation soon if some relief were not given. Most of the generals replied that their men were too worn and weak to fight their way out, and Smith and Bowen recommended capitulation at once, in the hope of better terms. Lee and Baldwin, two of the brigade commanders, were in favor of holding out longer. Pemberton on July 3 sent Bowen with a note to Grant proposing an armnstice and arrangement of terms of capitulation. Grant replied that his only terms were unconditional surrender, also saying, "Men who have shown so much endurance and courage as those in Vicksburg will always challenge the respect of an adversary, and I can assure you will be treated with all the respect due to prisoners of war." There was a conference on the lines at 3 p. m., between Pemberton, accompanied by Bowen and Capt. L. M. Montgomery, and Grant and seven officers. Bowen and Montgomery, McPherson and Smith, acted as commissioners and recommended that the Confederates be allowed to evacuate with the honors of war; the Federals to take possession of the forti- fications, siege guns and public property. Grant promptly rejected this, and at 10 o'clock that night sent Pemberton his written terms, that one Federal division would march in in the morning of July 4th, and as soon as all the garrison were paroled, they could march out, the officers taking side arms, but the men leaving their guns. It was finally agreed that the Confederates might march out at 10 in the morning and stack arms, and return to be paroled, before the Federals entered the lines. The parole lists indicated 29.491 men in the Vicksburg lines, of whom 23,233 were privates. Of these 3,084 were paroled in hospital. The men were marched out after being provisioned, and their slow and painful progress indi- cated the extremity which had compelled surrender. They were taken to Demopolis and put in camp as paroled prisoners under charged of their own provost marshals, and there remained until exchanged, when many of them went on active duty again in the Atlanta campaign.
Two brigadier-generals lost their lives during the siege-Isham W. Garrott, killed June 17, and Martin E. Green, killed June 27. Brig .- Gen. Edward T. Tracy had been killed at the opening of the campaign, at Port Gibson, May 1, and Lloyd Tilghman at Baker's Creek, May 16.
Victoria. An abandoned town of Pontotoc county, which flour- ished during the 30's. It was situated a short distance to the north- west of the present town of Pontotoc. Little is now left to mark the site of the old place. When the present town of Ponotoc was founded in 1834 by Mr. McMackin, the celebrated hotel keeper, it proved to be much more eligibly located than Victoria, and the latter town was soon vacated.
It is said to have had a population of about 300 at the time of
886
MISSISSIPPI
its greatest prosperity. The following men were among its citi- zens: "Squire" Watt, Barnard Franklin, John W. Thompson, Aaron Roote, Benjamin D. Anderson, and James Hodges.
Victoria, a post-hamlet and station of Marshall county, on the Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham R. R., 13 miles northwest of Holly Springs, the county seat, and nearest banking town. Popu- lation in 1900, 30. It has a church and a steam gin.
Villa Gayoso. When Ellicott and Pope came to Natchez in 1797 Governor Gayoso asked them to reside at Villa Gayoso. The same request was made to Captain Guion, while he was yet at Chickasaw Bluffs, to which he replied that he would select his own headquar- ters when he arrived.
In September, 1798, when Governor Sargent made the first divi- sion of the Territory, north and south of Fairchild's creek, he selec- ted the .Villa Gayoso as the seat of government of the upper dis- trict, afterward named Pickering county. This property, 200 acres, the seat of a military post, was understood to be Spanish property, but claim was laid to it by Thomas Green. There was a church, commandant's and priest's house, kitchen, etc., all rough frame buildings. After some delay, Gen. Wilkinson permitted the use of the church as a court house, in 1799. But the situation was deemed unhealthy, and the inhabitants desired another location, the matter being left by the governor to Secretary Steele for inves- tigation. The station seems to have been a midway point between Natchez and Walnut Hills.
According to testimony before the subsequent United States land commissioners, Governor Gayoso went up to Walnut Hills early in 1791 to settle a garrison there, and found a cabin at Watkins creek in a deserted field, which it was understood by the governor and Col. John Girault was claimed by Garrett Rapalji, but was the remains of a settlement in 1775 by one Watkins. The governor took possession in the name of the king and wrote upon one of the joists, "Casa Gayoso."
Villanova, a postoffice of Warren county, 15 miles northeast of Vicksburg.
Vimville, a post-hamlet of Lauderdale county, 5 miles east of Meridian.
Violet, a postoffice of Jefferson county.
Virgil, a post-hamlet in the extreme eastern part of Rankin coun- ty, 18 miles southeast of Brandon, the county seat. Population in 1900, 20.
Virlilia, a postoffice of Madison county, 6 miles west of Canton, the county seat, and nearest railroad and banking town.
Vixen, a postoffice in the northeastern part of Lawrence county, about 20 miles northeast of Monticello, the county seat. Prentiss is the nearest banking town.
Volney's Visit. C. F. Volney, French scientist, author and statesman, came to the United States in 1795 and spent three years in this country; travelled extensively, and among other sections visited Louisiana and the region now embraced in Mississippi.
887
MISSISSIPPI
He published his impressions in a work entitled "Tableau du Cli- mat et du Sol des Etats-Unis d'Amerique" 2 vols., Paris, 1803- English translation by C. B. Brown, Phil. 1804. Of that portion of the Lower Mississippi valley which embraces Mississippi he says: "This region is distinguished by a flat, sandy, and sterile coast ; by marshes which advance far into the country, and which are partic- ularly rich and fertile on the banks of the rivers, where maize and rice flourish greatly. A stone of two or three pounds weight, is here scarcely to be found, for thirty or forty miles from the coast. As you recede from the coast, the surface begins to ascend, and to become uneven and irregular; the soil becomes stony, and its fer- tility greatly declines, as is evident from the nature of the forest trees. It abounds with the ILEX, pine, fir, black and white oak, magnolia, red and white cedar, cypress, and innumerable shrubs, . natives of the warm climates. Bartram, an American traveller and botanist, draws a very glowing picture of this country, of which he has made a terrestrial paradise: but without regarding his exag- gerated and poetical descriptions, it will be sufficient, to compare it generally with Portugal and the coast of Barbary, in which com- parison it has certainly much the advantage."
Vosburg, a village in the southeastern part of Jasper county, on the New Orleans & North Eastern R. R., 10 miles southwest of Paulding, the county seat, and about 20 miles southwest of Enter- prise. Heidelberg is its nearest banking town. It has a money order postoffice and an express office, four stores, one church, a school, a cotton gin, a good hotel and is noted for its mineral springs, which furnish large shipments of water to all parts of the United States. At the Stafford springs is erected a large and commodious hotel, equipped with modern conveniencies, for the accommodation of those desiring the use of the spring water. The Vosburg Lithia spring is another valuable spring much patronized.
Vose, Henry, who died near Woodville, April 17, 1837, during the smallpox epidemic, was a native of Massachusetts and a grad- uate of the military academy at West Point, who made his home in Mississippi, and was prominent as a journalist and statistician. He was a brilliant mathematician, and wrote on geographical and historical subjects ; was an ardent investigator and theorizer, and quite negligent of financial profit. He was the author of "Topog- raphy of the State of Mississippi," Natchez, 1835.
Vousdan, William, one of the settlers of Natchez district under the British dominion, was granted 200 acres on Bayou Pierre in September, 1777, and 500 on the same stream in 1779. Under Spanish government he received 550 arpents on Buffalo creek in 1788, 1,000 on Cole's in 1789, and 10 in Natchez, 1795. Another claim for 2,000 on Bayou Sara, was under suspicion of being ante- dated after the date of the treaty of 1795. He was the public sur- veyor of the district under the Spanish government for several years, being succeeded by William Dunbar. In January, 1802, he declined appointment by Governor Claiborne as treasurer-general of the Territory, to succeed Bernard Lintot. Governor Claiborne
888
MISSISSIPPI
advised Samuel Brooks, chairman of the Adams county court, September 9, 1802, that a successor should be appointed to Mr. Vousdan, lately deceased, for making the tax list in that quarter.
Vowell, a post-hamlet in the southwestern part of Winston county, about 18 miles from Louisville, the county seat. Popula- tion in 1900, 35.
Voy, a hamlet of Itawamba county, 10 miles northeast of Fulton, the county seat. It has rural free delivery from Eastman.
Vrue, a postoffice of Jasper county, 8 miles southwest of Paul- ding, the county seat.
Waco, a hamlet in the south-central part of Smith county, 8 miles south of Raleigh, the county seat. The postoffice at this place was discontinued in 1905, and mail now goes to Mize, 3 miles southwest, on the Gulf & Ship Island R. R. Taylorsville is the nearest banking town. The town was named for a tribe of In- dians, the name meaning, "heron." Population in 1900, 51.
Waddel, John N., was born April 2, 1812 at Willington, Abbe- ville district, S. C .; moved with his parents to Athens, Ga., 1818; graduated at the University of Georgia, 1829 ; began teaching school in his native town, March 1, 1830; became a farmer; removed to Greene County, Ala., 1837; studied for the ministry and removed to Jasper County, Miss., 1840; established Montrose academy ; was appointed a trustee of the University of Mississippi at its orga- nization, and was elected to the chair of ancient languages at the LaGrange (Tenn.) college, October, 1858, where he remained until the Federals took possession of the town in 1862. He escaped through their lines; was appointed agent of the Confederate Bible Society for the West; was appointed commissioner of missions in the Mississippi army, 1863; passed through many perils ; returned to Oxford, Miss., after the war and was elected chancellor of the university. In this position he did much to sustain the institution through the years of depression that followed the war. He resigned in 1874 to accept the position of secretary of education to which he had been chosen by the general assembly of his church. He was made chancellor of the Presbyterian University at Clarksville, Tenn., 1879.
Wade, a post-hamlet of Jackson county, 18 miles north of Pasca- goula, the county seat. Population in 1900, 32.
Wadesboro, a postoffice of Jasper county.
Wahalak, a post-village of Kemper county, on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, 15 miles south of Macon, and 7 miles south of Shuqualak. Scooba is the nearest banking town. Valuable forests of ash and white oak are in the vicinity. It has a church and a school. Pop- ulation in 1900, 115.
Wahalak, (Old.) An extinct town in Kemper county, which flourished before the construction of the Mobile & Ohio R. R. a few miles to the west. It was situated on Wahalak creek, a trib- utary of the Noxubee river, about 3 miles south of east of the pres- ent station of Wahalak. Victor Welsh laid off the town in 1837, and Loomis Brothers were its first merchants. It was an educa-
889
MISSISSIPPI
tional center of note before the war, with a flourishing school for boys, and another for girls. It had a number of business houses, including a prosperous bank, and is an exception to most of the early settlements in the State in that it never had a grog shop.
Wailes, Benjamin L. C., was a native of Georgia and married a daughter of Gen. Leonard Covington. He was register of the land office at Washington, Miss., and a representative of Adams county, 1825-26. In January, 1852, he was appointed "State geolo- gist," a position which was, actually, that of assistant professor of geology in the State university. At the time he was a member of the faculty of Washington college, and had made a careful study and a large collection of the rocks and fossils of southwest Mississippi. In his new office he travelled in the southern and eastern part of the State, mainly, with his own team and outfit, making collections for the university and the State geological so- ciety. He presented his report to the legislature in 1854, and it was ordered printed. This volume, entitled "Report on the Agri- culture and Geology of Mississippi, embracing a Sketch of the So-' cial and Natural History of the State," was published at Philadel- phia, where Wailes spent most of the year 1854, overlooking the engraving and printing. The agricultural and geological matter is prefaced by a sketch of State history, the facts for which were derived from the works then published of Martin, Stoddard and Gayarre, Ellicott's Journal, as well as William Dunbar's manu- script and the Spanish archives. He was aided in his geological matter by Profs. Agassiz, Baird, Conrad and Leidy. The illustra- tions are lithographs from his own drawings. Dr. John Millington had been chief professor of geology at the university, and at his resignation in 1853 Wailes expected to be advanced to the full honors of the place in which he had done the practical work, but the honor was given to Lewis Harper, and Wailes immediately resigned. J. F. H. Claiborne said of him: "In literature and science he was the foremost man in the State, and would have achieved the greatest eminence had his life been spared."
Waits, a post-hamlet and station in the eastern part of Marshall county, on the Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham R. R., 6 miles southeast of Holly Springs. Population in 1900, 24.
Wakefield, a post-hamlet of Tate county, about 20 miles north- east of Senatobia, the county seat. It has two stores, a church, a school, a cotton gin and a saw mill. Population in 1900, 45.
Waldo, a post-hamlet of Neshoba county, 10 miles west of Phila- delphia, the county seat. It has a money order post office. Popula- tion in 1900, 55.
Walker, Duncan S., a native of Pennsylvania, was in his day one of the most eminent lawyers of Mississippi. He was well-educated before coming to Natchez. When a youth in college, he enlisted in the militia for the defense of Baltimore in the war of 1812-15. He had been for some years a resident of Natchez, and a partner of Judge Turner, when, upon the elevation of the latter to the bench, he invited his brilliant younger brother, Robert J. Walker, to join
890
MISSISSIPPI
him in Mississippi. Duncan S. Walker represented Adams county in the legislature ; was for several years an officer, and for a time a commander, of the Natchez Fencibles, and served several years as judge of the Criminal court.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.