The following official dispatches from General Pember con, the commander at Vicksburg, were sent to Jackson, Mississippi, and from thence telegraphed to the rebel President Davis:

VICKSBURG, May 20, 1863.

The enemy assaulted our intrenchments yesterday on our centre and eft. They were repulsed with heavy loss. Our loss is small. The enemy's force is at least 60,000.

VICKSBURG, May 21, 1863.

The enemy kept up a heavy artillery fire yesterday. Two of our guns were dismounted in the centre. Our works, however, were uninjured. Their sharpshooters picked off officers and men all day. Our works were repaired, and our guns replaced last night. Our men are encouraged by a report that General Johnston is near with a large army, and are in good spirits.

We have had a brisk artillery and musketry firing to-day, also heavy mortar firing from gunboats.

During the past two days transports with troops have gone up the river. Their destination is unknown.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

THE SECOND ASSAULT UPON VICKSBURG.

AFTER the withdrawal of the forces from before Vicksburg on the night of the 19th of May, the army, for two days, was kept in a state of comparative inactivity, although lively skirmishing occurred all along the line. General Grant was, however, far from being idle, inasmuch as he was fully engaged in perfecting communications with the dépôts of supplies north of the invested city. The greater part of the troops had been marching and fighting battles for twenty days, on an average of about five days' rations, drawn from the commissary department. Although the men had not suffered from short rations up to this time, still they had begun to feel the want of bread to accompany the other food with which they had been supplied, and to remedy this deficiency was for the time General Grant's first and greatest object.

By the 21st of May, General Grant had completed his arrangements for the drawing of every description of supply, and having secured this desirable aim, he was determined to make another effort to take the city of Vicksburg by storm.

General Grant was induced to again make the assault upon the rebel defences of Vicksburg from several causes, some of which he sets forth in his official report. "There were many reasons," said he, "to determine me to adopt this course. I believed an assault, from the position gained

by this time, could be made successfully. It was known that Johnston was at Canton with the force taken by him from Jackson, re-enforced by other troops from the East, and that more were daily reaching him. With the force I had, a short time must have enabled him to attack me in the rear, and, possibly, succeed in raising the siege. Possession of Vicksburg at that time would have enabled me to have turned upon Johnston, and driven him from the State, and possess myself of all the railroads and practical military highways, thus effectually securing to ourselves all territory west of the Tombigbee, and this before the season was too far advanced for campaigning in this latitude. I would have saved the Government sending large re-enforcements, much needed elsewhere; and, finally, the troops themselves were impatient to possess Vicksburg, and would not have worked in the trenches with the same zeal, believing it unnecessary, that they did after their failure to carry the enemy's works."

General Grant, therefore, gave orders on the 21st of May for a general assault upon the rebel defences, to be made at ten o'clock of the next morning, by the whole line; and that there should be no mistake or difference in the time of movement, and as a great deal would sometimes depend upon minutes, all the corps commanders set their chronometers by the one in the possession of General Grant. The following is the copy of the order issued for the movement to the corps commanders:

HEAD-QUARTERS IN THE FIELD, May 21, 1863. GENERAL:-A simultaneous attack will be made to-morrow at ten o'clock A. M., by all the army corps of this army.

During this day army corps commanders will have examined all practical routes over which troops can possibly pass. They will get in position all the artillery possible, and gain all the ground they can with their infantry and skirmishers.

At an early hour in the morning a vigorous attack will be commenced by artillery and skirmishers. The infantry, with the exception of reserves and skirmishers, will be placed in column of platoons, or by a flank, if the ground over which they may have to pass will not admit of a greater front, ready to move forward at the hour designated. Promptly at the hour designated all will start, at quick time, with bayonet fixed, and march immediately upon the enemy, without firing a gun until the outer works are carried. Skirmishers will advance as soon as possible after heads of columns pass them, and scale the walls of such works as may confront them.

By order of

U. S. GRANT, Major-General Commanding.

In order the better to secure success, General Grant's order was, on the evening of May 21st, communicated to the division and brigade commanders, and, as far as practicable, every thing was done calculated to insure the grand object of the movement.

Five minutes before ten o'clock, on the morning of May 22d, the bugles rang along the line to prepare for the charge, and, at ten o'clock precisely, the three army corps commenced their movement in the following order: General McClernand, with the Thirteenth Army Corps on the left, General McPherson, with the Seventeenth in the centre, and General Sherman, with the Fifteenth on the right. General Grant himself took up a commanding position near the front of the Seventeenth Corps, by which he was enabled to see all the advancing columns from that corps, and part of each of those on the right and left.

The preliminary work had been performed by the artil ery, and the outer works were breached in several places. Under cover of this fire, the infantry advanced to the charge all along the line. Brigade after brigade rushed forward, and slope and ditch were carried at the point of the bayonet. The Stars and Stripes were planted on several portions of the outer slopes of the enemy's bastions, and

they were maintained in that position until night. The assault was a splendid one, and was gallantly performed by all the troops on every part of the line; but the position of the enemy was far too strong to be thus taken. Vicksburg had always been naturally strong, but art had greatly improved it by the cutting of ditches, felling of trees, construction of works, and, what is of far more importance, the proper location of batteries to guard every avenue of approach. General Sherman reported that the artillery fire from the rebel works, on one part of his line, was so steady and severe, that it was impossible for the infantry to pass that point; and even when an attempt was made to take the death-dealing works, it was found to be so well covered by other works, that the assaulting party recoiled under the effects of a staggering fire.

Notwithstanding this fearful artillery reply to the assault, several evidences of individual bravery were manifested by the soldiers.* The walls were scaled, but with no successful effect. Although assaulted at every point and at all of them at the same time, the enemy was enabled to show as much force as his work could cover. "The assault failed," says General Grant, in his report, "but without weakening the confidence of the troops in their ability to ultimately succeed." They knew well that the failure did not arise from lack of courage in themselves, or skill in their commander, but they also discovered that works of the character which defended Vicksburg could not be carried by storm.

The position taken up by General Grant enabled him to have a view of the whole field of action, and he states emphatically that "the assault of this day proved the quality of the soldiers of the Army of the Tennessee. Without either success, and with a heavy loss, there was no mur

* See General Grant's Report, July 6, 1863.