6th of May, a fight took place between the Union cavalry and the rebel forces under General Ruggles, at Tupello-a railroad station in Itawamba County, Mississippi-and, after a half-hour's conflict, the rebels retreated in disorder, leaving behind them their arms, equipments, and ninety of their men prisoners. On the north, General Grant ordered a still more valuable feint. In moving from Milliken's Bend, the Fifteenth Army Corps had been set apart to bring up the rear, and consequently, under that order, it was to be the last to start upon the southern march. General Sherman, commanding the Fifteenth Corps, had made every preparation to move by April 26, 1863, on which day he received a letter from General Grant, who was near New Carthage, ordering him to delay his march, in consequence of the state of the roads, until the system of canals, then in process of construction, could be completed. On the 28th of April, General Sherman received a letter in cipher, fixing the time when General Grant proposed to attack Grand Gulf, and stating that a simultaneous feint on the enemy's batteries near Haines's Bluff, on the Yazoo River, would be most desirable, provided it could be done without the ill effect on the army and the country of the appearance of a repulse. Knowing well that the army could distinguish a feint from a real attack, by succeeding events, General Sherman made the necessary orders, embarked the Second Division on ten steam transports, and sailed for the Yazoo River. At ten o'clock on the morning of April 29th, General Sherman, with this force, proceeded to the mouth of the Yazoo River, where he found several vessels of the fleet, ready to co-operate with the feigned movement. This fact alone proves how well General Grant and Admiral Porter had agreed upon the plan of operations, and how they worked in harmony together; neither one being jealous of the other's fame, but both being ready to do battle in their country's service, and for the common cause. The united forces then went up the Yazoo River, in proper order, and lay for the night of April 29th at the mouth of the Chickasaw Bayou. The next morning, at an early hour, the fleet advanced within easy range of the enemy's batteries. The gunboats at once made an attack upon the works, and for four hours kept up the demonstration. The vessels were then called out of range; and toward evening, General Sherman disembarked his troops, in full view of the enemy, making preparations as if to assault the works. As soon as the landing was effected. the gunboats reopened their fire upon the rebel defenses. The perceptible activity of the enemy, in moving the guns, artillery, and infantry, gave evidence that they expected a real attack; and, keeping up a show of this intent until dark, General Sherman succeeded in accomplishing the full object of his ruse. At night the troops re-embarked; but during the whole of the next day similar movements were made, accompanied by reconnoissances of all the country on both sides of the Yazoo River. While thus engaged, he received instructions from General Grant to hasten and rejoin him at Grand Gulf. The two divisions of General Sherman's corps that had remained at Milliken's Bend were at once ordered to march, and to join General Grant by way of Richmond, Louisiana, while he, at the head of the Second Division, kept up his feint on the Yazoo River until night. General Sherman then quietly dropped back to his camp at Young's Point, when the whole corps, with the exception of one division left behind as a garrison, marched to Hard Times, four miles above Grand Gulf, on the Louisiana shore, where it arrived on the morning of May 6th, after traveling sixty-three miles on foot. During the night of the 6th, and the morning of the 7th, the forces were ferried over the river, and on the 8th commenced their march into the interior. A junction was to have been formed between the forces under General Grant and those under General Banks; but, in consequence of the position of the troops under the latter general, this movement was found to require a much greater delay and loss of time than could be afforded, as will be seen from the following extract from the official report:- Wrote General Grant: "About this time (May 4th), I WHY GEN. GRANT WAS NOT RE-ENFORCED BY BANKS. 271 received a letter from General Banks, giving his position west of the Mississippi River, and stating that he could return to Baton Rouge by the 10th of May; that, by the reduction of Port Hudson, he could join me with twelve thousand men. "I learned about the same time, that troops were expected at Jackson from the Southern cities, with General Beauregard in command. To delay until the 10th of May, and for the reduction of Port Hudson after that, the accession of twelve thousand men would not leave me relatively so strong as to move promptly with what I had. Information received from day to day, of the movements of the enemy, also impelled me to the course I pursued." CHAPTER XIV. THE ARMY APPROACH VICKSBURG. General Grant's Head-Quarters moved forward to Hawkinson's Ferry.-The Rebel Governor Alarmed.-General Grant's Congratulatory Order.—He Telegraphs to Washington.-Fall of Jackson.-The Army at Bolton.-Clinton.-Champion's Hill-Crossing the River.-The Investment of the City. GENERAL GRANT secured a sufficient amount of supplies for his columns, and arranged the order of march while at Grand Gulf. May 7th he removed his head-quarters to Hawkinson's Ferry, on the Black River, leaving Sherman to guard the captured post, during the few hours it would be of service for the landing of the remainder of the supplies. While lying at Hawkinson's Ferry, waiting for the wagons, supplies, and Sherman's corps to come up, demonstrations were made to make the enemy believe that the routes to Vicksburg by that ferry, and the one by Hall's Ferry, which was a short distance higher up the river, were very desirable to General Grant. To impress this idea still further upon the minds of the rebel generals, reconnoitering parties were sent out along the roads, on the west side of the Big Black River, to within six miles of Warrenton. The artifice was completely successful. In the mean time, Mississippi was called to arms to resist the advance of General Grant. General Grant's plans had been too carefully studied to be thwarted by any suddenly improvised forces that the Governor could then raise. On the morning of the 7th of May, a general advance was ordered. The Thirteenth Army Corps was directed to move along the ridge road from Wilton Springs; the Seventeenth was to keep the road nearest the Black River to Rocky Springs; and the Fifteenth was to divide in two parts, and follow. All the ferries were closely guarded until the troops were well advanced, to prevent surprise on the flanks, and also to mislead the enemy as to the intention of the movement. Before the troops were started on this march, the following congratulatory order was read at the head of every regiment: FIELD, } HEAD-QUARTERS ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE, IN THE FIELD, Soldiers of the Army of Tennessee: Once more I thank you for adding another victory to the long list of those previously won by your valor and endurance. The triumph gained over the enemy near Port Gibson, on the 1st, was one of the most important of the war. The capture of five cannon and more than one thousand prisoners, the possession of Grand Gulf, and a firm foothold on the highlands between the Big Black and Bayou Pierre, from whence we threaten the whole line of the enemy, are among the fruits of this brilliant achievement. The march from Milliken's Bend to the point opposite Grand Gulf was made in stormy weather, over the worst of roads. Bridges and ferries had to be constructed. Moving by night, as well as by day, with labor incessant, and extraordinary privations endured by men and officers, such as have been rarely paralleled in any campaign, not a murmur of complaint has been uttered. A few days' continuance of the same zeal and constancy will secure to this army crowning victories over the rebellion. More difficulties and privations are before us; let us endure them manfully. Other battles are to be fought; let us fight them bravely. A grateful country will rejoice at our success, and history will record it with immortal honor. U. S. GRANT, Major-General Commanding. It seems that General Grant had intended, while at Hawkinson's Ferry, to have moved the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Army Corps in such a manner as to hug the Black River as closely as possible, that they might be able to strike the Jackson and Vicksburg Railroad at some point between Edwards's Station and Bolton. The Seventeenth Army Corps was to move by way of Utica to Raymond, thence to Jackson, at which place, and in its vicinity, the railroad, telegraph, and public stores were to be destroyed, after which, the corps was to move west, and rejoin the main army. The commander-in-chief was not behind his troops; but, as they advanced, he continually changed his head |