Vicksburg campaign: Difference between revisions

That winter, Grant conducted a series of initiatives to approach and capture Vicksburg,<ref>''Organization of the Army of the Tennessee, Major General Ulysses S. Grant, U. S. Army, commanding, January 31, 1863'': Official Records, Series I, Volume XXIV, Part 3, [http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar&cc=moawar&idno=waro0038&node=waro0038%3A1&view=image&seq=23&size=100 pagep. 23.]</ref> termed "Grant's bayou operations". Their general theme was to use or construct alternative waterways so that troops could be positioned within striking distance of Vicksburg, without requiring a direct approach on the Mississippi under the Confederate guns.

The Williams Canal across De Soto Peninsula had been abandoned by Adm. Farragut and Brig. Gen. Williams in July 1862, but it had the potential to offer a route downriver that bypassed Vicksburg's guns. In late January 1863, Sherman's men, at the urging of Grant—who was advised by the navy that President Lincoln liked the idea—resumed digging. Sherman derisively called the work "Butler's Ditch" (since it was Maj. Gen. [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin Butler]] who had sent Williams upriver to do the work), which was barely 6 feet wide by 6 feet deep. Grant, undoubtedly influenced by Lincoln's continual inquiries as to the status of the canal, ordered Sherman to expand the canal to 60 feet wide and 7 feet deep and the effort became known as Grant's Canal. It was not properly engineered based upon the hydrology of the Mississippi River, however, and a sudden rise in the river broke through the dam at the head of the canal and flooded the area. The canal began to fill up with back water and sediment. In a desperate effort to rescue the project, two huge steam-driven dipper dredges, ''Hercules'' and ''Sampson'', attempted to clear the channel, but the dredges were exposed to Confederate artillery fire from the bluffs at Vicksburg and driven away. By late March, work on the canal was abandoned. (Remnants of about 200 yards of Grant's Canal are maintained by the Vicksburg National Military Park in Louisiana).<ref>Bearss, vol. I, pp. 436–50436–450; [http://www.nps.gov/archive/vick/grntcanl/grantsc.htm VNMP article] on Grant's Canal.</ref>

Grant ordered Brig. Gen. [[James B. McPherson]] to construct a canal of several hundred yards from the Mississippi to [[Lake Providence, Louisiana|Lake Providence]], northwest of the city. This would allow passage to the Red River, through Bayous Baxter and Macon, and the [[Tensas River|Tensas]] and Black Rivers. Reaching the Red River, Grant's force could join with Banks at Port Hudson. McPherson reported that the connection was navigable on March 18, but the few "ordinary Ohio River boats" that had been sent to Grant for navigation of the bayous could only transport 8,500 men. The boats through Lake Providence increased the Union soldiers to a force of 30,000 and provided the field commander the flexibility of a 4:1 advantage, potentially more than enough to ensure a successful siege of Port Hudson. Although this was the only one of the bayou expeditions to successfully bypass the Vicksburg defenses, historian [[Ed Bearss]] diminishes this exploit as the "Lake Providence Boondoggle".<ref>Bearss, vol. I, pp. 467–78467–478; Ballard, pp. 173–74173–174.</ref>

The next attempt was to get to the high ground of the [[loess]] bluffs above Hayne's Bluff and below Yazoo City by blowing up the Mississippi River levee near [[Moon Lake (Mississippi)|Moon Lake]], some 150 miles (240&nbsp;km) above Vicksburg, near [[Helena, Arkansas]], and following the Yazoo Pass (an old route from [[Yazoo City, Mississippi|Yazoo City]] to Memphis, which was curtailed by the 1856 levee construction that sealed off the Pass from the Mississippi River to Moon Lake) into the Coldwater River, then to the [[Tallahatchie River]], and finally into the Yazoo River at [[Greenwood, Mississippi]]. The dikes were blown up on February 3, beginning what was called the Yazoo Pass Expedition. Ten Union boats, under the command of Lt. Cmdr. Watson Smith, with army troops under the command of Brig. Gen. [[Benjamin Prentiss]], began moving through the pass on February 7. But low-hanging trees destroyed anything on the gunboats above deck and Confederates felled more trees to block the way. These delays allowed the Confederates time to quickly construct [[Fort Pemberton (Mississippi)|Fort Pemberton]] near the confluence of the Tallahatchie and [[Yalobusha River]]s near [[Greenwood, Mississippi]], which repulsed the naval force on March 11, March 14, and March 16. The Union effort collapsed in early April.<ref>Bearss, vol. I, pp. 479–548; Ballard, pp. 174–84174–184; Eicher, pp. 439–40439–440.</ref>

Admiral Porter started an effort on March 14 to go up the Yazoo Delta via Steele's Bayou, just north of Vicksburg, to [[Deer Creek (Mississippi)|Deer Creek]]. This would [[flanking maneuver|outflank]] Fort Pemberton and allow landing troops between Vicksburg and [[Yazoo City, Mississippi|Yazoo City]]. Confederates once again felled trees in their path, and willow reeds fouled the boats' paddlewheels. This time the Union boats became immobilized, and Confederate cavalry and infantry threatened to capture them. Sherman sent infantry assistance to repel the Confederates bedeviling Porter, but Porter's approach was abandoned as too difficult.<ref>Bearss, vol. I, pp. 549–90549–590; Ballard, pp. 184–88184–188.</ref>