Dr. Angela Riotto: "The Union Invasion of Mississippi in 1863"

thank you foreign [Music] good afternoon everyone hello my name is Angela Davis and I'm a member of the Dole institute's student Advisory Board the official student group of The Institute the student Advisory Board is a bipartisan group whose members have access to exciting opportunities through their involvement with the Institute this includes volunteering for evening programs and networking with our special guests if you are a student and would like to join please contact us by emailing Dole s a b ku.edu welcome to the Dole Institute of politics and thank you for attending today's program presented by the department of military history at the command and general staff college at Fort Leavenworth a video of today's program will be available on our YouTube channel soon you can also access videos of past programs by visiting our YouTube channel at any time a loop hearing system is available to use if you have a t-coil hearing aid we also have a limited number of listening devices if you have questions about the loop hearing system or if at any time during the program you have difficulty hearing please alert one of our staff members after the program we'll have some time for the audience to ask questions if you have a question please raise your hand and a student worker with a microphone will come to you please stand if you are able and ask just one brief question if you are part of our virtual audience please email dolequestions ku.edu with any questions the Dole institute's mission is to Foster civil and respectful discussion around important and often difficult topics please phrase your questions with this in mind before we begin I'd like to remind you to please turn off your cell phones and now please join me in welcoming deputy director mark gergis [Applause] well thank you all for coming out it's always good to see so many familiar faces that we've uh managed to make this a a regular part of your routine to come out and we appreciate that uh it's my pleasure today to introduce Angela rioto she's an assistant professor in the department of military history she has her PhD from the University Akron in American history she did her master's degree on the union invasion of Mississippi and then her PhD is on Civil War prisoners in memory she's also a bit of a Renaissance person because she worked at army University press before she came to us where she wrote directed and and did the scripts for three of their films two of the films were on the battle of Okinawa and excuse me two of the films run the battle for Baghdad in 2003 won the race two Baghdad and one for the battle for Baghdad and then she also directed and wrote the script for the first Okinawa film and I'd like to introduce now Angela rioto [Applause] all right well hello everybody um I'm so excited to be here I was here in September talking about pows and now we're going to shift gears a little bit and we're going to talk about whatever my Master's thesis on the union invasion of Mississippi and Ulysses S Grant's implementation of hard war strategy as part of that campaign but first I do want to thank the Dole Institute of politics for just running the speaker series this is always a fantastic opportunity and I'm excited to see so many of you guys here and I also want to thank the department of military history at cgsc for also supporting this fantastic program right so today I'm actually going to talk about four main topics about the Vicksburg campaign and the invasion of Mississippi right in 1863. first we're going to talk why Vicksburg I'm sure that many of you in the audience and many of those watching at home are familiar with Vicksburg strategic importance to the United States and the Confederacy but a little background never hurt anybody so we're going to start there all right then we're going to talk about the several failed attempts to capture Vicksburg in late 1862 and early 1863. so major Ulysses S Grant and the army of the Tennessee are going to try six times do you capture Vicksburg between November of 1862 and April of 1863 and you heard me right six different times before he's going to adjust strategy and try something new today we don't actually have time to talk about all six we're only going to talk about four major ones and some of them you might be familiar with and that's what we're going to focus on and then we're going to talk about how he kind of Switched gears and realize he needs to implement a new approach right to actually capture Vicksburg in the west okay and then we're going to wrap up with the crossing of the Mississippi River and the Overland Campaign which is going to allow him to be successful and eventually Siege and capture Vicksburg and then we're going to talk about some lessons learned that he and his commanders are going to implement for the rest of the war right so a lot to cover today but I think it will be super exciting so let's get started also I should quick mention that we are not talking about The Siege of Vicksburg today right we're going to talk about the invasion of Mississippi there are many fabulous books and articles and videos that could cover the topic much better than I can um so we're just going to stick to the invasion and then stop right before the siege starts okay so why Vicksburg so during the Civil War Vicksburg actually sit sat on high Bluffs above the Mississippi River the river actually has since shifted since then thank you to the Corps of Engineers but at the time it sat along the Mississippi River and the city itself and the Confederates Garrison there dominated the river okay it's also strategically important because control of the river is going to allow for the Confederacy to move supplies from the trans Mississippi which is Louisiana Arkansas and Texas I was hoping my little laser would work but I guess not to the east all right Not only was the River vitally important which again you can see the the river here the Mississippi River but there's also a rail line in Vicksburg and from that rail line along with the river the Confederacy can ship supplies from again the trans Mississippi all the way to the east this rail line is not only going to connect Vicksburg to Jackson but also Meridian we're going to talk about Jackson and its importance a little bit later but I do just want to know as you can see Jackson is a hub multiple Rail lines meet in Jackson from which you can ship supplies and Meridian also is a sort of Hub that you can ship a whole bunch of supplies to all over the Confederacy right so that just shows how important Vicksburg is to the Confederacy but it's also important to the United States and that's why Federal forces are in the excuse me in the area trying to capture Vicksburg Abraham Lincoln is going to famously comment um this great quote and that's why I have it here in completeness see what a lot of land these fellows hold of which Vicksburg is the key here is the Red River which will supply the Confederates with cattle and corn to feed their armies they're the Arkansas and white rivers which can cons which can supply cattle and Hogs by the thousand and from Vicksburg these supplies can be distributed by rail all over the Confederacy then there's that great Depot supplies on the Yazoo and we're going to talk about the Yazoo River a lot today so he says let's get us Vicksburg and all that country is ours the war can never be brought to a close until the key is in our pocket right so this is vitally important both to Confederacy and the United States and what Grant is eventually going to realize learn and take advantage of is that if Vicksburg is key to victory in the West Jackson is a key to Vicksburg okay so he's going to try multiple attempts to take Vicksburg once that fails by Spring of 1863 he's going to shift gears try a new approach that is going to take us to Jackson which is the capital of Mississippi and also Implement a new strategy of hard War which I'm also going to talk about okay so how do we get there so between November of 1862 and March of 1863 like I said Grant is going to try six different attempts again we do not have time to go through all six right and they all fail so it's not like one is standing out and I'm skipping and I promise they all fail but we are going to talk about the four major ones that I think are important to talk about um the first one is the central Mississippi Overland campaign uh not the not to be confused with the Overland campaign I'm going to talk about later moving from the southwest to Jackson and then East to Vicksburg or how I like to refer to as the capital O overlaying campaign that's taking place in Virginia in 1864 and 1865 but it is moving over land so that's why the name is there we're going to talk about the Chickasaw Bayou Expedition that Major General William T Sherman is going to attempt to do almost simultaneously alongside the central Mississippi Overland campaign we're going to talk about grants canal which some of you may have heard of and then we're also going to talk about the Yazoo pass Expedition right um and again there are some that I'm not going to talk about Lake Providence scheme we're not going to talk about we're not going to talk about Steels Bayou again those also failed um and it's going to cause him to implement a new and unique approach to the invasion of Mississippi and the capture of Vicksburg and I'm going to return to this map repeatedly because I think it's an excellent map that shows the the various approaches and kind of put it in perspective of distance so I will keep coming back to it you get very familiar with it let's talk about the first one so the central Mississippi Overland campaign our story actually starts as early as November of 1862. this is when Grant is going to open his campaign for Vicksburg he is planning to advance South along the Mississippi Central Railroad right not very fancy when he came to names and he plans to advance along actually two axes which are going to converge on the Jackson Mississippi Jackson Mississippi Vicksburg Mississippi region right so Grant is going to methodically move South along the central Mississippi railroad with 40 000 troops he's actually starting in Memphis Vance into northern Mississippi he's going to go to Oxford he's going to go to Holly Springs Grenada and eventually try to link up with Sherman's Advance through the Chickasaw Bayou which we're going to talk about as well all right he's rebuilding the Mississippi railroad as he goes so he's very moving very methodically slowly advancing and he's actually making pretty good success in northern Mississippi his success though is very short-lived in December of 1862 specifically 20 December 1862 both Nathan Bedford Forrest and Earl Van Dorne are going to launch attacks on grants extended lines of supply and lines of communication right they're going to hit several space excuse me several places but the most significant is the attack on the Supply Depot at Holly Springs Mississippi right this is going to be destroyed and captured by Earl Van Dorne and because of this because it is so logistically debilitating Grant is going to be forced to call off his advance some historians argue and I also believe that this destruction of Holly Springs and again just being tied to a logistics line and how important that is to his campaign I think is going to cause Grant to be more likely to accept a hard war strategy when he attempts his other Overland campaign in Spring of 1863 but we'll talk about that a little bit later okay the second attempt the Chickasaw Bayou Expedition okay and this is Major General William T Sherman like I mentioned and this is happening about the same time as Grant's Overland campaign I do want to mention here that this is supposed to be like they're supposed to be supporting operations right grant is going to move over land coming from the north Sherman's going to move in from the West they're going to Lincoln above Vicksburg and attack Vicksburg together makes sense in theory right Sherman is going to hear about the news about Holly Springs as he's actually getting ready to launch South Via the river and he is going to hear this news and immediately he's like oh all right um should we should we maybe reschedule like maybe we should call off my operation wait for Grant and in his Memoirs he says that you know what no Grant can handle things Grant can't handle it which I think shows you um his trust in Grant that shared understanding with Grant and understanding that even if there is this delay or possibly even calling off of the operation grant is still going to handle it be able to come up with a plan for Vicksburg so that's always a little happy story for me but also uh politically right there's a lot of pressure on Grant and the army of the Tennessee to take Vicksburg the for those who are familiar with the war in the Eastern theater this is right around the time of the Battle of Fredericksburg which is a devastating defeat for the army of the Potomac so politically it would not look good for both Sherman and Grant to call off the advance against Vicksburg in December of 1862. so Sherman decides to continue on with the advance right so Sherman has 32 000 troops and it's a river-born Expedition kind of like I mentioned from Memphis down to the Yazoo River the Yazoo river is drawn here this is a great hand-drawn map from the 13th Regiment of the Illinois Infantry um and his expedition is actually going to fare even worse than grants Central Mississippi Overland campaign like I said Grant's operation was kind of meant to distract Pemberton from Sherman's attack but with the devastation of Holly Springs Pemberton is actually going to have time to fortify like strengthen into the defenses around the Chickasaw Bluffs the Chickasaw Bayou and around Vicksburg so by the time that Sherman and his men are going to get there it's going to be even increasingly strengthened across a for oncoming Federal attack right um I do want to mention a little bit about terrain here because terrain is going to play a huge role in why this Expedition fails so the Chickasaw Bayou flowed Northeast along the foot of the Chickasaw Bluffs and then curved left to empty into the Yazoo River so we have it we're in this area right here is going to curve right and the Confederate line is going to be a couple hundred yards Beyond The Bayou and it's particularly fortified with Dugout rifle pits Abbott tea and cleared fields of fire they are waiting for Sherman's men right so difficult terrain such as swamps and woods are actually going to impede the union advance from their River Landing sites and it's going to take two full days for Sherman to a load his 32 000 men from the Yazoo River all right so here's the Yazoo River like I said this is Chickasaw Bayou you can see the multiple Roots the various commanders are going to take to start to bring their men into that area two full days which is this just two more full days for the Confederates to get ready right and this is going to be a disaster for Sherman after trudging through the water into the Chickasaw Bayou Sherman's going to order several frontal assaults against the Confederate main line of resistance and they're going to fail to break the Defenders this is incredibly bloody one of the Battalion commanders actually laments after a failed attack There Goes My Battalion right they're even hesitating to want to continue the attack that's how Bloody they are right so after several days of being repulsed and taking High casualty Sherman is eventually going to call off his attacks um and just to give you an idea of how Bloody this was the Chickasaw value battle is going to cost the union 208 killed 1005 wound it and 563 missing it's over 1700 casualties in three days okay Confederate casualties are going to Total 57 killed 120 wounded and 10 missing right so this is the second major failed attempt to take Vicksburg and it's only December of 1862. I know this is such a happy topic welcome right um if you were here for the pow one that was even better um so let's move on now uh we're going to talk about Grant's canal and grants Canal again this is not a happy story um but Grant's Canal is kind of where the story becomes remarkable when we think about critical thinking and creative thinking and commanders trying in like new innovative ways to take on the enemy grants Canal I think is up there it's also notable for the engineer efforts that went in um to the canal especially in any and even some of the other Expeditions between January and March of 1863. Grant is going to try several ways to bypass the strong Confederate position at Vicksburg by creating flanking units through the bayous um and several of these efforts like Sherman's Chickasaw value Expedition and grants Canal are going to use waterways right to try to get around the strong point of Vicksburg and like I said the most famous is these I think is Grant's canal Grant's immediate problem besides the fact that Vicksburg is very well fortified um is that his army has to get out of the flood plain and get onto The High Ground around Vicksburg heavy rains and the subsequent High River levels are going to keep the flood plain under water for most of January to April of 1863. right so just keep that in mind and this is going to prohibit any really Overland approach across the lowlands to Vicksburg as a result Grant is going to develop this idea of a canal across the DeSoto Peninsula so I just want to use this map here because I think it shows it pretty close this is the DeSoto Peninsula right here De Soto point is about here this idea that they would build a canal dig a canal move across and then get to the high Land The High Ground above vicksburg's fortifications right um just to explain how big this canal has to be 60 feet wide six feet deep and a brow a mile to and a mile and a half long across the DeSoto point right this is a very impressive feat um high waters as you can see from make sure I'm going the right way high waters are going to be a concern like I said there's a special High rains in that particularly that spring causing high water levels so a lot of flooding as they're trying to clear the canal disease right so waterborne illnesses mosquito-borne illnesses malaria it wouldn't be a civil war presentation without matching dysentery right um are all going to cause delays and to make it worse the Confederates are going to realize that they are digging this canal and they're going to turn their batteries and start firing on those digging the canal so needless to say after three months of digging Grant is going to call off um work on the canal in late March 1863. and even while work progressed or failed to progress on the canal Grant is going to actually order other attempts at vicksburg's around the same time right this is this is a man really trying to capture Vicksburg capture the Gibraltar of the West right there's a lot of things going on politically there's a lot of things going on in the Army the Tennessee he is willing to try anything so like I said there were smaller Enterprises like the Lake Providence scheme steals Bayou but I'm really going to focus on the fourth attempt which is the Yazoo pass Expedition we've already mentioned the Yazoo River a few times and that is going to involve that and it's also just fun to say Yazoo right I used to live in Mississippi and it's just I think it's a fun name right Yazoo pass the Yazoo River so after the failed canal and the Lake Providence scheme Grant again is going to have a I think a remarkable idea right um to reopen the Yazoo pass but to put this in perspective and this is why this map is so amazing the Yazoo pass is not close to Vicksburg right the Yazoo pass is six miles south of Helena Arkansas and some 320 River miles north of Vicksburg it's up here Vicksburg is down here right to put in perspective the canal was yeah right there right so this is quite a distance away so why the Yazoo pass so the Yazoo pass was actually once used by small vessels for the shortest and safest way between Yazoo City and Memphis eventually it leads to the Yazoo River which then opens up into the Mississippi River right so in theory the plan is here and I will move actually on over this side for this side of the group hello um we are going to enter from the Mississippi River Yazoo pass there's Moon Lake as well up there and they're going to go down the various Rivers flow all the way down make connection with the Yazoo River North of Vicksburg and approach the city again in theory it makes sense also in theory that looks that looks very intimidating right so let's let's talk about it so Grant actually is going to send several of his men North to see if this is even doable right and it is discovered that they can use explosive to open the Levee and flood the old Yazoo pass once they realize that he's going to invite rear Admiral David Dixon Porter and his Mississippi River Squadron we're going to talk about them later to support the joint operation through the Yazoo pass again grants object objective was to get his troops into a flanking position against the rebel Defenders the expedition was an effort to bypass the Confederate defenses on the Bluffs near the City by using the back Waters of the Mississippi Delta as a route from the Mississippi River to the Yazoo River once on the Yazoo the Army then could cross the river on a pose and achieve their goal the operation would cry require a deep penetration in enemy territory as you can see this is mostly dominated by water so hence the two services are going to have to cooperate fully for this to be a success and the Expedition is actually going to start on February 3rd 1863 with the breaching of the levy of the Mississippi River allowing the water to flow from the river into now the dry Yazoo pass right all starts off well but I know you can see from this map but I do just want to rock a walk through some of the specifics and this is why I definitely needed my notes for this because it's a little complicated so the attacking fleet has to pass through the cut from the Mississippi River to Moon Lake then through the now flooded Yazoo pass to the cold water river and then into the Tallahatchie River which combines with the yala balusha river to form the Yazoo River and eventually flowing back to the Mississippi River right it's a bit complicated okay and from the start the Expedition is actually going to be delayed and not really because Confederate resistance Confederate resistance is there um one of the other arguments that why Grant chooses Hardware strategy eventually is because of Confederate resistance from the civilian population or gorillas um I think and we don't have to talk about this today but it is more of like a hybrid Warfare right where we have conventional forces operating alongside unconventional forces so he is getting some gorilla attacks but most the delay is actually from natural obstacles right they have to reopen a pass right there's downed trees uh there's just cotton Bales randomly on the side of the river and to start they're only making about 10 miles a day again to remind you this is 320 miles north of Vicksburg okay because progress was so slow the Confederate are able to prepare for them so confederate general Confederate Lieutenant General John C Pemberton who we'll talk about later was able to actually set up a fort and block passage to the Confederate Fleet near Greenwood Mississippi and I do want to point out this is not a fancy Fort this is not a trace Italian Star for it right this is pretty much some trees some cotton Bales and some artillery pieces and they're going to call it Fort Pemberton right and as you can see here Fort Pemberton is right about here in this Bend in the river okay um the federal Fleet are not even going to approach this fort until March 11th five weeks after it they initially opened the levees so there's five weeks for the Confederates to prepare for the Ironclad gunboats and the transports because they're also transporting Union Soldiers along with the gunboats right five weeks to prepare the iron Clan gumbler the iron clad gunboats are actually going to be repulsed from Fort Pemberton right after three days they're going to exchange various gunfire um on three separate days and they're going to be pushed back because of the nature of the ground which I mentioned is very waterlogged right we're crisscrossed with a water a lot of water waterways throughout this area and because of all the flooding that spring most of that area was also underwater besides Fort Pemberton so the Union Soldiers aboard the transports could not even assist during the gunfire exchanges because everything was underwater right so the fleet is going to be forced to turn back and that's also going to be a failed Expedition this is again March 14th about and for the very last gun boat to clear the area it's actually going to be till April 14th until they make it all the way back to their starting point all right so again great idea I think it really speaks to Grant Ingenuity at thinking about taking Vicksburg but they all fail all right so what do you do right what do you do when all the Bayou Expeditions fail so with the failed Yazoo pass Expedition all of Grant's attempts to get through the Mississippi Delta and probe the swampy low-lying areas around Vicksburg failed and by April 1863 he has pretty much given up on any Bayou Expeditions and I wanted to include this quote this is from Grant to Sherman in March of 20 1863 22 March so only a few days after the Yazoo Expedition has failed the canal is not doing very well and you can just see how downtrodden he is he seems quite defeated so I regret that the chances look so gloomy for getting through to the Yazoo by that route I had made so much calculation upon the Expedition down Yazoo pass and now again by the route proposed by Admiral Porter that I have made but little calculation upon reaching Vicksburg by any other than Haines Bluff oh and we're going to talk about Haynes Bluff with regard to Sherman in a little bit right but again March of 1863 Grant almost sounds defeated right there doesn't seem to be many options left but he's willing to try right and I think this speaks to Grant's ability as a commander as a critical thinker as a creative thinker um and I'm a big fan of Grant so maybe I'm a little bit biased um but he is going to try something new right he is going to try something different for when it comes to Vicksburg but he has learned several things in this process it's not just all failures right you can learn from your mistakes he's going to learn that a direct on Attack on Vicksburg isn't practical not a good idea right that has not worked it's probably not going to work they have to find a different approach the strength of the Confederate defenses has actually have been even improved during this time they start to really fortify the city after Admiral David farragutz River Advance the year earlier and then they've only strengthened their defenses through these multiple attempts so that's another reason you don't want an Overland or a direct assault the train north of the city as we talked about is Swampy right it it's full of volumes and waterways pretty much impassable to a large army Grant has three core that is very difficult to try to move across the Mississippi Delta all right so you can't do that and a withdrawal to Memphis to his headquarters where he left his fourth core and maybe try to make another second Overland campaign from the north is going to probably be seen as a defeat and it's going to be politically disastrous that is not an option right so what do you do so Grant's new strategy is to avoid a frontal assault good idea fertile salts don't usually work um on the Confederate defenses by marching his army down the west side right of the Mississippi River in Louisiana to cut below Vicksburg and there he would board Admiral Porter's transports that we talked about earlier they would be ferried across the river into Mississippi and then he would make an Overland approach to Vicksburg right in theory it sounds good a few Hang-Ups one Porters transports and gunboats are going to have to run the gauntlet pass vicksburg's guns this is a daring plan other vessels have done it but still the expectations of the Mississippi River Squadron to run not only the Ironclad gun boats but also transports enough that you can carry the Army across the Mississippi River is asking a lot all right but Grant is willing to take the chance he's tried so many things he has Porter support right many historians argue that Porter and Grant they have a great professional working relationship they both have their eye on the objective and they're willing to work together to achieve that objective right and Grant is going to also require several other factors to move into Mississippi and against Vicksburg so not only is he going to have to run past the guns which he does do he is going to accomplish this on the nights of the 16th of April and the 22nd of April um this is going to allow him to have Grant to have fundamental River support reliable transportation and also an indispensable diversion if you will Grant hopes that Pemberton in response in response to Porter's Advance is going to fortify the city of defenses which he does thank you Pemberton right Pemberton is also going to reinforce the city with troops from the surrounding area because of the surprise attack that is also going to help kind of shape the area for Grant as they start moving Inland um and so with Porter's success Grant is aiming to capture Vicksburg by attacking the Confederate Army of the West at Jackson which I mentioned Jackson is going to be very important to Vicksburg he marched three of his cores from northern Mississippi through Louisiana and milliken's bend and South to flank Vicksburg and I am going to go back because again I love my maps just put in picture so Memphis we have the Mississippi River here he is going to work himself down this side of the river he's actually going to first attempt to land at Grand Gulf where the Confederates have a small fortification a Supply Depot they're going to take fire and they're going to move further south to bruinsburg Mississippi where he's eventually going to land his troops and start moving Inland but before he can do that there's another thing he needs he needs another diversion right and this is where Haynes Bluff comes in where I mentioned earlier he is going to ask Sherman to use his core to faint against Haynes Bluff so he's going to order him to make a fence by moving his troops along the Yazoo River above Vicksburg this attack is going to again persuade Pemberton to reinforce the city right also for those who know about Pemberton he might not be the most capable Lieutenant General out there Army Commander some argue that he was you know Peter's principal promoted above his you know capability so with all this confusion going on Pemberton really doesn't know what to do which works in Grant's favor after causing some confusion confusion then Grant expects Sherman then to also come down cross the river and meet him for the Overland Campaign which he is going to also to further confuse Pemberton and the Confederates Grant is going to send two other units as diversions he's going to send Brigadier General Frederick Steele who's going to move Inland towards Greenville Mississippi and the second more famous that I love um is the group is grierson's raid this is led by 37 year old former school teacher Colonel Benjamin grierson can you imagine if he was your teacher in school um like don't talk back I let her raid through Mississippi um on April 17th so again even before uh Grant knows for sure that Porter can get down across like down past the guns um gruerson and 1700 Cavalry men are going to leave from Lagrange Tennessee and raid throughout Mississippi and even parts of Louisiana causing chaos and confusion and you can see here this great image to show just um how far he went right and he's also sending out smaller raids as well East and West so it's very much they don't know where the federals are coming from and Pemberton again in Miss the chaos the confusion is just going to re-fortify Vicksburg all right so with Pemberton successfully dumb founded on how to react to all these multiplied diversions Grant and his men are going to successively cross at brunsburg on 30 April again Bloomsburg is down here by the end of the day on 30 April Grant has going to cross 22 000 Union troops we're on the Mississippi side of the river Grant is going to pause from three to nine May to bring his Supply trains forward and also to allow Sherman's core to catch up with the main body and by the time he's going to set out for Central Mississippi right um we're going to have The Big Black River we're gonna have Jackson we're gonna have Raymond bef as he sets up for that area he's going to have 42 000 troops right and with more reinforcements and supplies arriving regularly um just to give you an idea I said he has three core with him we have 15th Corps commanded by Major General William takub Sherman Major General James McPherson has the 17th core and then the lead is Major General John mclarenons 13th core right grant is going to leave his fourth core which is the 16th core under Major General Stephen Hurlburt in Memphis at headquarters right and he's kind of protecting the vulnerable supply lines we know from earlier they need to be protected right we have multiple Confederate Cavalry operating in the area so he's going to leave him behind and this is where I think the story the invasion of Mississippi becomes remarkable I'm not saying it wasn't remarkably forehand Grant's Canal is definitely remarkable right the Yazoo pass Expedition is remarkable but this I think is particularly noteworthy um because not only does Grant move 42 000 men across the river with against Little Resistance he's going to capture Grand Gulf Mississippi has a supply base but then he decides to cut loose from his supply lines and Implement a hard war strategy and I like the term hard war first credit the idea of for Mark Grimsley in his hard hand of War book and from 1995 Michael Balor who's a Vicksburg historian also prefers the term a little bit different than Total War hard war is attacking not only government property but also private property if it's in support of the war effort right so a private business that makes uniforms for the Confederacy Burn It Down right cotton that is going to for the Confederate Army take it or destroy it right so it's not this wanton destruction of Civilian private property it's those dedicated towards the war effort but it's now considered kind of open range right if it supports the Confederate war effort you're welcome to destroy it and this is where he's going to transition to hard War um but it's a two-step process the first one is to not use a conventional line of Supply like I mentioned and he uses the quote make the country furnish the balance to do so Grant is going to allocate a substantial number of his men to locate supplies along the Big Black River and these actions inherently are going to demoralize the civilian population in the area Grant's diction to make the country furnish the balance I think is also noteworthy first his ter his use of the word make right because she could suggests the Army was going to forage with or without Southern civilians consent all right if they're supporting the Confederacy they're welcome to it secondly make might entail the use of force either explanation is likely general order number 100 is going to be released in April of 1863 and this is going to sanction federal troops to use force in self-defense against hostile civilians and Guerrilla forces like I mentioned they've been under attack from Guerrilla forces throughout this entire campaign therefore both are probable if Grant considered mississippians to be hostile regardless right grant needed to feed and supply his forces without delay a delay as we know would only give his enemy more time to reinforce fortify and prepare for attack and Grant does not have that option I do want to caveat this though I do not want you guys to think that he is a complete abandoning his supply line right he's not living off the land entirely in fact he's going to benefit from his new Supply base at Grand Golf and from wagon trains the wagon trains are going to supply ammunition weapons medical supplies and then he's going to rely on the land the local population for foodstuffs forage whatever else they might need but the point Still Remains that this is a major logistical risk and it's introducing that new strategy of hard War again like I mentioned I do think this is linked back to Earl vandoorne's attack on Holly Springs right he knows how fragile how at risk long supply lines are again there's Confederates operating in this area so this is kind of allowing him some flexibility at high risk to move quickly into the center of Mississippi to Jackson and then move across Vicksburg also Grant's going to realize the Mississippi River Valley is underpopulated right but it's a rich agricultural area they have cattles Hogs grain um like I said war materials are definitely going to still have to be hauled by wagons Mississippi soil might be rich but I don't think you know guns grow on trees so they are going to have to bring those with them but everything else animal forage me and other Provisions they can get from the land so I just want to caveat this it's not a complete abandonment he still bringing supplies up but a little bit more freedom here um so with abandoned Memphis supply line and the authorization of mass foraging he ordered also the extensive destruction of Mississippi's Capital City Jackson and this is a way of weakening Vicksburg like I mentioned so geographically politically and economically Jackson is the heart of Mississippi and in 1863 it was a Lifeline to Vicksburg okay um it was the state's major industrial city it also served as a hub if you will for various Rail lines it had numerous Rail Yards it had an Arsenal it had Mills it had foundries it had Supply Depots everything is in this city Confederate War materials packaged food items cotton troops all are going to extend from the epicenter right which is Jackson to Mississippi's Forest corners and so Grant believes to sever the military assistant from jacksburg to Vicksburg would eventually lead to Vicksburg surrender and Confederate control in the West not yet so by mid 19th Century mid-19th Century Jackson was a building Metropolis of 2100 people right Mississippi's four major railroad lines the Southern Railroad in Mississippi came from the East the New Orleans Jackson and great northern from the south the Mississippi Central that we talked about earlier from the North and then the Vicksburg Shreveport Texas line came from the West they all meet in Jackson this Railway system also connects the chief Trade Centers of Vicksburg Natchez Meridian Corinth and Grenada and during the war they transported civilians troops and staple Goods primarily cotton in all directions one word they started using for this was the numerous Dixie Works based out of Jackson right so any of those Dixie Works any Machinery any Rail lines any forages any War materials could be destroyed or confiscated according to the Libra code and according to hard war strategy all right so first grant is going to demand the destruction of the railroads right in every direction Grant is actually going to select Sherman to do this his most trusted Commander he's going to leave him behind as he advances further West to Vicksburg he is going to order Sherman to stay behind to designate a brigade from his command to guard the city they're going to collect stores and forage collect all public Pro property of the enemy and then troops are to commence immediately the effectual destruction of the river railroad bridge and the road as far east as possible as well as North and South troops going east of the river should destroy all Confederate States of America cotton and stores they find and then Grant is also going to instruct German to rip up all the line within three to five mail three to five mile radius of the city and this is so that confederate general Joseph E Johnston is not going to be easy be able to return easily so he was in the city he left he goes north about 20 miles to Canton Mississippi so by destroying the rail run they hope to delay him from coming back and providing support if some of you are like doesn't this sound familiar yes Sherman is going to do something very similar to the Meridian campaign and then March to the Sea right so this is kind of like a dress rehearsal for some of those events they are going to implement later and while these instructions seem maybe more like material Warfare more like just conventional attacks on the enemies property I do want to consider grants repetition of the word all Grant is not wording Sherman destroy Bridges or railroads merely to protect his rear but also to debilitate the city additionally Grant did not explicitly forbid the demolition or destruction or theft of private property in earlier campaigns there's always a note to avoid the destruction or unnecessary destruction of private property here there is no note right there are no limitations um this could be considered part of the 1862 confiscation act which permitted Union Soldiers to take items from abandoned homes um Jackson is going to be largely abandoned as the Union forces are going to approach there is a battle of Jackson on 14th May so that might explain that but also Grant does not offer any punishment for soldiers are found who are found looting occupied homes and after the war years later even as some Southerners are writing Grant when he's president saying hey you owe me money for taking this from my home Grant either will reply being like well last time I checked you supported the Confederacy um or he doesn't reply at all my favorite story is there's a hotel in Jackson before the war it was called the U.S Hotel during the war they changed the name to the Confederate Hotel so when Grant goes there he orders it burned the owner of the hotel writes him in the 1870s that says hey you burned down my hotel we were the U.S hotel we were always loyal to the government you owe me and Grant response like no last time I checked it was named the Confederate Hotel all right so they they don't really have a lot of Sympathy for the civilians suffering um so I think the nebulous definitions of private and government property form a vital part of this hard war program um another fun story I like is they get to the Pearl River Mills Cotton Factory again private company actually has female workers working in the factory but they're printing on CSA cloth so Confederate States of America cloth um he's going to walk in he's going to realize they're making Confederate uniforms he's going to announce that they have done enough work forces them to leave and then demands it be levels so I think it's just these are great stories right talking about the start of hard War um so what with the completed Devastation of Jackson destruction of all possibility of aid from Jackson to Vicksburg on 14th May 1863. again this is just a fantastic image maybe not fantastic they are burning a city to the ground um a remarkable image a notable image um of what they are doing to Jackson in May of 1863. right they are going to do something very similar in July of 1863 during the Meridian campaign um but with it properly wrecked um Grant is going to be able to move against Vicksburg and get there by about 18th May so shortly after the destruction of Jackson he's going to be able to move Siege Vicksburg with Mississippi's interior pretty much weakened or wrecked demoralized civilians and eventually this is going to result in the successful Siege of Vicksburg and then pemberton's surrender of the city on 4 July 1863. so I think these actions form the foundation of the Union's emerging hard war program and require considerable Manpower it discouraged Southern civilians loyal to Confederacy and it decimated Mississippi's economy pretty much in two days that's very remarkable to me right um so who cares so what I want to talk about some of the lessons learned so the army of the Tennessee's activities on the march to and from Jackson coupled with Sherman's destruction of the city I think train them to use similar tactics and approaches in Virginia Georgia and South Carolina in 1864 and 1865. the Army's execution of hard war in May of 1863 was again kind of like a dress rehearsal in which Grant and Sherman are going to cultivate this new approach to Warfare Sherman's Meridian campaign like I said in July of 1863 has marked the sea and Beyond Grant's 1864 capital O Overland campaign and then even Major General Philip Sheridan Shenandoah Valley campaign I think are all connected to their original uses in Mississippi in Spring of 1863. while the former operations are widely accepted as hard war or at least understood as hard War um these campaigns can be explicitly linked back to Grant's invasion of Mississippi thank you [Applause] so actually before we get to questions and if you have a question raise your hand and they'll bring you the microphone I do just want to mention that next month on Thursday 6 April Dr Lou DeMarco will be talking about the invasion at Incheon in Korea so you're going to jump ahead about a couple like maybe 100 years but please turn out for that one all right any questions could you put up a map again please of course the relationship between Jackson and Vicksburg yep so Jackson is here Vicksburg is here it's um directly east it's actually not a very bad Drive either if you're ever down there all right thank you you're welcome yeah I think Maps definitely help everyone visualize what's going on here because it's a lot of distance to cover there's a lot of areas but I think it just shows how determined Grant was to take Vicksburg and try multiple approaches uh first of all I enjoyed your presentation very much thank you uh I was curious about the uh gun votes uh involved uh David Porter Dixon's photo of gun votes came down to Mississippi uh but my question was uh they're evidently coming from the Heartland not from the sea so my question was where were they initially constructed and based so Cairo Illinois is going to be one of the main bases for many of the gunboats there's actually the USS Cairo Illinois which is going to be sunk during many one of these Expeditions but yeah they're coming out of Cairo Illinois and then they're also um in Memphis and if you guys are ever in the Vicksburg National military Park you can actually see parts of the USS Cairo that they brought up from the riverbed and you can actually walk through it all right okay I enjoy your presentation maybe you ran out of time but I was wondering the Battle of champion Hill how what was your assessment of the importance of that of the Confederates eventually being locked up in Vicksburg no that's a great question yeah I actually I did not want to spend too much time on the battles I did that purposefully again there are many experts that can do it far better than I could um but I think this is one of the last big stands of course Grant is going to also try several attacks when he makes it to Vicksburg that are going to be your pulse that are going to lead to the siege but this is one of the Confederates major Last Dance right um with a big black River Bridge there and then Champion Hill and if you read the actual if you want to say the after actions report from Champion Hill kind of how the battle progressed it is not a huge Union victory like it is kind of back and forth for a little bit they're trying to actually take the hill through various assaults so even up to that point it's not a complete Union victory right I don't know how much the Confederates are going to stand for that piece of train before falling back to Vicksburg even if they think they were winning because Grant had made so so much progress by that point um but yeah Champion Hill is definitely a very interesting story because when you read The Narrative it looks like Grant's core are just mowing down Confederate forces and making this fantastic progress to the Battle of Raymond the Battle of Jackson big black Champion Hill in Vicksburg and it's not the case the Confederates are putting up a resistance as he's going along and you can also visit that too but it's private property they're going to have said that in their opinion the Battle of champion Hill's most important battle of the Civil War because because of the Confederate defeat they have to pull back into Vicksburg which is in effect made Vicksburg untenable and when the whole Mississippi failed then that was more important than anything else so I I you know I think I think it's a an important issue a battle and I just want to get your opinion of it oh yeah thank you uh yeah again it's not a complete it is eventually a union victory but it's not as complete or indecisive as people think it would be another thing to think about and I'm I just wrote a piece on this is you have to realize Johnson's Army is still out there right Johnson's Army is in Canton Mississippi um they call him the army of relief and pembered his writing him to come relieve them so he is still available in Mississippi to possibly provide relief to Vicksburg and he does not he's going to write a letter that he he's going to write a letter that he is too late um which I make the argument that he is actually not too late and he could have easily or it's Johnson's personality so we have to ignore Johnston as Johnston for a second but if he was not Johnston and someone else um they could possibly provide a relief but that obviously does not happen Pemberton and Johnson's their personalities would not allow them to act like a grant or a Sherman that's just not who they are as Commanders anything um why did Grant try to go over land through all the swamps and the the that the rivers and that Monk when he seems to have had a a natural water Highway that in the Mississippi that he could have used to position his forces closer to to Vicksburg without tromping through the the swamps so this is uh so this entire area is the Mississippi Delta it's all swamps it's all it's all swamps it's very waterlogged that's why like it's the entire Mississippi Delta it's very rich soil it's also it's called Uh I believe lost soil La soil which is the soil that is going to be taken from the Mississippi River as it moves through the area it's very rich agricultural land but it is very swampy and it cannot support a large army moving across it and also we know the siege right is going to last until July 4th so we think often vicksburg's defense is facing this way which they're going to force to turn and we're going to have the trench lines and the caves um but most of the actual defenses are facing the river so even the idea of coming from the river the first couple times that's where they're taking all the artillery fire so that's not even an option either so he does have to come up with a way to flank Vicksburg to get around those those defenses um I think we're out of time thank you so much thank you everyone for being here and we hope to see you next month [Applause] foreign [Music] foreign

Channel: The Dole Institute of Politics

Views: 1,764

Keywords: Dole Institute, Dole Institute of Politics, Politics, University of Kansas

Id: ySE_b_gvX3o

Length: 65min 15sec (3915 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 03 2023