...y, and all supplies of ordnance stores and provisions had to be hauled by land over the miserable, muddy roads. As early as the 13th of February, Grant had written to Hurlbut: It seems to me that Grierson , with about five hundred picked men, might succeed in cutting his way south, and cut the railroad east of Jackson, Mississippi. The undertaking would be a hazardous one, but it would pay well if ca...