When
Gen. W. T. Sherman came down from
Memphis to engage in the
siege of Vicksburg, late in 1862, with about 20,000 men and some heavy siege guns, he was joined by troops from
Helena, Ark., and was met by a gunboat fleet, under
Admiral Porter,
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at the mouth of the
Yazoo River, just above the city (Dec. 25). The two commanders arranged a plan for attacking
Vicksburg in the rear.
They went up the
Yazoo to capture some batteries at
Chickasaw Bayou and other points.
The Yazoo sweeps round in a great bend within a few miles of
Vicksburg.
The range of hills on which
Vicksburg stands extends to the
Yazoo, about 12 miles above the city, where they terminate in Haines's Bluff.
There is a deep natural ditch extending from the
Yazoo below Haines's Bluff to the
Mississippi, called
Chickasaw Bayou, passing near the bluffs, which were fortified, and along their bases were rifle-pits for sharp-shooters.
This bayou lay in the path of
Sherman's march up the bluffs, which must be carried to gain the rear of
Vicksburg.
His troops moved in four columns, commanded respectively by
Generals Morgan,
A. J. Smith,
Morgan L. Smith, and
F. Steele.
They moved on Dec. 27, bivouacked without fire that night, and proceeded to the attack the next morning.
The
Nationals drove the
Confederate pickets across the bayou, and everywhere the ground was so soft that causeways of logs had to be built for the passage of troops and artillery.
The
Nationals were seriously enfiladed by the Confederate batteries and sharp-shooters.
The right of the
Union troops was commanded by
Gen. F. P. Blair, who led the way across the bayou over a bridge his men had built, captured two lines of rifle-pits, and fought desperately to gain the crest of the hill before him. Others followed, and a severe battle ensued.
Pemberton, the
Confederate chief, had arrived, and so active were the
Confederates on the bluffs that the Nationals were repulsed with heavy loss.
Blair lost one-third of his brigade.
Darkness closed the struggle, when
Sherman had lost about 2,000 men, and his antagonists only 207.
