Jackson
Civil War Mississippi


American Civil War
May 14, 1863

On May 9, 1863, General Joseph E. Johnston received a dispatch from the Confederate Secretary of War directing him to "proceed at once to Mississippi and take chief command of the forces in the field".

As he arrived in Jackson on the 13th, from Middle Tennessee, he learned that two Army Corps from the Union Army of the Tennessee —the XV, under Major General William T. Sherman, and the XVII, under Major General James Birdseye McPherson—were advancing on Jackson, intending to cut the city and the railroads off from Vicksburg.

Johnston consulted with the local commander, Brigadier General John Gregg, and learned that only about 6,000 troops were available to defend the town. Johnston ordered the evacuation of Jackson, but Gregg was to defend Jackson until the evacuation was completed.

By 10:00 am, both Union army corps were near Jackson and had engaged the enemy. Rain, Confederate resistance, and poor defenses prevented heavy fighting until around 11:00 am, when Union forces attacked in numbers and slowly but surely pushed the enemy back.

In mid-afternoon, Johnston informed Gregg that the evacuation was complete and that he should disengage and follow. Soon after, the Yankees entered Jackson and had a celebration, hosted by Major General U.S. Grant who had been travelling with General Sherman's corps, in the Bowman House.

They then burned part of the town and cut the railroad connections with Vicksburg. Johnston's evacuation of Jackson was a tragedy because he could, by late on the 14th, have had 11,000 troops at his disposal and by the morning of the 15th, another 4,000.

The fall of the former Mississippi state capital was a blow to Confederate morale.

Result(s): Union victory

Location: Hinds County and Jackson County

Campaign: Grant's Operations against Vicksburg (1863) next battle in campaign    previous battle in campaign

Date(s): May 14, 1863

Principal Commanders: Major General Ulysses S. Grant [US]; General Joseph E. Johnston and Brigadier General John Gregg [CS]

Forces Engaged: Army of the Tennessee [US]; Jackson Garrison [CS]

Estimated Casualties: 1,136 total (US 286; CS 850)

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Civil War Map of The Siege of Vicksburg, Miss, c.1863
Civil War Map of The Siege of Vicksburg, Miss, c.1863
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American Civil War Book Titles

Vicksburg: 47 Days of Siege
First-hand accounts of life during the 47 days Vicksburg was under siege. Ranging from housewives to soliders on both sides, a good idea of what life was like, from ways to pass the time to what to eat, in and around Vicksburg. A large photo album and a glossary

The Beleaguered City: The Vicksburg Campaign, December 1862-July 1863
Shelby Foote explains all engagements in and around Vicksburg. Every event is descriptively written covering naval strategies along the Mississippi, Yazoo and other rivers which were of importance to naval affairs of each opposing side
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Grant Wins the War
Decision at Vicksburg

A brilliantly constructed new account,A penetrating analysis of Grant's strategies and actions leading to the Union victory at Vicksburg. Approaching these epic events from a unique and well-rounded perspective, and based on careful research

Sherman's Mississippi Campaign
Sherman set out from Vicksburg on February 3, 1864, with an army of some 25,000 infantry and a battalion of cavalry. An opportunity to observe how this large-scale raid presaged Shermans Atlanta and Carolina campaigns, revealing the transformation of Shermans strategic thinking
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Vicksburg: The Campaign That Opened the Mississippi
Confederate troops surrendered Vicksburg on July 4, 1863 a crucial port and rail depot for the South was lost
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Champion Hill
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The Battle of Champion Hill was the decisive land engagement of the Vicksburg Campaign. The May 16, 1863, fighting took place just 20 miles east of the river city, where the advance of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Federal army attacked Gen. John C. Pemberton's hastily gathered Confederates

Vicksburg Expedition Guide
Annimated movie that details Grants Mississippi campaign which concluded with the seige of Vicksburg. A great background on the importance of this site in the entire war, as well as battles leading up to the Vicksburgh seige.

The Darkest Days of the War
The Battles of Iuka and Corinth

The strategic implications of the battles of Iuka and Corinth, exploring their impact on the fate of the Northern Mississippi Campaign, the fall of Vicksburg and by extension, the fate of the Confederacy.
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The Free State of Jones
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The southeastern Mississippi county that was home to a Unionist stronghold during the Civil War and home to a large and complex mixed-race community in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries


Ninety-Eight Days: A Geographer's View of the Vicksburg Campaign
The geology of the Mississippi river, and how the landcape along the river determined the course of events and logistical realities that the armies had to contend with, such as the pounds per square inch of a cassion wheel as it contacts the earth


Lee's Cavalrymen: A History of the Mounted Forces of the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865
The cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia its leadership, the military life of its officers and men as revealed in their diaries and letters, the development of its tactics as the war evolved, and the influence of government policies on its operational abilities. All the major players and battles are involved

A Hard Trip
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American Experience
The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry

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History's Mysteries: Family Feud:
The Hatfields And McCoys

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The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns
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Bad Blood Civil War Misouri and Kansas
Bad Blood: The Border War That Triggered the Civil War
In the years leading up to the Civil War, a bloody conflict between slaveholders and abolitionists focused the nation's eyes on the state of Missouri and the territory of Kansas. Told through the actual words of slave owners, free-staters, border ruffians, and politicians, Bad Blood presents the complex morality, differing values, and life-and-death decisions faced by those who lived on the Missouri-Kansas border

Blue Vs. Gray - Killing Fields
Relive the most vicious fighting of the Civil War, in which General Ulysses S. Grant forcibly reversed the tide of the conflict by paying with the blood of thousands. It was a desperate time for the Union

Civil War Combat: America's Bloodiest Battles
The violent mayhem of the hornet's nest at Shiloh, the valiant charge on the sunken road at Antietam, the carnage in the wheat field at Gettysburg, and the brutal fighting at Cold Harbor
Jefferson Davies DVD Documentary
Jefferson Davis
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Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress.

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