Grant's Vicksburg campaign officially began on March 29, 1863, when he
ordered McClernand's Corps to open a road for the army from Milliken's
Bend to the river below the city. Considerable work had been done
previously when it was contemplated that a canal from Duckport to the
river below Vicksburg might offer passage to the fleet. Falling waters
had finally defeated this plan and, during April, McClernand's engineers
labored to bridge streams, corduroy roads, and build flatboats to cross
areas still covered by flood waters. During that month also, elements of
the Army of the Tennessee accomplished the 70-mile march and assembled
at a small hamlet appropriately named, Hard Times, in view of Grant's
unpleasant bayou experiences. Here they were across the river from the
Confederate stronghold of Grand Gulf, 25 miles below Vicksburg.
[Illustration: _Adm. David Dixon Porter, commanding the Union naval
operations on the inland waters._ Courtesy National Archives.]
[Illustration: _Porter's gunboats running the Vicksburg batteries on
the night of April 16, 1863._ From a wartime sketch.]
[Illustration: _This remarkable wartime photograph, taken by a
Confederate Secret Service agent, shows Grierson's cavalrymen near
the end of their 600-mile raid behind the Confederate lines._ From
_Photographic History of the Civil War_.]
To ferry the Union Army across the Mississippi, it was necessary for
Porter's fleet, in anchorage north of Vicksburg, to run the batteries
and rendezvous with Grant below. While naval craft singly and in groups
had, on occasion, passed these batteries successfully before, it was
still a formidable undertaking for which careful preparation was
required. As protection against shellfire, each vessel had its port
side, which would face the Vicksburg guns in passage, piled high with
bales of cotton, hay, and grain. Coal barges were lashed alongside as an
additional defense.
Shortly before midnight, April 16, Confederate pickets in skiffs at the
bend of the river above Vicksburg saw the muffled fleet bearing down
upon them and quickly gave the alarm. Tar barrels along the bank were
ignited and buildings in the small village of De Soto across the river
were set afire. The blinding light of a great flare helped illuminate
the river and outline the fleet for the Confederate gunners. Tier upon
tier of the river batteries thundered down on the Union vessels. In
return, these boats delivered their broadsides into the city as they
passed so close that the clatter of bricks from falling buildings could
be heard on board.
Through this "magnificent, but terrible" spectacle--one of the most
fearful pageants of the war--steamed the fleet in single file. "Their
heavy shot walked right through us," related Porter. Every one of the 12
boats was hit repeatedly. Many went out of control and revolved slowly
with the current. Despite the furious bombardment, only one craft was
sunk; within a few days damages were repaired and the fleet joined the
army at the village of Hard Times. Because of the difficulty of
supplying the army by wagon train over the wretched road from Milliken's
Bend, 6 transports and 12 barges loaded with supplies ran the batteries
a few nights later with the loss of 1 transport and 6 barges.