Not knowing that Loring's Division had been cut off, Pemberton made a
stand at the Big Black River in order to hold the bridges open for
Loring to join the main force. The Confederate entrenchments spanned the
river at a readily defensible location where the stream made a horseshoe
bend. Across the mile-wide neck of the river the Confederates
constructed a line of works, and behind the earthworks, with their backs
to the river, were placed 4,000 infantry of Bowen's Division supported
by artillery.
Before dawn on the 17th the Union Army pushed on toward Vicksburg.
Grant, still hoping to win the race for Vicksburg, had dispatched
Sherman's Corps to the north to pass the retreating Confederate Army as
Grant engaged it from the front. At an early hour the Federal troops
came in sight of the Confederate line, whereupon they opened an
artillery barrage and deployed to assault. Before the deployment was
complete, Brig. Gen. Eugene A. Carr's Division charged "with a shout"
from the woods fronting the Confederate position. Realizing the danger
of their position, where they might be cut off from the crossing to
their rear, the Confederate troops broke and headed for the bridges in
disorder. After the withdrawal, the bridges were burned, effectively
halting Union pursuit. In the confusion, Grant captured over 1,000
prisoners along with 18 artillery pieces.
While Pemberton's Army retreated into the defenses of Vicksburg, Grant's
engineers immediately began construction of bridges across the Big Black
River, using trees, cotton bales, and lumber from nearby buildings as
bridging materials. Sherman's Corps, which had struck the river 11 miles
to the north attempting to outflank Pemberton and prevent his retreat to
Vicksburg, threw a pontoon bridge across the river at that point. By
light of pitch torches, the bridges were completed during the night. On
the following morning, May 18, troops crossed en route to Vicksburg.
[Illustration: _A regiment drawn up in line of battle._ From a
wartime sketch.]