On the 20th, our troops had had a hard little fight but were repulsed
by the rebels, after they had charged up close to the strong rebel
forts. On the 21st we moved up near our advance lines and on the
22nd a general charge all along the lines was ordered. Our regiment
supported the 7th Kentucky.
Several of our regiments in front had planted their flags on the
rebel forts and the destruction of men was horrible. The earth
trembled under the powerful explosives. Many of our boys were slain
in hand to hand fights.
From some unknown cause, the rebel army in our front was reinforced
and we were driven back with a heavy loss. The blame was laid
to General McClernand, the commander of our 13th corps. He was
superceded and I never heard of him afterwards. He was a fine looking
general. Thus the name of the 13th corps was lost at Vicksburg.
The nurses and wounded whom we had left at Champion Hill, had been
captured but were paroled. They came to us about this time.
Our troops were driven back and some of the regiments lost their
flags. At night some of the wounded were carried away but the rebs
would shoot at any little noise. Many of the wounded perished that
night for want of help.
During all of the siege. Admiral Porter bombarded the city with
twenty-two inch mortars and other heavy guns. It was a sight to see
those huge shells raised to the distance of four miles, and then
explode and send the pieces of shell humming to the ground, and
making a noise like thunder.
On the 24th, we went to work digging rifle pits and preparing for the
siege. Our large guns kept up a continuous firing all along the lines.
On the 25th, our dead, who had fallen in the charge of the 22nd, had
not yet been buried. The rebels had refused to let us bury them. But
the corpses stunk them out and they gave us a four hour’s armistice
in which to bury the dead.
Two of those in our regiment were wounded while working in the rifle
pits. We were relieved from this duty by the second brigade. We then
moved back in a deep hollow to rest.
On the 26th we moved up to support the first regular siege guns.
Our duty was heavy skirmishing all day and digging rifle pits and
planting batteries at night.
On the morning of the 28th our batteries opened a heavy fire all
along the line. They blew up one of the rebel’s magazines, thus
causing a terrible explosion. The rebels returned fire but after an
hour of heavy bombarding they were silenced. On the 30th, a small
dram of commissary whisky was issued all along the line.
On the 31st we took our position on the lines where we remained until
the surrender. Osterhos moved his brigade back to Black River and
began building breastworks to protect our rear.
The rebel generals, Johnson and Breckenridge, had come up with forty
thousand men to raise the siege.
On the morning of the first day of June, 1863, our troops were
stationed on the lines as follows: General Herring on our extreme
left flank, next to the Mississippi River; General Lawman’s division
joined on to them; our division, under General Hovey next; the first
brigade of General Osterhos’ troops, next, which brigade reached
the Vicksburg and Jackson Railroad; Generals Carr, Smith, and
Quinby next came in; General Logan’s corps was fronting that strong
fort called “The Queen of Vicksburg,” which afterwards became the
noted part of the drama of Vicksburg; next General McPherson; and
General Sherman’s corps as has already been stated, took their place
on the extreme right at Haines’ Bluffs, near the Yazoo River. We
were reinforced by Burnsides’ ninth corps, which was moved back to
strengthen our rear, and Osterhos’ second brigade, and to fortify the
banks of Black River.
We now had one hundred thousand troops in this vicinity. General
Logan’s troops began tunneling under the largest fort at Vicksburg
that morning. The rebels opened up with several of their heavy guns
but they were soon silenced as we were advancing our rifle pits in
close range and our sharpshooters were getting to be good marksmen.
At night General Lawman’s division tried to advance their rifle pits,
and the rebels in front opposed their advance. There were several
hard charges made on both sides. The rebels would drive our boys out
of the pits and fill them up and then Lawman’s men would charge back
and open up the rifle pits again. It was quite an exciting scene to
witness.
Everything was quiet in front of Hovey’s division, but we were
looking for the rebels to oppose our advance at night. On the morning
of the second of June, our army was digging wells all along the
line to supply us with water. We got plenty of water at a depth of
eighteen feet.
The rebel batteries opened up a heavy cannonading, but our boys soon
silenced them. On the morning of the third we were still advancing
our rifle pits and the rebels were getting in a few shots with their
big guns. They were now getting short of ammunition and were loading
their guns with pieces of our mortar shells and railroad iron.
Breckenridge, the rebel, had forty thousand men at our rear, but we
were too well fortified for him to make an attack. On the eighth a
force of rebel cavalry attacked our guards and sick at Millikin’s
Bend, but they were repulsed and driven back with a slight loss.
On the 11th a continual firing was kept up all day. One man in
Company B of our regiment was killed. He was hit in the back with a
piece of one of our own shells, while he was lying on his bunk.
On the 12th a detail from our regiment planted some heavy eighty-four
pound guns in our rear and fifteen thousand men were sent back to
Black River to reinforce our rear guard which was looking for an
attack every hour, as things were getting desperate with the rebel
army which was cooped up in Vicksburg.
On the 14th the rebels opened fire with some small mortars, on
General Herring’s troops. Several were killed and wounded by mortar
shells. They also threw some shells into Logan’s division.
At night some of our boys met the rebs half way between our lines and
exchanged coffee for the papers which the rebels were printing in
Vicksburg. We found much valuable information in these papers.
Since they had been cooped up in Vicksburg, the rebels had been in
communication with Breckenridge’s army by means of some spies. We
also often traded coffee with the rebels for tobacco or something
which we wanted, while we were on picket duty.
On the 16th the rebels opened fire with some of their heavy guns on
our rifle pits which we were advancing within a short distance of
their forts. But they were soon silenced by our sharpshooters.
On the 17th, a battery of our twenty-four pound siege guns threw
hot shot into the city and tried to set the houses on fire, but they
failed to do much damage, as the buildings were so far apart. The
most of them had been pounded down by Porter’s big mortar shells, and
very many of the citizens had dug out houses in the railroad cut,
sixty feet below the top of the ground. Some of the houses had been
dug out in solid rock and they were proof against Porter’s big shells
that rolled to the height of four miles, then dropped and went into
the ground fifteen feet, then they exploded and tore out holes in the
ground as large as a house.
It seemed impossible for any living being to exist in such a hell
through forty-eight days in the presence of those death-dealing
monsters. The earth and air were both filled with iron and lead.
On the morning of the 18th, our company was relieved out of the rifle
pits by Companies C and E. While we were yet standing there two of
the boys were killed by rebel sharpshooters. One was out of Company C
and the other out of Company E. The bullets passed through the loop
in our head logs and then went through the boys’ heads. We were only
sixty yards from the fort at this time. Admiral Porter used his fleet
of mortars and ironclads continually. There was neither rest nor
quiet during those hot days, made still hotter by the whizzing shells
and zipping minnie balls.
On the 23rd we received two months’ pay. We now had money and
could catch a little time to bet on our old familiar game called
chuck-a-luck.
General Logan’s men had their tunnel underneath the “Queen of
Vicksburg” completed. On the morning of the 25th, we received orders
for every man to fire fifty rounds of cartridges and each battery
to fire one hundred rounds, all along the entire line. Just imagine
eighty thousand anxious men, standing in the rifle pits, awaiting
orders and ready to charge the mighty Gibraltar of Vicksburg.
Everything was quiet and not a sound disturbed the still air. Many
were thinking of home and God and wondering what was coming next.
About ten o’clock we saw a cloud of black smoke go up like the
upheaval of a volcano. It carried with it to the height of a mile,
hundreds of tons of earth and debris and a great number of men. This
was followed by a mighty shaking of the earth, and the “Queen of
Vicksburg” was no more. She was up in midair with hundreds of mangled
human bodies dropping back to the earth.
At this moment five hundred cannon and eighty thousand small arms
opened fire, and every man yelled at the top of his voice. Just think
for a moment what a panorama this must have been. In five minutes
nothing could be heard except the crash and roar nor could anything
be seen on account of the smoke. Sheets of flame and clouds of black
smoke shot up from the mouths of those great monster guns.
After an hour of work in this awful scene of death and destruction
the lines all ceased firing. A few rebels in front of us gave three
cheers to let us know that they were not all dead. The destruction
then continued in Logan’s division, and it lasted until after dark.
I cannot give a full account of the work of destruction that went on
in that division because I was not there, and got only a brief sketch
of the horrors in that awful crater. After the explosion of the fort,
Logan’s men charged in and tried to make an opening in that terrible
place. They fought the rebels hand to hand, and both sides used hand
grenades. These caused a great destruction on both sides. The rebels
were reinforced and drove our men out, capturing several prisoners.
On the 26th, we moved one section of Captain Foster’s twenty-pound
Parrot guns into our rifle pits, not over one hundred yards from the
main rebel forts. We had to put collars on the guns to protect the
eyes of our gunners.
Hard fighting was going on between Logan’s division and the rebels.
They were fighting for the possession of the crater which was blown
out between the two armies. They used all kinds of devices for
holding that “bone of contention.” At night General Hovey had our
rifle pits extended to within forty paces of their large fort. The
rebels opened on us with canister, but it took no effect as our works
were too strong.
At night our pickets and the rebels stood only ten feet apart and
talked to each other. When four o’clock came, the first one that got
into the rifle pits fired at the other, sometimes cutting the dirt
close to his heels as he went over into the ditch on his head. He
then lay there panting for breath.
The rebels built a wire fence and defied us to cross it. On the
night of the 28th Captain Jackson of our pioneer corps and a working
squad advanced our pits as far the fence. The rebel pickets were
called into the fort and several shots fired. We then sent for
reinforcements. The commander of the fort called out to know who the
officer was who dared to intrude on his rights. We were now within
thirty feet of the fort and were lying under two big guns whose
muzzles one could crawl into.
Our captain answered the rebel thus, “Sir, I am Captain Jackson of
the pioneer corps, and have orders from U. S. Grant to dig you out of
here, and who are you, sir?”
“I am Colonel Jackson of the 20th Alabama Confederate, and have my
orders form General Pemberton to blow you out of existence if you
cross that wire fence.”
They met each other between the lines, shook hands, and had a long
interview, for they proved to be uncle and nephew. I thought that
we were in for it that night when their picket was called in and I
heard the gunner call out, “Double shot with cannister, Number Four.”
But now all was settled and we rested in our rifle pit until morning.
On the 29th the rebels planted a heavy gun to dismount our
twenty-four pounders, that lay to our rear. They had fired two shots
which took no effect, when one of our twenty-pound Parrots in the
rifle pit threw a shot which knocked the rebel gun out of existence.
July 1, 1863, the rebels made a charge on part of McArthur’s
division, but they were driven back into their works, with a counter
charge. They lost thirty killed and taken prisoners. They also
charged out on Lawman’s advance, capturing and filling up several
rifle pits. They covered up several of our wounded, who perished
before we recaptured the pits. That part of the line was reinforced
and we established our line nearer their fort.
On the 3rd, we advanced our works by sapping and mining. We dug up
some negro skeletons as this had been a negro graveyard. We were
building ladders and preparing for a general charge. We could throw
clods of dirt into the rebel’s forts. They had planted several mines
under our rifle pits by digging tunnels.
We all knew that something was going to happen, as this kind of
warfare could not last much longer.
At nine o’clock, on the morning of the 3rd of July, a flag of truce
came out from the rebel lines, and was received at General Grant’s
headquarters. Then came the order to cease firing all along the line
for a three hours’ armistice. But Porter, who had not received the
order, kept his big mortars busy, and threw some large pieces of
shell over the rebels, and into our lines.
This rest was a good thing for all of us. Both rebel and union
troops sat up on our works and talked over the business of the day.
This is a day long to be remembered by many, both of the North and
the South. At twelve o’clock at noon both armies resumed their places
in the works and renewed that long struggle, but the firing was not
as heavy as it had been.
At six o’clock in the evening, we saw the second flag of truce and
firing ceased all around the lines. On the morning of the 4th of
July, at eight o’clock, a salute of eight blank cartridges was shot
from each heavy gun all along the line. At nine o’clock General
Pemberton and his staff rode out and met General Grant under a large
live oak tree, near the lines. Here Grant accepted the surrender of
Vicksburg with twenty-seven thousand prisoners, fifty thousand stands
of small arms and three hundred and fifty pieces of artillery.
White flags went up on each fort and the rebels marched out and
stacked their guns. Yanks and rebs were soon all mixed up and talking
as sociably as if nothing had happened. They were almost starved and
soon we were all at the same tables, eating a good square meal of
hardtack, sow belly and coffee.
Later I went inside their works and found several kettles of poor
mule beef, cooking on fires back of their forts. It was horrible to
witness the sights in the town, especially the hospitals. It did not
take long to get enough of sight seeing for the rotten smell in that
hole of death was terrible.
General Grant soon went to Washington, D. C. to receive thanks
and congratulations for the part he had taken in putting down the
rebellion, and General Sherman took temporary command of the army at
Vicksburg.
THE SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG.
From the History of D. H. Montgomery.
On the Mississippi, Vicksburg and vicinity was held by a strong
Confederate force under General Pemberton. Early in the spring of
1863, General J. E. Johnson, then at Chattanooga, Tennessee, moved
with an army to join Pemberton. In a number of masterly battles,
Grant defeated Pemberton before Johnson could unite with him. He
forced Pemberton to retreat into Vicksburg, and drove Johnson off of
the field.
For several weeks Grant and Sherman, with over seventy thousand,
besieged Vicksburg. Union men were shelling the city night and day.
Food was so scarce that the Confederates had but one cracker a day.
The town was so knocked to pieces that women and children had to live
in caves, dug in the earth. They too were reduced to a few mouthsful
of food a day. Mule steaks gave out and many had to choose between
eating cats and rats.
Out of less than thirty thousand, they had six thousand sick and
wounded. They could hold out no longer and July 4th, 1863, Vicksburg
surrendered. Grant took nearly thirty-two thousand prisoners. Union
loss, twenty-three thousand three. Rebel loss, twenty thousand four
hundred and fifty-one.
Among those that took part in that day of celebration and victory
was the war eagle, Old Abe, the hero of many battles. He was carried
on a perch, near the flag, by one of the color bearers of the 8th
Wisconsin.