THE BATTLE OF CHICKASAW BAYOU.
Leaving Memphis.--Down the Great River.--Landing in the Yazoo.--
Description of the Ground..--A Night in Bivouac.--Plan of Attack.--
Moving toward the Hills.--Assaulting the Bluff.--Our Repulse.--New
Plans.--Withdrawal from the Yazoo.
On arriving at Memphis, I found General Sherman's expedition was ready
to move toward Vicksburg. A few of the soldiers who escaped from the
raid on Holly Springs had reached Memphis with intelligence of that
disaster. The news caused much excitement, as the strength of the
Rebels was greatly exaggerated. A few of these soldiers thought Van
Dorn's entire division of fifteen or twenty thousand men had
been mounted and was present at the raid. There were rumors of a
contemplated attack upon Memphis, after General Sherman's departure.
Unmilitary men thought the event might delay the movement upon
Vicksburg, but it did not have that effect. General Sherman said he
had no official knowledge that Holly Springs had been captured, and
could do no less than carry out his orders. The expedition sailed, its
various divisions making a rendezvous at Friar's Point, twelve miles
below Helena, on the night of the 22d of December. From this place
to the mouth of the Yazoo, we moved leisurely down the Mississippi,
halting a day near Milliken's Bend, almost in sight of Vicksburg. We
passed a portion of Christmas-Day near the mouth of the Yazoo.
On the morning of the 26th of December, the fleet of sixty transports,
convoyed by several gun-boats, commenced the ascent of the Yazoo. This
stream debouches into the Mississippi, fifteen miles above Vicksburg,
by the course of the current, though the distance in an airline is not
more than six miles. Ten or twelve miles above its mouth, the Yazoo
sweeps the base of the range of hills on which Vicksburg stands, at a
point nearly behind the city. It was therefore considered a feasible
route to the rear of Vicksburg.
In a letter which I wrote on that occasion, I gave the following
description of the country adjoining the river, and the incidents of
a night bivouac before the battle:--"The bottom-land of the Yazoo
is covered with a heavy growth of tall cypress-trees, whose limbs
are everywhere interlaced. In many places the forest has a dense
undergrowth, and in others it is quite clear, and affords easy passage
to mounted men. These huge trees are heavily draped in the 'hanging
moss,' so common in the Southern States, which gives them a most
gloomy appearance. The moss, everywhere pendent from the limbs of the
trees, covers them like a shroud, and in some localities shuts out
the sunlight. In these forests there are numerous bayous that form a
net-work converting the land into a series of islands. When separated
from your companions, you can easily imagine yourself in a wilderness.
In the wild woods of the Oregon there is no greater solitude."
* * * * *
"On the afternoon of the 27th, I started from the transports, and
accompanied our left wing, which was advancing on the east side of
Chickasaw Bayou. The road lay along the crest of the levee which had
been thrown up on the bank of the bayou, to protect the fields on
that side against inundation. This road was only wide enough for the
passage of a single wagon. Our progress was very slow, on account of
the necessity for removing heavy logs across the levee. When night
overtook us, we made our bivouac in the forest, about three miles from
the river.
"I had taken with me but a single blanket, and a haversack containing
my note-book and a few crackers. That night in bivouac acquainted me
with some of the discomforts of war-making on the Yazoo. The ground
was moist from recent rains, so that dry places were difficult to
find. A fellow-journalist proposed that we unite our blankets, and
form a double bed for mutual advantage. To this I assented. When
my friend came forward, to rest in our combined couch, I found his
'blanket' was purely imaginary, having been left on the steamer at
his departure. For a while we 'doubled,' but I was soon deserted, on
account of the barrenness of my accommodations.
"No fires were allowed, as they might reveal our position to the
watchful enemy. The night was cold. Ice formed at the edge of the
bayou, and there was a thick frost on the little patches of open
ground. A negro who had lived in that region said the swamp usually
abounded in moccasins, copperheads, and cane-snakes, in large numbers.
An occasional rustling of the leaves at my side led me to imagine
these snakes were endeavoring to make my acquaintance.
"Laying aside my snake fancies, it was too cold to sleep. As fast as
I would fall into a doze, the chill of the atmosphere would steal
through my blanket, and remind me of my location. Half-sleeping and
half-waking, I dreamed of every thing disagreeable. I had visions
of Greenland's icy mountains, of rambles in Siberia, of my long-past
midwinter nights in the snow-drifted gorges of Colorado, of shipwreck,
and of burning dwellings, and of all moving accidents by flood and
field! These dreams followed each other with a rapidity that far
outstripped the workings of the electric telegraph.
"Cold and dampness and snakes and fitful dreams were not the only
bodily discomforts. A dozen horses were loose in camp, and trotting
gayly about. Several times they passed at a careless pace within a
yard of my head. Once the foremost of the _caballada_ jumped
directly over me, and was followed by the rest. My comments on these
eccentricities of that noble animal, the horse, provoked the derision
rather than the sympathy of those who heard them.
"A teamster, who mistook me for a log, led his mules over me. A negro,
under the same delusion, attempted to convert me into a chair, and
another wanted to break me up for fuel, to be used in making a
fire after daylight. Each of these little blunders evoked a gentle
remonstrance, that effectually prevented a repetition by the same
individual.
"A little past daylight a shell from the Rebel batteries exploded
within twenty yards of my position, and warned me that it was time to
rise. To make my toilet, I pulled the sticks and leaves from my
hair and beard, and brushed my overcoat with a handful of moss. I
breakfasted on a cracker and a spoonful of whisky. I gave my horse a
handful of corn and a large quantity of leaves. The former he ate, but
the latter he refused to touch. The column began to move, and I was
ready to attend upon its fortunes."
General Sherman's plan was to effect a landing on the Yazoo, and,
by taking possession of the bluffs, sever the communication between
Vicksburg and the interior. It was thought the garrison of Vicksburg
had been greatly weakened to re-enforce the army in General Grant's
front, so that our success would be certain when we once gained the
bluffs.
A portion of our forces effected a landing on the 26th, but the whole
command was not on shore till the 27th. Fighting commenced on the
27th, and became more earnest on the 28th, as we crowded toward the
bluffs.
In moving from the steamboat landing to the base of the bluffs on the
28th, our army encountered the enemy at several points, but forced him
back without serious loss on either side. It appeared to be the Rebel
design not to make any resistance of magnitude until we had crossed
the lower ground and were near the base of the line of hills
protecting Vicksburg.
Not far from the foot of the bluffs there was a bayou, which formed an
excellent front for the first line of the Rebel defenses. On our right
we attempted to cross this bayou with a portion of Morgan L. Smith's
Division, but the Rebel fire was so severe that we were repulsed. On
our extreme right a similar attempt obtained the same result.
On our left the bayou was crossed by General Morgan's and General
Steele's Divisions at two or three points, and our forces gained a
position close up to the edge of the bluff.
At eleven A. M. on the 29th, an assault was made by three brigades
of infantry upon the works of the enemy on this portion of the line.
General Blair and General Thayer from Steele's Division, pushed
forward through an abatis which skirted the edge of the bayou, and
captured the first line of Rebel rifle-pits. From this line the
brigades pressed two hundred yards farther up the hillside, and
temporarily occupied a portion of the second line. Fifty yards beyond
was a small clump of trees, which was gained by one regiment, the
Thirteenth Illinois, of General Blair's Brigade.
[Illustration: GENERAL BLAIR'S BRIGADE ASSAULTING THE HILL AT
CHICKASAW, BAYOU.]
The Rebels massed heavily against these two brigades. Our assaulting
force had not been followed by a supporting column, and was unable to
hold the works it captured. It fell back to the bayou and re-formed
its line. One of General Morgan's brigades occupied a portion of the
rifle-pits at the time the hill was assaulted by the brigades from
General Steele's Division.
During the afternoon of the 29th, preparations were made for another
assault, but the plan was not carried out. It was found the Rebels had
been re-enforced at that point, so that we had great odds against us.
The two contending armies rested within view of each other, throwing a
few shells each hour, to give notice of their presence.
After the assault, the ground between the contending lines was covered
with dead and wounded men of our army. A flag-of-truce was sent out
on the afternoon of the 29th, to arrange for burying the dead and
bringing away the wounded, but the Rebels would not receive it.
Sunrise on the 30th, noon, sunset, and sunrise again, and they lay
there still. On the 31st, a truce of five hours was arranged, and the
work of humanity accomplished. A heavy rain had fallen, rendering the
ground unfit for the rapid moving of infantry and artillery, in front
of the Rebel position.
On the evening of the 31st, orders were issued for a new plan of
attack at another part of the enemy's lines. A division was to be
embarked on the transports, and landed as near as possible to the
Rebel fortifications on Haines's Bluff, several miles up the Yazoo.
The gun-boats were to take the advance, engage the attention of the
forts, and cover the landing. Admiral Porter ordered Colonel Ellet
to go in advance, with a boat of his ram fleet, to remove the
obstructions the Rebels had placed in the river, under the guns of the
fort. A raft was attached to the bow of the ram, and on the end of the
raft was a torpedo containing a half ton of powder.
Admiral Porter contended that the explosion of the torpedo would
remove the obstructions, so that the fleet could proceed. Colonel
Ellet expressed his readiness to obey orders, but gave his opinion
that the explosion, while effecting its object, would destroy his boat
and all on board. Some officers and civilians, who knew the admiral's
antipathy to Colonel Ellet, suggested that the former was of the same
opinion, and therefore desirous that the experiment should be made.
Every thing was in readiness on the morning of the 1st of January, but
a dense fog prevented the execution of our new plan. On the following
day we withdrew from the Yazoo, and ended the second attack upon
Vicksburg. Our loss was not far from two thousand men, in all
casualties.
General Sherman claimed to have carried out with exactness, the
instructions from his superior officers respecting the time and manner
of the attack. Van Dorn's raid upon General Grant's lines, previous to
Sherman's departure from Memphis, had radically changed the military
situation. Grant's advance being stopped, his co-operation by way
of Yazoo City could not be given. At the same time, the Rebels were
enabled to strengthen their forces at Vicksburg. The assault was a
part of the great plan for the conquest of the Mississippi, and was
made in obedience to positive orders. Before the orders were carried
out, a single circumstance had deranged the whole plan. After the
fighting was ended and the army had re-embarked, preparatory to
leaving the Yazoo, General Sherman was relieved from command by
General McClernand. The latter officer carried out the order for
withdrawal. The fleet steamed up the Mississippi to Milliken's Bend,
where it remained for a day or two. General McClernand directed that
an expedition be made against Arkansas Post, a Rebel fortification on
the Arkansas River, fifty miles above its mouth.
After the first attack upon Vicksburg, in June, 1862, the Rebels
strengthened the approaches in the rear of the city. They threw up
defensive works on the line of bluffs facing the Yazoo, and erected a
strong fortification to prevent our boats ascending that stream. Just
before General Sherman commenced his assault, the gun-boat _Benton_,
aided by another iron-clad, attempted to silence the batteries at
Haines's Bluff, but was unsuccessful. Her sides were perforated by
the Rebel projectiles, and she withdrew from the attack in a disabled
condition. Captain Gwin, her commander, was mortally wounded early in
the fight.
Captain Gwin was married but a few weeks before this occurrence. His
young wife was on her way from the East to visit him, and was met at
Cairo with the news of his death.
About two months before the time of our attack, an expedition
descended the Mississippi from Helena, and suddenly appeared near the
mouth of the Yazoo. It reached Milliken's Bend at night, surprising
and capturing the steamer _Fairplay_, which was loaded with arms and
ammunition for the Rebels in Arkansas. So quietly was the capture
made, that the officers of the _Fairplay_ were not aware of the change
in their situation until awakened by their captors.