Cavalry raids by both sides occupied the early months of this third year
of conflict. One of the longest was that of Col. Benjamin H. Grierson
and 17,000 Federal horsemen. Leaving La Grange, Tenn., in April,
Grierson's troopers wrecked railroads and supply depots all the way to
Baton Rouge, La. The raid lasted two weeks and helped clear the way for
Grant's campaign against Vicksburg.
[Illustration: Two of the Confederacy's celebrated cavalry leaders
were Nathan Bedford Forrest and John Hunt Morgan. Forrest was a
semi-illiterate with no prior military training. But he became a
fearless fighter and an unequalled cavalry commander.]
[Illustration: Morgan led an independent group of horsemen known
popularly as "Kentucky Cavaliers." He was ambushed and killed at
Greenville, Tenn., in 1864.]
On the other hand, Gen. Bedford Forrest and his Confederate cavalry made
a series of quick attacks in Tennessee throughout March and April. Gen.
John Hunt Morgan followed this with a summer foray through Kentucky,
southern Indiana, and across Ohio.
Throughout the first half of 1863 Grant slowly tightened the noose
around Vicksburg. Moving down the west bank of the Mississippi and
crossing below Vicksburg, Grant won clear victories at Port Gibson (May
1), Raymond (May 12), Jackson (May 14), Champion's Hill (May 16), and
Big Black River (May 17). On May 18 Grant began his siege of Vicksburg
itself, and for six weeks the Federals isolated Gen. John C. Pemberton
and his Vicksburg defenders. Confederate soldiers inside the besieged
city eventually found it necessary to eat rats, mules and grass in an
effort to stay alive.
With escape hopeless, Pemberton on July 4 surrendered Vicksburg. Not
only did Grant capture an entire Southern army of 30,000 men, but the
mighty Mississippi, from Minnesota to the Gulf, lay in Federal hands.
The North had severed Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, and most of Louisiana
from the Confederacy.
As Grant was accepting the surrender of Vicksburg, Gen. Rosecrans and
his Federal army of 60,000 men were pushing forward in middle Tennessee.
Rosecrans forced Bragg's army of 47,000 Confederates out of Tullahoma
and across the Tennessee River. The Federals slowly began to envelop the
key city of Chattanooga. Bragg, in fear of being flanked, retreated into
Georgia. Rosecrans seized the strategic rail center, then started in
quest of Bragg's army.
This brought on the desperate battle of Chickamauga (September 19-20).
On the first day Bragg attacked but failed to break Rosecrans's line.
That night Gen. James Longstreet arrived from Lee's army with fresh
Confederate troops. Bragg renewed the attack the following morning.
After several hours of intense fighting, the Confederates pierced the
Federal lines. Rosecrans's right flank, and the general himself,
retreated in disorder to Chattanooga. But the Federal left held fast
until darkness ended the conflict.
[Illustration: Confederate troops at Chickamauga tried desperately
to rout the Federal army, but a determined stand by blueclad
soldiers under Virginia-born George H. Thomas, the "Rock of
Chickamauga," prevented a complete collapse.]
[Illustration: George H. Thomas.]
In the two-day battle of Chickamauga, 35,000 men were killed, wounded,
or captured. Bragg's victory, while complete, became hollow when he
failed to pursue the broken and beaten Federal army. The Federals were
able to reorganize and prepare for a new campaign. Grant soon arrived at
Chattanooga and took command of all Federal operations in the West.
Bragg's Confederates took positions on the major hills overlooking the
city.
From November 23 to 25, the Federals made a series of attacks on Lookout
Mountain, Orchard Knob, and Missionary Ridge. In the end, and for the
first time, Southern soldiers ran in mass panic from a field.
Half-starved Confederate soldiers continued their retreat all the way to
Dalton, Ga. Bragg was finished as a field commander.