On to Vicksburg!: The Mississippi Central Railroad Campaign

By Larry Allen McCluney Jr.

Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant became commander of all federal forces in the region of Mississippi and east Louisiana in October 1862. For the next nine months, he fought for control of Vicksburg and the Mississippi River, and the Mississippi Central Railroad Campaign was the first in a series of attempts to capture the Confederate citadel. It would end in failure because of a daring raid at Holly Springs, Mississippi, made by Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn. Larry Allen McCluney Jr. examines the campaign as Grant followed the railroad through the Mississippi towns of Holly Springs, Abbeville, Water Valley, Oxford, Coffeeville, and the outskirts of Grenada where his advance was halted, forcing him to return to Holly Springs after Van Dorn’s raid. The book addresses a too-little examined phase of Grant’s greater Vicksburg Campaign: His initial intent to take the “Gibraltar of the Mississippi” by going through Jackson, Mississippi, on the Mississippi Central Railroad.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Apr 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9781684701568

Larry Allen McCluney Jr.

Larry McCluney has been a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans for twenty-five years. He currently serves as a national officer of the Sons of Confederate Veterans; is a combined boards chairman of the nonprofit that oversees Beauvoir, Last Home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis; is a former member of the Golden Triangle Civil War Round Table; and is a Civil War Living Historian. He received his master's degree in history from Mississippi State University. Larry has taught history at the high-school level in the Mississippi public school system for twenty-four years and is an instructor at Mississippi Delta Community College. He has won numerous awards from the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans for historical preservation. He lives in Greenwood, Mississippi, with his wife, Julia.

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JR.

Copyright © 2019 Larry Allen McCluney Jr.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

ISBN: 978-1-6847-0143-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6847-0142-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6847-0156-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019904254

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 04/15/2019

To my friend

and mentor Henry McCabe, who inspired me to write and is now smiling down on me from heaven

Praise from General Grant

1.%20Grant.jpg

General Ulysses S. Grant

(a.k.a. Dr. Curt Fields)

(courtesy of Dr. Curt Fields)

This book addresses a too-little-examined phase of Ulysses Grant’s greater Vicksburg Campaign: Grant’s initial intent to take the Gibraltar of the Mississippi by going through Jackson, Mississippi, on the Mississippi Central Railroad. He planned to use the Mississippi Central to take his army to Jackson and then pivot to his right and head west toward Vicksburg, pinning it to the Mississippi River. It covers the initial military minuet Grant danced with Pemberton, ending with the forty-seven-day siege when Vicksburg fell on July 4, 1863.

Sherman’s efforts in Chickasaw Bayou and the emphasis on the mea culpa that Sherman wrote in his report on the debacle are detailed and thoroughly addressed. One can almost feel the stress of Sherman as he wondered during the fight where Grant was in the promised support for him as he ground his way through the bayou. He finally accepted that the support was not coming and had to extricate himself from the bad-rapidly-going-to-worse situation in that bayou.

Larry McCluney has written a sound book that will reward and satisfy the Civil War student or the casual history interest reader.

General Ulysses S. Grant

(a.k.a. Dr. Curt Fields)

Preface

As the Confederate invasion of Kentucky ended, Major General Ulysses S. Grant prepared to take this war deep into the Confederacy. His twofold objective was to open the Mississippi to northern shipping interests and sever the Confederacy in two, completing a major part of General Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan. To Abraham Lincoln, taking the Mississippi was one of three major objectives of the war.

On October 16, 1862, Grant issued General Order 1, taking command of the newly formed Department of Tennessee, designated the XIII Corps. Under Grant, there were four district commanders: Major General William Tecumseh Sherman, Major General Stephen A. Hurlbut, (newly appointed) Brigadier General Charles Hamilton, and Brigadier General Thomas Davies.

Almost immediately, General Grant asked his former boss, General-in-Chief Henry Halleck, for relief from Don Carlos Buell. Buell had called repeatedly for support and very nearly cost Grant his Louisville, Kentucky, supply line. On October 24, Grant got his wish when William Rosecrans replaced Buell as head of the newly formed Army of the Cumberland, freeing Grant to make immediate plans for a campaign south against Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Unfortunately for Grant, Major General John McClernand, a Springfield, Illinois, neighbor of Lincoln’s, was also making plans. Grant was familiar with McClernand, who had fought under Grant at Belmont, Fort Donelson, and Shiloh. When Grant took Belmont, McClernand decided to give a speech rather than defend the Confederate camp Grant’s forces had taken. Confederates attacked and drove the Federal forces away. At Fort Donelson, McClernand attacked the fort as he arrived, arousing Grant’s ire. Then he poorly placed his men, which allowed a Confederate breakout attempt to nearly succeed.

With the Confederates driving Federal troops back to Pittsburg Landing, McClernand did little more than support Sherman. Still, in mid-October, Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton organized an independent command around McClernand, who reported to General-in-Chief Halleck. His job was to mount an amphibious assault against Fortress Vicksburg while Grant approached the city from the east.

On October 20, McClernand secured command of the short-lived Federal army of the Mississippi, with the express mission of seizing Vicksburg. A dubious political appointment made by President Lincoln, its effects were soon nullified by political pressure within the Regular Army. Grant proceeded with his campaign plans, never overtly acknowledging McClernand’s. Assuming departmental command on October 25, by November 8, Grant had his troops gathered around La Grange, Tennessee, north of the Mississippi state line and just a few miles west of Grand Junction, Tennessee. His plan was to follow the line of the Mississippi Central Railroad south toward Vicksburg. Supplies were to come south from Columbus, Kentucky, by way of the Tennessee and Ohio Railroad and at Grand Junction switch onto the Mississippi Central track for the journey south. Maintaining lines of communication and supply along the railroads would prove to be the failure of this campaign.

With little force to oppose Grant, the Confederate commander at Vicksburg, Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, had to rely on Major General Earl Van Dorn’s troops, recently defeated at Corinth, and on action against the Federal rear supplied by Brigadier General Nathan B. Forrest. By December 1, Grant’s troops were facing Confederates in shallow trenches along the Tallahatchie River, north of Oxford, Mississippi, thirty-five miles south of Grand Junction. A large Federal supply depot had been established at Holly Springs, Mississippi, a little over fifteen miles north along the Mississippi Central. By December 2, the Federal troops had occupied Oxford and dispatched cavalry in pursuit of retreating Confederate forces. Van Dorn’s cavalry, serving as rear guard, stopped the Federal cavalry at the engagement at Coffeeville, Mississippi, on December 5, and forced their return to Oxford. Federal troops continued probing southward during the next two weeks.

Pemberton was to rely on General Joseph E. Johnston for supervision in the defense of Vicksburg. Johnston had been given this task on November 24, but little advice had been forthcoming. When Pemberton requested aid from General Braxton Bragg in Tennessee, Bragg told Pemberton that he was preparing for his Murfreesboro campaign (which would end in the Battle of Stones River) and could offer no material assistance; but he could order Forrest’s cavalry to hit Grant’s supply lines. This was to become known as Forrest’s Second Raid. Begun on December 11, it destroyed great portions of Tennessee rail line and threatened Grant’s railhead at Columbus, Kentucky. Grant responded by switching his base of supply to Memphis, Tennessee. He then sent his materials east on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad to Grand Junction. However, on December 20, Van Dorn led thirty-five hundred cavalry from Grenada, south of Grant’s lines, and attacked the Federal general’s Holly Springs supply base. The Holly Springs Raid resulted in the loss of more than $1.5 million in Union supplies. Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson pursued Van Dorn in vain for days before the Confederates easily reentered Southern lines at Grenada.

Grant realized the error of trying to maintain his supply and communication along rail lines, and within a week of the Holly Springs raid, he withdrew most of his forces to La Grange. This ended his first Vicksburg campaign. Determined to keep up relentless pressure on Vicksburg, he initiated the first of many waterborne invasion plans, which brought on the battle at Chickasaw Bluffs.

This book examines the little-known campaign along the Mississippi Central Railroad that would be the first of several attempts that Grant would make in his attempt and ultimate capture of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. This book examines not only the military points but also the economic and political ramifications of this campaign.

Acknowledgments

I am indebted to several people for providing invaluable assistance in the completion of this project. I would like to express my gratitude to the McCabe family for allowing Henry to be my mentor and the inspiration for writing this second volume on Grant’s early attempts to take Vicksburg. Henry was a local Civil War historian in Greenwood, Mississippi, a fellow reenactor, and my friend. Henry’s stories, his research (that he was kind enough to share with me), and his inspirational personality will never be forgotten. Henry passed away on May 9, 2018, and I miss him still.

I thank Dr. Curt Fields (a.k.a. General Ulysses S. Grant) for his support as a fellow living historian, his sustaining encouragement to add to the body of knowledge, and, above all, his insight and sense of perspective regarding this project. To quote Dr. Fields, We as living historians are to remember, respect, and revere the deeds of these men who fought because they gave their all for a cause they believed was worth dying for. I am pleased.

A very special thanks goes to my reenacting pardoner and colleague Joe Nokes, who rendered me invaluable service in the editing process, and his wife, Patty, for putting up with all the phone calls about this project (maybe mentioning her name will keep me out of trouble with her).

I want to express my appreciation to the Department of History at Mississippi State University for giving me the opportunity to realize my full potential as a historian. Very special thanks goes to Dr. William Parrish for believing in me all those years ago and encouraging me to write history with passion.

Finally, a very special expression of appreciation goes to my parents, Mary and Larry McCluney Sr. (the original Larry), and my loving wife, Julia Annette McCluney, for their support, love, and encouragement. Annette has always supported all my projects, giving me encouragement, motivation, and support to see them through. Oh, and my dog Delta, who kept me company in my office while I was writing. She was a big distraction at times but was great to have near when I got writer’s block and just needed a distraction. (Delta, please quit squeaking your ball while I am writing. I can’t concentrate.)

Key to Abbreviations

LOC: Library of Congress

MCRC: The Mississippi Central Railroad Campaign Website

MHSP: Mississippi Society Historical Papers

NPS: National Park Service

OR: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies

ORN: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion

CV: Confederate Veteran Magazine

1 Setting the Stage

We rely greatly on the sure operation of a complete blockade of the Atlantic and Gulf Ports soon to commerce. In connection to such blockade we prose a powerful movement down the Mississippi to the ocean, with a cordon of proper posts at proper points … the objective being to clear out and to keep open the great line of communication in connection with the strict blockade of the seaboard, so as to envelope the insurgent States and to bring them to terms with less bloodshed than by any other plan.

—General Winfield Scott, May 3, 1861¹

On December 26, 1860, six days after South Carolina seceded from the Union, US Army major Robert Anderson abandoned the indefensible Fort Moultrie, spiking its large guns, burning its gun carriages, and taking its smaller cannon with him to be trained on the city of Charleston, South Carolina. He secretly relocated companies E and H (127 men, thirteen of them musicians) of the First US Artillery to Fort Sumter on his own initiative, without orders from his superiors. His thinking was Fort Sumter provided a stronger defense that could delay any potential attack by the South Carolina militia. The fort itself was not yet complete, and fewer than half of the cannons that should have been available were in place, due to military downsizing by US president James Buchanan, but its isolation from the political anarchy taking place in Charleston was an advantage.²

2.%20Anderson.jpg

Major Robert Anderson

(courtesy of the Library of Congress)

On January 9, 1861, an attempt to resupply and reinforce the garrison was foiled by cadets from the Citadel. They prevented the steamer Star of the West, hired to transport troops and supplies to Fort Sumter, from completing the task when they fired the first shots of the war. In a letter delivered January 31, 1861, South Carolina governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens demanded President Buchanan surrender Fort Sumter because I regard that possession is not consistent with the dignity or safety of the State of South Carolina. Over the next few months, repeated calls for evacuation of Fort Sumter from the government of South Carolina and then from