199-576: The Jackson expedition , preceding and related to the siege of Jackson immediately followed the Confederate surrender of Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 4, 1863 to Union Army Major General Ulysses S. Grant commanding the Union Army of the Tennessee . The Confederate Army of Mississippi at Vicksburg , under the command of Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton , had been isolated in
398-522: A Confederate 32-pounder gun, then other artillery, opened fire on them. Sherman quickly went forward when he heard the artillery and began to deploy Steele's XV Corps to both sides of the Jackson Road. To the south, the XIII Corps divisions of Peter J. Osterhaus and Andrew J. Smith moved toward the city along a connecting lane from the northeast and turned into Robinson Road, thinking it was
597-534: A Confederate cavalry rear guard under Brigadier General George Cosby , immediately losing a man killed. After an exchange of artillery fire, Geddes's men moved toward the Confederate position through a large cornfield. As the Union soldiers got within small arms range, a torrential downpour ended the encounter. The Confederates moved out of Brandon and the Union force moved in for the night. The Union soldiers burned
796-474: A camp more than three miles ahead on Bridgeport Road. The remainder of Steele's division crossed the bridge without encountering resistance. Brigadier General William Sooy Smith's division of the IX Corp was the first to approach Birdsong's Ferry in the early morning of July 5. Confederate cavalry defenders under Brigadier General John Wilkins Whitfield were hidden in the underbrush across the river and brought
995-573: A captain in the Mexican Navy during its struggle for independence (see below). The naval tradition continued into later generations of the family's descendants. In addition to rearing their own children, his parents David and Evalina Porter adopted James Glasgow Farragut . The boy's mother died in 1808 when he was seven, and his father George Farragut , a U.S. naval officer in the American Revolution and friend of David Porter Sr.,
1194-553: A clear field of fire in front of their fortifications. At the family's request, the soldiers saved some items, including a piano. They took the piano into the trenches and some members of the Washington Artillery battery played the piano and sang familiar songs before, during and after Colonel Pugh's attack. Sherman's troops took the piano after the Confederates left the city. In 2023, the piano still can be seen at
1393-498: A costly frontal attack but after Sherman had seen the improved Confederate fortifications at Jackson and encountered resistance in approaching the Confederate lines, he ordered setting up artillery positions and earthworks to besiege the city. Major General Francis P. Blair's division led the XV Corps toward Jackson on the morning of July 10. As the Union division closed in on the silent Confederate fortifications at about 9:30 a.m.,
1592-484: A detached Confederate brigade near Jackson at the Battle of Raymond , despite some mismanagement of the battle. McPherson did not pursue Brigadier General John Gregg's brigade back to Jackson. Grant was unsure of the size of the Confederate force at Jackson. He decided to eliminate any threat to his army from Confederate forces at Jackson before moving against Pemberton's force. Three divisions led by Pemberton had taken
1791-575: A fight. Secretary of State William H. Seward , Captain Montgomery C. Meigs of the US Army, and Porter devised a plan for the relief of Fort Pickens. The principal element of their plan required use of the steam frigate USS Powhatan , which would be commanded by Porter and would carry reinforcements to the fort from New York. Because no one was above suspicion in those days, the plan had to be implemented in complete secrecy; not even Secretary of
1990-559: A hard, dry, dusty march during the hot Mississippi summer, Johnston's forces reached Jackson on the evening of July 7, 1863. A violent thunderstorm causing a torrential downpour helped alleviate conditions on the march for both armies, at least temporarily. Confederate Captain William H. Edwards later wrote that civilians took buckets off the water well ropes along the route and more than half the men “gave out, completely exhausted.” The defensive works at Jackson had been partially repaired after
2189-549: A higher rate than poor men because they had more to lose. Slavery helped provide them with wealth and power, and they felt that the Civil War would destroy everything that they had if they lost because they saw slavery as the foundation of their wealth, which was under threat and caused them to fight hard. At many points during the war, and especially near the end, the Confederate armies were very poorly fed. At home their families were in worsening condition and faced starvation and
SECTION 10
#17327734083042388-471: A lack of cavalry to keep in contact with and to harass the Confederate forces ultimately caused Sherman to give up the pursuit. An expeditionary force from Steele's XV Corps commanded by Colonel Milo Smith and Colonel James L. Geddes did march toward Brandon, Mississippi on July 18. They found many of Lauman's wounded men from the July 12 attack at a Confederate hospital. On July 19, the Union force engaged with
2587-634: A large lumber yard and the Dixie Works, which produced various types of conveyances for the Confederate government. By July 23, the comprehensive destruction caused by the Union troops led to Jackson's nickname as "Chimneyville." A newspaper correspondent for the Memphis Appeal had been in Jackson during the siege and later reported that some fires had been started by Johnston's men before they left in order to destroy supplies. After an appeal by
2786-547: A lower grade officer. Barring the same type of circumstances that might leave a lower grade officer in temporary command, divisions were commanded by major generals and corps were commanded by lieutenant generals. A few corps commanders were never confirmed as lieutenant generals and exercised corps command for varying periods as major generals. Armies of more than one corps were commanded by (full) generals. There were four grades of general officer ( general , lieutenant general , major general , and brigadier general ), but all wore
2985-428: A man of similar temperament to his own, with whom he immediately formed a particularly strong friendship. The other was Major General McClernand, whom he just as quickly came to dislike. Later they would be joined by Major General Ulysses S. Grant ; Grant and Porter became friends and worked together quite well, but it was on a more strictly professional level than his relation with Sherman. Close cooperation between
3184-522: A midshipman at the age of 10 years under his father, Commodore David Porter , on the frigate USS John Adams . For the remainder of his life, he was associated with the sea. Porter served in the Mexican War in the attack on the fort at the City of Vera Cruz. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was part of a plan to hold Fort Pickens , near Pensacola, Florida, for the Union; its execution disrupted
3383-583: A month later in May 1865. By the time Abraham Lincoln took office as President of the United States on March 4, 1861, the seven seceding slave states had formed the Confederate States . They seized federal property, including nearly all U.S. Army forts, within their borders. Lincoln was determined to hold the forts remaining under U.S. control when he took office, especially Fort Sumter in
3582-582: A plan to attack it to Captain Tattnall. Taking eight oarsmen and the ship's gig, he sounded out a channel on the night of March 22–23, 1847, using the experience he had gained with the Coast Survey. The next morning, Spitfire and other vessels taking part in the bombardment followed the channel that Porter had laid out and took up positions inside the harbor, where they were able to pound the forts and castle. Doing so meant, however, that they had to run by
3781-431: A presumed alternate road further north did not exist. The XI Corps caught up by moving cross country over rolling hills. On July 8, Union cavalry and several infantry units fought a large skirmish near Clinton. Major Fullerton was forced to deploy his troopers as skirmishers and use mountain howitzers to clear the way on the Jackson Road. Bussey's cavalry and several companies of infantry also had to fight Whitfield's men on
3980-424: A quarter of the town and engaged in extensive pillaging. After tearing up the railroad and burning the depot on July 20, the Union force gave up the pursuit and returned to Jackson. Determined to leave nothing of value for the Confederates after they withdrew from Jackson, Sherman's men destroyed commercial buildings, factories, warehouses and remaining railroad facilities around Jackson. Johnston's failure to repair
4179-472: A reprimand for an 1824 incident, Commodore David Porter decided to resign from the navy rather than submit. He accepted an offer from the government of Mexico to become their General of Marine – in effect, the commander of their navy. He took with him a nephew, David Henry Porter, and his sons, David Dixon and Thomas. The two boys were made midshipmen. Thomas died of yellow fever soon after arriving in Mexico; he
SECTION 20
#17327734083044378-442: A second assault on the fort. The second assault began on January 13, 1865, with unopposed landings and bombardment of the fort by the fleet. Porter imposed new methods of bombardment this time: each ship was assigned a specific target, with intent to destroy the enemy's guns rather than to knock down the walls. They were also to continue firing after the men ashore started their assault; the ships would shift their aim to points ahead of
4577-704: A ship then under construction. The offer would be effective when she was complete. He would have accepted, but he was delayed in his departure. Before he could leave, war had broken out again. The seceded states laid claim to the national forts within their boundaries, but they did not make good their claim to Fort Sumter in South Carolina and Forts Pickens, Zachary Taylor, and Jefferson in Florida. They soon made it clear that they would use force if necessary to gain possession of Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens. President Abraham Lincoln resolved not to cede them without
4776-493: A soldier, and his rejection of a Southern identity as a professional author. Because of the destruction of any central repository of records in the capital at Richmond in 1865 and the comparatively poor record-keeping of the time, there can be no definitive number that represents the strength of the Confederate States Army. Estimates range from 500,000 to 2,000,000 soldiers who were involved at any time during
4975-589: A squad or platoon, the smallest infantry maneuver unit in the Army was a company of 100 soldiers. Ten companies were organized into an infantry regiment, which theoretically had 1,000 men. In reality, as disease, desertions and casualties took their toll, and the common practice of sending replacements to form new regiments took hold, most regiments were greatly reduced in strength. By the mid-war, most regiments averaged 300–400 men, with Confederate units slightly smaller on average than their U.S. counterparts. For example, at
5174-471: A weakness he was to display many times: he belittled a superior officer [Charles H. Poor]. He often heaped undue praise upon a subordinate, but rarely could find much to admire in a superior." The Army was showing renewed interest in opening the Mississippi River at just this time, and Porter met two men who would have great influence on the campaign. First was Major General William T. Sherman ,
5373-481: Is a ready explanation for this apparent paradox. Emancipation was a salient issue for Union soldiers because it was controversial. Slavery was less salient for most Confederate soldiers because it was not controversial. They took slavery for granted as one of the Southern 'rights' and institutions for which they fought, and did not feel compelled to discuss it. Continuing, retired Professor McPherson also stated that of
5572-474: Is almost too new in history to make a great impression, but the time will come when it will loom up as one of the greatest of man's achievements, and the name of Abraham Lincoln — who of his own will struck the shackles from the limbs of four millions of people — will be honored thousands of years from now as man's name was never honored before. [...] The scene was so touching I hated to disturb it, yet we could not stay there all day; we had to move on; so I requested
5771-522: The 3rd Iowa Infantry Regiment was wounded in the assault. The Confederates had seven casualties, only two killed and five wounded. Lieutenant Colonel Henry Maury in command of the 32nd Alabama Infantry Regiment was among the Confederate casualties, having been wounded by a sharpshooter. When Ord went to Lauman's headquarters after being informed of the attack, he found Lauman disoriented and unable to put his division in order. Ord relieved Lauman of command, placing his division under Hovey's command. After
5970-576: The Army of Tennessee and various other units under General Joseph E. Johnston , surrendered to the U.S. on April 9, 1865 (officially April 12), and April 18, 1865 (officially April 26). Other Confederate forces further south and west surrendered between April 16, 1865, and June 28, 1865. By the end of the war, more than 100,000 Confederate soldiers had deserted , and some estimates put the number as high as one-third of all Confederate soldiers. The Confederacy's government effectively dissolved when it evacuated
6169-721: The Hudson River at West Point, New York , colonel of a volunteer regiment during the Mexican–American War (1846-1848). He had also been a United States senator from Mississippi and served as U.S. Secretary of War under 14th President Franklin Pierce . On March 1, 1861, on behalf of the new Confederate States government, Davis assumed control of the military situation at Charleston Harbor in Charleston, South Carolina , where South Carolina state militia had besieged
Jackson expedition - Misplaced Pages Continue
6368-662: The IX Corps under Major General John G. Parke , with one XVI Corps division under Brigadier General William Sooy Smith attached, that division included a cavalry brigade commanded by Colonel Cyrus Bussey ; the XIII Corps under Major General Edward O. C. Ord , with a cavalry brigade commanded by Major Hugh Fullerton in the Ninth Division and with one XVI Corps division under Brigadier General Jacob G. Lauman and later under Brigadier General Alvin P. Hovey attached;
6567-867: The Potomac River in his first invasion of the North in the Antietam campaign in Maryland in September 1862. The Confederate States Army did not have a formal overall military commander, or general in chief, until late in the war. The Confederate President, Jefferson Davis , himself a former U.S. Army officer and U.S. Secretary of War , served as commander-in-chief and provided the overall strategic direction for Confederate land and naval forces in both eastern and western theaters. The following men had varying degrees of control: The lack of centralized control
6766-737: The Republic of Haiti in 1844, and the United States State Department needed to determine the new nation's social, political, and economic stability. The suitability of the Bay of Samana for U.S. Navy operations was also of interest. To find out, Secretary of State James Buchanan asked Porter to undertake a private investigation. He accepted the assignment, and on March 15, 1846, he left home. He arrived in Santo Domingo after some unexpected delays and spent two weeks mapping
6965-558: The United States Army (established 1775 / 1789). It was to consist of a large provisional force to exist only in time of war and a small permanent regular army. The provisional, volunteer army was established by an act of the Provisional Confederate Congress passed on February 28, 1861, one week before the act which established the permanent regular army organization, passed on March 6. Although
7164-837: The XV Corps , Sherman's own corps, under Major General Frederick Steele for this operation and a division of the XVII Corps under the command of Brigadier General John McArthur . On July 5, Johnston learned of the surrender of Vicksburg and its defenders and began to move east toward Jackson. Johnston's "Army of Relief" consisted of Major General John C. Breckinridge's Division, Major General Samuel G. French's Division, Division Artillery, Major General William Wing Loring's 's Division, Major General William Henry Talbot Walker's Division and Brigadier General William Hicks Jackson's Cavalry Division. Although Johnston began to move back to Jackson on July 5, he left detachments to guard some of
7363-502: The "flimsy and abstract idea that a negro is equal to an Anglo American". One Louisianan artilleryman stated, "I never want to see the day when a negro is put on an equality with a white person. There is too many free niggers ... now to suit me, let alone having four millions." A North Carolinian soldier stated, "[A] white man is better than a nigger." Decades later in 1894 , Virginian and former famous Confederate cavalry leader, John S. Mosby (1833-1916), reflecting on his role in
7562-876: The American Civil War were volunteers, both sides by 1862 resorted to conscription as a means to supplement the volunteer soldiers. Although exact records are unavailable, estimates of the percentage of Confederate Army soldiers who were drafted are about double the 6 percent of Union Army soldiers who were drafted. According to the National Park Service, "Soldier demographics for the Confederate Army are not available due to incomplete and destroyed enlistment records." Their estimates of Confederate military personnel deaths are about 94,000 killed in battle, 164,000 deaths from disease, and between 25,976 deaths in Union prison camps. One estimate of
7761-494: The American Civil War's soldiers, noted Princeton University war historian and author James M. McPherson (born 1936), contrasts the views of Confederate soldiers regarding slavery with those of the colonial American revolutionaries of the earlier 18th century . He stated that while the American rebel colonists of the 1770s saw an incongruity between owning slaves on the one hand, and proclaiming to be fighting for liberty on
7960-501: The Army and Navy was vital to the success of the siege of Vicksburg. The most prominent contribution to the campaign was the passage of the batteries at Vicksburg and Grand Gulf by a major part of the Mississippi River Squadron. Grant had asked merely for a few gunboats to shield his troops, but Porter persuaded him to use more than half of his fleet. After nightfall on April 16, 1863, the fleet moved downstream past
8159-651: The Battle of Jackson on May 14 and the return of Johnston six days later. Johnston was not satisfied with the condition of the entrenchments. He ordered the trenches be strengthened and extended to anchor them on the Pearl River north and south of Jackson. Cotton bales and artillery positions protected the improved line. On July 7, the XIII Corps and XV Corps of Sherman's pursuing forces were at Bolton, Mississippi, fewer than 20 miles from Jackson. Sherman had not heard from Parke and decided to rest at Bolton on July 8 to give
Jackson expedition - Misplaced Pages Continue
8358-527: The Big Black River and was preparing to attack the Union forces. He also heard that some Union cavalry troopers were driven back by a Confederate raid at Birdsong's Ferry. Concerned with the possibility that Johnston would try to begin offensive operations from behind the Union positions, Grant ordered Sherman to expand a defensive line facing east from Snyder's Bluff overlooking the Yazoo River to
8557-475: The Bridgeport Road three miles west of town. Whitfield withdrew at dark unopposed. Units of Sherman's army reached Clinton on July 9 and a detachment of the 6th Missouri Cavalry Regiment skirmished with Confederates near Clinton. One last skirmish near Jackson was fought on July 9 between troops of William Sooy Smith's division and troops manning Confederate outposts. Smith's men were well out ahead of
8756-536: The Canton Road, with Confederate cavalry harassing them as they moved forward. Brigadier generals Thomas Welsh and Robert B. Potter placed their divisions west of the railroad with Welsh's troops on the Insane Asylum ridge. When the full Union deployment was completed, Union divisions occupied positions opposite Confederate divisions in a semi-circular defensive line west of the town between branches of
8955-594: The Confederacy passed the first conscription law in either Confederate or Union history, the Conscription Act, which made all able bodied white men between the ages of 18 and 35 liable for a three-year term of service in the Provisional Army. It also extended the terms of enlistment for all one-year soldiers to three years. Men employed in certain occupations considered to be most valuable for
9154-583: The Confederacy. After the Battle of Arkansas Post (1863) on January 11, 1863 the Confederates controlled only a 240-mile (386.2-km) stretch of the river from Vicksburg to Port Hudson, Louisiana. The Confederates remained able to block Union shipping over that section of the river and to allow communications and supply between Confederate states east and west of the river, especially at the main transfer point at Vicksburg. Several attempts to capture Vicksburg overland from Tennessee in December 1862 and by attacking
9353-821: The Confederacy: Control and operation of the Confederate army were administered by the Confederate States War Department , which was established by the Confederate Provisional Congress in an act on February 21, 1861. The Confederate Congress gave control over military operations, and authority for mustering state forces and volunteers to the President of the Confederate States of America on February 28, 1861, and March 6, 1861. On March 8,
9552-589: The Confederate Congress passed a law that authorized President Davis to issue proclamations to call up no more than 100,000 men. The C.S. War Department asked for 8,000 volunteers on March 9, 20,000 on April 8, and 49,000 on and after April 16. Davis proposed an army of 100,000 soldiers in his message to Congress on April 29. On August 8, 1861, the Confederacy called for 400,000 volunteers to serve for one or three years. Eight months later in April 1862,
9751-558: The Confederate Memorial Hall in New Orleans. In the assault, the Union forces lost 68 killed, 302 wounded and more than 200 prisoners according to historian Michael Ballard while William Shea & Terrence Winshel as well as historian Jim Woodrick state that the Union force suffered 465 total casualties. Colonel Seth C. Earl commander of the 53rd Illinois Infantry Regiment was killed and Colonel Aaron Brown of
9950-540: The Confederate capital of Richmond was captured by U.S. forces, Porter toured the city on foot, accompanying U.S. President Abraham Lincoln with several armed bodyguards. He fondly recalled the events in his 1885 book, Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War , where he described witnessing scores of many freed slaves rushing to get a glimpse of Lincoln. They admired the president as a hero and credited him for their emancipation; they were kissing his clothing and singing odes to him: Twenty years have passed since that event; it
10149-399: The Confederate fortifications. Hovey told Brigadier General Lauman at his right at the end of the Union line about the movement. Along with an instruction from Major General Ord the night before to make a reconnaissance on the Confederate line and if necessary attack the force in front while staying in connection with Hovey, Lauman mistook the information from Hovey as an order for an assault on
SECTION 50
#173277340830410348-545: The Confederate lines without taking needless casualties. By the end of the day on July 11, Sherman was satisfied about the construction of the protective earthworks and artillery positions and he ordered a general bombardment of Confederate positions. Sherman's forces brought only a small number of artillery rounds per gun on the march to Jackson. After starting the siege, he requested that the reserve ordnance train with additional artillery rounds be sent to his units as quickly as possible. Johnston learned that this artillery train
10547-489: The Confederate lines. While Hovey stopped his division's advance about 500 yards short of the Confederate line, Lauman had ordered his men to advance and attack. Colonel Isaac Pugh 's brigade was leading the advance. Pugh was reluctant to cross a field in front of the Confederate positions manned by the Washington Artillery and Brigadier General Daniel Weisiger Adams's brigade. After Lauman came to examine
10746-558: The Confederate sample. Indeed, while about one-third of all Confederate soldiers belonged to slaveholding families, slightly more than two-thirds of the sample whose slaveholding status is known did so. In some cases, Confederate men were motivated to join the army in response to the United States' actions regarding its opposition to slavery. After the U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 - 1863 , some Confederate soldiers welcomed
10945-411: The Confederates also abandoned that position on May 2. Pemberton commanded the Army of Tennessee from Jackson, Mississippi, 44 miles by railroad west of Vicksburg, from the first week of October 1862 until May 1, 1863. Major General Carter L. Stevenson , a subordinate of Pemberton's, was in command at Vicksburg, including the area between Haines Bluff and Grand Gulf. After Grant's army successfully crossed
11144-715: The Confederates out of Jackson, Mississippi northward toward Canton, Mississippi , about 25 miles away. After this brief Battle of Jackson, Mississippi , McPherson's corps left immediately to rejoin Grant's force while Sherman's corps remained for another day to damage or destroy fortifications, railroad facilities and buildings and supplies of military value. Johnston returned to Jackson on May 20. Although reinforcements were already arriving, he thought he needed time to receive more reinforcements before attempting to relieve Vicksburg. He tried unsuccessfully to convince Pemberton to abandon Vicksburg and to combine with his force to confront
11343-534: The Episcopalians, Methodists, and Lutherans. One result was wave after wave of religious revivals in the Army, religion playing a major part in the lives of Confederate soldiers. Some men with a weak religious affiliation became committed Christians, and saw their military service in terms of satisfying God's wishes. Religion strengthened the soldiers' loyalty to their comrades and the Confederacy. Military historian Samuel J. Watson argues that Christian faith
11542-509: The IX Corps time to catch up. A violent thunderstorm causing a torrential downpour helped alleviate conditions on the march, at least temporarily. At 4:00 p.m. on July 8, Sherman learned that the IX corps was on the way and ordered the XIII Corps and XV Corps to resume the march to Jackson. The IX Corps came up behind the XV Corps on the Bridgeport Road but found themselves behind the XV Corps because
11741-428: The July 12 Union assault, the armies continued to exchange of artillery fire. Picket firing and small engagements by companies also continued. The largest such engagement was a reconnaissance in force by six Union regiments on July 15 which established that the Confederates were still in position opposite Parke's corps and resulted in Union casualties of two killed and five wounded. Sharpshooters also were active throughout
11940-536: The Mississippi River from Louisiana at Bruinsburg, Mississippi on April 30-May 1, Pemberton moved his headquarters and three divisions from Jackson to Vicksburg. On May 9, the remaining Confederate garrison of about 6,000 men at Vicksburg came under the direct command of General Joseph E. Johnston , who was in charge of the Confederate Department of the West. Johnston was ordered to take command of
12139-558: The Mississippi defenses on May 9, but was not given full authority over Pemberton, who, along with General Braxton Bragg and Trans-Mississippi commander Theophilus Holmes , reported directly to Confederate States President Jefferson Davis . Johnston arrived at Jackson on May 13, 1863 to take charge of troops there and to carry out his orders to advise Pemberton. Johnston could only try to persuade Pemberton to act, including to accept Johnston's plan to combine forces to confront Grant in
SECTION 60
#173277340830412338-499: The Navy Gideon Welles was to be advised. Welles was in the meantime preparing an expedition for the relief of the garrison at Fort Sumter. As he was unaware that Powhatan would not be available, he included it in his plans. When the other vessels assigned to the effort showed up, the South Carolina troops at Charleston began to bombard Fort Sumter, and the Civil War was on. The relief expedition could only wait outside
12537-694: The Navy Department aroused powerful opposition by some in Congress, who forced the Secretary of the Navy Adolph E. Borie to resign. His replacement, George Robeson , curtailed Porter's power and eased him into semi-retirement in 1875. David Dixon Porter was born in Chester, Pennsylvania , on June 8, 1813, to David Porter and Evalina (Anderson) Porter. The family had strong naval traditions;
12736-524: The Navy Department began to develop plans to open the Mississippi River. The first move would be to capture New Orleans . For this Porter, by this time advanced to rank of commander, was given the responsibility of organizing a flotilla of some twenty mortar boats that would participate in the reduction of the forts defending the city from the south. The flotilla was a semi-autonomous part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron , which
12935-455: The Navy's control of the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. When it finally fell on July 4 (1863), Grant was unstinting in his praise of the assistance he had received from Porter and his men. For his contribution to the victory, Porter's appointment as "acting" rear admiral was made permanent, dated from July 4. After the opening of the Mississippi, the political general Nathaniel P. Banks , who
13134-451: The Navy. Borie had no knowledge of the navy and little desire to learn, so he leaned on Porter for advice that the latter was quite willing to give. In a short time, Borie came to defer to him even on routine matters. Porter used his influence with the secretary to push through several policies to shape the navy as he wanted it; in the process, he made a new set of enemies who either were harmed by his actions or resented his blunt methods. Borie
13333-475: The Pearl River opposite Confederate divisions. Sherman deployed the XIII Corps under Ord on the Union right which was on the south end of the line on both sides of the Raymond Road. Loring's Division was on the Confederate left opposite the XIII Corps position. Sherman deployed his own XV Corps under Steele to the middle of the Union line. Walker's Division and French's Division were opposite Steele's corps in
13532-402: The Pearl River railroad bridge left many railroad cars that could have been moved to the east through Jackson isolated at Grenada, Mississippi and subject to destruction by Union cavalry. On July 17, Colonel Cyrus Bussey's cavalry, reinforced by Colonel Charles R. Woods's artillery battery, entered Canton, Mississippi and wrecked railroad yards, five locomotives, thirty rail cars, two turntables,
13731-426: The Raymond Road was a mile away and that there were Confederate troops at that location. The Union soldiers already at the front dug rifle pits during the afternoon while artillery of each side fired on the other. Union soldiers captured a cistern during the fight which gave them a crucial source of water. When the XIII Corps divisions of William Benton, Alvin P. Hovey and Jacob Lauman and moved forward, A. J. Smith still
13930-418: The Raymond Road, which was a mile farther down the lane. Initial Confederate resistance from a small Confederate outpost on Lynch Creek and some men of French's division was driven off by Fullerton's cavalry and infantry support from Osterhaus's division. The two Union divisions occupied a ridge east of Lynch Creek within 250 yards of the Confederate line. Fullerton's cavalry scouted to the right and found that
14129-508: The U.S. Navy through his grandfather, US Congressman William Anderson . The appointment was dated February 2, 1829, when he was sixteen years of age; this was somewhat older than many midshipmen, some of whom had been taken in as boys. Due to his relative maturity and experience, greater than that of most naval lieutenants, Porter tended to be cocky and challenge some of his superiors, leading to conflict. Except for intervention by Commodore James Biddle , who acted favorably because Porter's father
14328-796: The Union Army and Union Navy gained complete control of the Mississippi River . Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army , also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army , was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting against the United States forces to win
14527-465: The Union Army effectively ended the last potential Confederate threat to re-take Vicksburg. Historian Michael Ballard wrote that Johnston's retreat was the last major action by a large Confederate force in Mississippi and that most of his "Army of Relief" would be combined with the Army of Tennessee. With the capture of Port Hudson, Louisiana at the conclusion of the Siege of Port Hudson on July 9, 1863,
14726-427: The Union Army while they had similar numbers of men. Johnston's delayed and cautious effort to relieve Pemberton's forces at Vicksburg in the final days of the siege was too late to attempt to lift the siege. Johnston already had concluded that his force was too small to try to relieve Pemberton's army without also being trapped by the Union Army. When the siege of Vicksburg ended, Johnston's relief force, called by him
14925-410: The Union lines, Johnston examined reports about the roads, fords and Union positions between Jackson and Vicksburg. He found that the Union exterior line established by Sherman extended farther and was stronger than he anticipated. He decided these lines were too strong to attack along the east side of the Big Black River, which some historians assert he did not want to do in any event. After learning of
15124-466: The Union soldiers under small arms fire when they reached the river. The 40th Illinois Infantry Regiment and 103rd Illinois Infantry Regiment of Colonel Stephen G. Hicks's Second Brigade rushed to the river bank to oppose Whitfield's cavalry. Other regiments tried to cross the river on foot but were stopped by high water and strong currents. This resulted in Parke's IX Corps being prevented from crossing
15323-407: The Union. They felt that they had no choice but to help defend their homes. President Abraham Lincoln was exasperated to hear of such men who professed to love their country but were willing to fight against it. As in the U.S. Army , the Confederate Army's soldiers were organized by military specialty. The combat arms included infantry, cavalry, and artillery. Although fewer soldiers might comprise
15522-530: The Vicksburg defenses by Grant's forces since May 18, 1863. The Confederates were under constant artillery bombardment, had to fight off a series of Union Army attacks and could not receive supplies of food and ammunition during the siege. On May 14, in line with Grant's plan to eliminate other Confederate forces in the area before marching on Vicksburg, a Union force of two corps under Major General William T. Sherman and Major General James B. McPherson drove
15721-609: The Vicksburg defenses on May 17, 1863. There, Pemberton ordered the garrisons at Haines Bluff, Walnut Hills and Warrenton to abandon their positions and move to the inner works at Vicksburg. On May 18, 1863, Pemberton received an instruction from Johnston to abandon the city and join his forces at Canton but Pemberton refused to do so, stating that he would hold the city. Jefferson Davis had declared that Vicksburg and Port Hudson should be held. After costly Union frontal assaults at Vicksburg failed on May 19, 1863 and May 22, 1863, Union siege operations at Vicksburg began. Grant formally ordered
15920-417: The advancing troops. The bombardment continued for two more days, while Terry got his men into position. On the 15th, frontal assaults on opposite faces by Terry's soldiers on the land side and 2000 sailors and marines on the beach vanquished the fort. This was the last significant naval operation of the war. By April 1865, the Civil War drawing to a close, U.S. victory in the war was all but guaranteed. After
16119-550: The age of ten, contracted when traveling with his father for the Mexican Navy. The surviving five sons all became officers, four in the U.S. Navy: His uncle John Porter and his wife did not have as many children, but their son Fitz John Porter was a major general in the US Army at the time of the Civil War. Another son, Bolton Porter, was lost with his ship USS Levant in 1861. His aunt Anne married their cousin Alexander Porter. Their son David Henry Porter became
16318-474: The army, such as the construction of fortifications and defenses or driving wagons. Since these figures include estimates of the total number of soldiers who served at any time during the war, they do not represent the size of the army at any given date. These numbers also do not include sailors / marines who served in the Confederate States Navy . Although most of the soldiers who fought in
16517-520: The batteries. Only one vessel was lost in the ensuing firefight. Six nights later, a similar run past the batteries gave Grant the transports he needed for crossing the river. Now south of Vicksburg, Grant at first tried to attack the Rebels through Grand Gulf, and requested Porter to eliminate the batteries there before his troops would be sent across. On April 29, the gunboats spent most of the day bombarding two Confederate forts. They succeeded in silencing
16716-462: The bluffs were too high to be reached by the guns of his fleet, so he ordered Porter to bring his mortar flotilla up. The mortars suppressed the Rebel artillery well enough that Farragut's ships could pass the batteries at Vicksburg and link up with a Union flotilla coming down from the north. The city could not be taken, however, without active participation by the army, which did not happen. On July 8,
16915-517: The bombardment ceased when Porter was ordered to Hampton Roads to assist in Major General George B. McClellan 's Peninsula Campaign . A few days later, Farragut followed, and the first attempt to take Vicksburg was over. In the summer of 1862, shortly after Porter left Vicksburg, the U.S. Navy was extensively modified; among the features of the revised organization were a set of officer ranks from ensign to rear admiral that paralleled
17114-463: The city from the impassable bayous across the river in Louisiana in early 1863 failed. Grant then devised a plan for a second campaign to capture the city by crossing the Mississippi south of Vicksburg and approaching the city from the south. On April 15 and April 22, 1863, Union gunboats, transports and supply vessels ran past the Confederate artillery batteries at Vicksburg from north to south with
17313-454: The city harbor began bombarding bombarding Fort Sumter on April 12–13, 1861 and forced its capitulation on April 14. The remaining loyal United States in the North, outraged by the Confederacy's attack, demanded war. It rallied behind new 16th President Lincoln's call on April 15 for all the loyal states to send their state militia units avolunteer troops to reinforce and protect the national federal capital of Washington, D.C. , to recapture
17512-600: The city, including factories, warehouses, foundries, railroad tracks, telegraph wires and other property of military or economic value. Sherman's corps left Jackson on May 16, 1863. On May 13, 1863, Pemberton led a force of 18,500 men in three divisions from Vicksburg to a point halfway to Jackson. Grant expected to find Johnston's force near Bolton, Mississippi along the Southern Railroad of Mississippi and decided to move his army in that direction. Instead of moving toward Johnston's force, Grant learned that Pemberton
17711-401: The city. Jackson's military and commercial facilities then were further destroyed by the Union forces. This Union victory helped ensure that Vicksburg, the Mississippi River and Jackson, would remain in the Union's possession for the rest of the war. In late 1862, the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, Mississippi was the last major fortress on the last section of the Mississippi controlled by
17910-517: The coastline. On May 19, he began a trek through the interior that left him without communication for a month. On June 19, he emerged from the jungle, bitten by insects, but with the information that the State Department wanted. He then discovered that while he was away the United States had gone to war with Mexico. Mexico did not have a real navy, so naval personnel had little opportunity for distinction. Porter served as first lieutenant of
18109-498: The cooperation of the army, and the troops were taken from the Army of the James. It was expected that Brigadier General Godfrey Weitzel would command, but Major General Benjamin F. Butler , the commander of the Army of the James , exercised one of the prerogatives of his position to take over as leader of the expedition. Butler proposed that the fort could be flattened by exploding a ship filled with gunpowder near it, and Porter accepted
18308-426: The crossings of the Big Black River. Several companies of William L. McMillen's brigade of Brigadier General James M. Tuttle's Third Division of Major General Frederick Steele's XV Corps crossed the river on July 5 in an effort to secure a bridgehead and were met by Confederate pickets. By late afternoon, Tuttle's men had secured the crest of a hill overlooking the river, pushed the Confederates away and established
18507-475: The curriculum to increase professionalism. In the early days of President Grant's administration, Porter was de facto Secretary of the Navy. When his adoptive brother David G. Farragut was advanced from rank of vice-admiral to admiral, Porter took his previous position; likewise, when Farragut died, Porter became the second man to hold the newly created rank of admiral. He gathered a corps of like-minded officers devoted to naval reform. Porter's administration of
18706-512: The date of the Vicksburg surrender, Grant ordered Sherman to lead an expedition to clear Johnston's forces from the Vicksburg area and to recapture the state capital and railroad center at Jackson. Sherman's corps combined with all or part of three other corps pushed Johnston's force back to Jackson by July 10 under grueling summer conditions. After a few engagements during a brief siege of Jackson, on July 16, Johnston's concern about being trapped and having to surrender his army, caused him to abandoned
18905-463: The decision to bypass the forts on the night of April 24. The fleet successfully ran past the forts; the mortars were left behind, but they bombarded the forts during the passage in order to distract the enemy gunners. Once the fleet was above the forts, nothing significant stood between them and New Orleans; Farragut demanded the surrender of the city, and it fell to his fleet on April 29. The forts were still between him and Porter's mortar fleet, but when
19104-559: The depredations of roving bands of marauders. Many soldiers went home temporarily (A.W.O.L. - " Absent Without Official Leave ") and quietly returned when their family problems had been resolved. By September 1864, however, President Davis publicly admitted that two-thirds of the soldiers were absent, "most of them without leave". The problem escalated rapidly after that, and fewer and fewer men returned. Soldiers who were fighting in defense of their homes realized that they had to desert to fulfill that duty. Historian Mark Weitz argues that
19303-477: The effort to relieve the garrison at Fort Sumter , leading to Sumter's fall. Porter commanded an independent flotilla of mortar boats at the capture of New Orleans . Later, he was advanced to the rank of (acting) rear admiral in command of the Mississippi River Squadron, which cooperated with the army under Major General Ulysses S. Grant in the Vicksburg Campaign . After the fall of Vicksburg, he led
19502-597: The elder Porter's father, also named David, had been captain of a Massachusetts vessel in the American Revolutionary War , as had his uncle Samuel. In the next generation, David Porter and his brother John entered the fledgling United States Navy and served with distinction during the War of 1812 . David Porter was named to the rank of commodore. The younger David was one of 10 children, including six boys. His youngest brother Thomas died of yellow fever at
19701-408: The evacuation of the city that night. After the Confederates crossed the Pearl River bridge, they burned it to hinder Union pursuit. The Union forces discovered the Confederate retreat only the next morning. Johnston did not halt the retreat until his forces reached Morton, Mississippi, forty miles east of Jackson. Sherman's forces made a weak attempt to pursue the Confederates but intolerable heat and
19900-441: The examination for passed midshipman , and soon after was assigned to duty in the Coast Survey. There, his pay was such that he could save enough to marry. Porter and Georgy Patterson were married on March 10, 1839. Of their four sons, three had military careers, and their two surviving daughters married men who had military service or were active officers. In March 1841, Porter was promoted in rank to lieutenant, and in April of
20099-458: The extent the word " battalion " was used to describe a military unit, it referred to a multi-company task force of a regiment or a near-regimental size unit. Throughout the war, the Confederacy raised the equivalent of 1,010 regiments in all branches, including militias, versus 2,050 regiments for the U.S. Army. Four regiments usually formed a brigade , although as the number of soldiers in many regiments became greatly reduced, especially later in
20298-482: The extreme heat and parched conditions. Sherman moved his headquarters to Clinton on the evening of July 9 and began to plan for the approach to the city. After personally scouting the Confederate defenses, upon his arrival at Jackson on July 10, 1863, Sherman ordered his corps commanders to spread out around them at about 1,500 yards from Confederate parapets, with skirmishers closer up and supports for them within 500 yards. Johnston had hoped to draw Sherman's forces into
20497-427: The failed interdiction, he was even more convinced that he could not hold out under a siege and ordered his commanders to prepare to leave the city at once. Needing to conserve ammunition, on July 12 the Union artillery launched a heavy bombardment of the Confederate defenses but ceased firing in less than an hour. After the bombardment, Major General Ord told Brigadier General Hovey to move forward and entrench close to
20696-484: The field to intercept Grant's supply line. Grant ordered Sherman's XV Corps to attack Jackson from the southwest and McPherson's XVII Corps to attack from the northwest. Johnston decided as soon as he arrived that he was too late to hold the city, if not to rescue Pemberton and retain Vicksburg. Without waiting for the imminent arrival of reinforcements, Johnston decided to abandon Jackson with the garrison of 6,000 troops and to regroup at Canton, Mississippi, about 25 miles to
20895-427: The field. Grant decided not to take the narrow and rough direct route to Vicksburg but to approach from the west after moving northeast to destroy a portion of the Southern Railroad of Mississippi to prevent supplies and reinforcements moving from Jackson to Vicksburg. Grant also wanted to defeat Pemberton's forces outside the Vicksburg defenses, if possible. On May 12, Union Major General McPherson's XVII Corps defeated
21094-399: The forts, which was contrary to the orders of Commodore Matthew C. Perry . Perry sent signals ordering the vessels to break off the bombardment and return, but Tattnall ordered his men not to look at the commodore's signals. Not until a special messenger came with explicit orders to retire did Maffitt cease firing. Perry appreciated the audacity shown by his subordinates, but did not approve of
21293-500: The four-year old capital of Richmond, Virginia on April 3, 1865, and fled southwest by railroad train with the President Jefferson Davis and members of his cabinet gradually continuing moving southwestward first to Lynchburg, Virginia and lost communication to its remaining military commanders, and soon exerted no control over the remaining armies. They were eventually caught and captured near Irwinville, Georgia
21492-479: The front at Pugh's request, however, he ordered Pugh to continue even though Hovey's force had stopped to dig in. Eighty yards from the Confederate line, Pugh's men were stopped by an abatis and Confederate fire. Survivors who could not escape began to surrender in face of the murderous Confederate artillery and small arms fire. Before the Union assault, Confederate soldiers had burned the Cooper House to give
21691-425: The garrison at Clinton to stop the Confederate cavalry's progress. Only a small part of the Confederate force was able to advance to spot the wagon train. They decided not to attack the wagons because of the strong Union escort of the wagon train. Upon receipt of part of the supply of the ammunition on July 14, the Union shelling picked up. When Johnston was told that the cavalry mission had failed on July 16, he ordered
21890-422: The harbor of Charleston, South Carolina . On February 28, shortly before Lincoln was sworn in as president, the Provisional Confederate Congress had authorized the organization of a large Provisional Army of the Confederate States (PACS). Under orders from Confederate President Jefferson Davis , C.S. troops under the command of General Pierre Gustave Toutant / P. G. T. Beauregard military forces surrounding
22089-446: The harbor. The expedition had little chance to be successful in any case; without the support of the guns on Powhatan , it was completely impotent. The only contribution made by the expedition was to carry the soldiers who had defended Fort Sumter back to the North following their surrender and parole. Lincoln did not punish Seward for his part in the incident, so Welles felt that he had no choice but to forgive Porter, whose culpability
22288-531: The head of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron , Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee , was inadequate for the task, so he at first assigned Rear Admiral Farragut to be Lee's replacement. Farragut was too ill to serve, however, so Welles decided to switch Lee with Porter: Lee would command the Mississippi River Squadron, and Porter would come east and prepare for the attack on Fort Fisher. The planned attack on Fort Fisher required
22487-407: The heritage of 1776 in opposite ways. Confederates professed to fight for liberty and independence from a too radical government; Unionists said they fought to preserve the nation conceived in liberty from dismemberment and destruction ... The rhetoric of liberty that had permeated the letters of Confederate volunteers in 1861, grew even stronger as the war progressed. Before and during the Civil War,
22686-618: The home front (such as railroad and river workers, civil officials, telegraph operators, miners, druggists and teachers) were exempt from the draft. The act was amended twice in 1862. On September 27, the maximum age of conscription was extended to 45. On October 11, the Confederate States Congress passed the so-called " Twenty Negro Law ", which exempted anyone who owned 20 or more slaves, a move that caused deep resentment among conscripts who did not own slaves. The C.S. Congress enacted several more amendments throughout
22885-446: The hundreds of Confederate soldiers' letters he had examined, none of them contained any anti-slavery sentiment whatsoever: Although only 20 percent of the soldiers avowed explicit proslavery purposes in their letters and diaries, none at all dissented from that view. McPherson admits some flaws in his sampling of letters. Soldiers from slaveholding families were overrepresented by 100%: Nonslaveholding farmers are underrepresented in
23084-621: The idea; if successful, the scheme would avoid a protracted siege or its alternative, a frontal assault. Accordingly, the old steamer USS Louisiana was packed with powder and blown up in the early morning of December 24, 1864. This had, however, no discernible effect on the fort. Butler brought part of his troops ashore, but he was already convinced that the effort was hopeless, so he removed his force before making an all-out assault. Porter, enraged by Butler's timorousness, went to U. S. Grant and demanded that Butler be removed. Grant agreed, and placed Major General Alfred H. Terry in charge of
23283-523: The independence of the Southern states and uphold and expand the institution of slavery . On February 28, 1861, the Provisional Confederate Congress established a provisional volunteer army and gave control over military operations and authority for mustering state forces and volunteers to the newly chosen Confederate States president, Jefferson Davis (1808-1889),. Davis was a graduate of the United States Military Academy , on
23482-424: The latter again began to pummel Fort Jackson, its garrison mutinied and forced its surrender. Fort St. Philip had to follow suit. Surrender of the two forts was accepted by Commander Porter on April 28. Following orders from the Navy Department, Farragut took his fleet upstream to capture other strongpoints on the river, with the aim of complete possession of the Mississippi. At Vicksburg, Mississippi he found that
23681-539: The longtime Federal Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, held by a small U.S. Army garrison under the command of Major Robert Anderson . (1805-1871). By March 1861, the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States meeting in the temporary capital of Montgomery, Alabama , expanded the provisional military forces and established a more permanent regular Confederate States Army. An accurate count of
23880-454: The loss of one gunboat, one transport with hospital stores and six barges with coal. Grant could now move his army across the river to Mississippi but the Union naval force could not silence all Confederate artillery batteries at Grand Gulf. Grant and Acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter decided to move farther south and, with advice from an escaped slave, found a suitable landing at Bruinsburg, Mississippi . Grant's forces successfully crossed
24079-412: The lower of the two, but the upper fort remained. Grant called off the assault and moved downstream to Bruinsburg , where he was able to cross the river unopposed. Although the fleet made no major offensive contributions to the campaign after Grand Gulf, it remained important in its secondary role of keeping the blockade against the city. When Vicksburg was besieged, the encirclement was made complete by
24278-486: The mayor of Jackson before the Union forces departed for Vicksburg on July 23, Sherman left 200 barrels of flour and 100 barrels of salt pork for the few hundred civilians remaining at Jackson. By July 25, Sherman's men had returned to Vicksburg where they were able to rest for the remainder of the summer. Confederate casualties during the siege were 71 killed, 504 wounded and 25 missing. Union casualties were 129 killed, 762 wounded and 231 missing. The re-capture of Jackson by
24477-437: The men crossed the damaged bridge. Confederate cavalry persistently skirmished with the lead Union units throughout the march to Jackson. Skirmishes were fought on July 6 at Edwards Station, Jones Ford and Messigner's Ferry. On July 7, there was a skirmish at Queen Hill and encounters by cavalry of both armies at Baker's Creek on July 7 and Bolton's Depot on July 8. While Sherman was making slow progress toward Jackson, after
24676-487: The men who could have replaced Davis were either less suitable or were unavailable because of other assignments, so finally Secretary Welles decided to appoint Porter to the position. He did this despite some doubt. As he wrote in his Diary , Thus Commander Porter became Acting Rear Admiral Porter without going through the intermediate ranks of captain and commodore. (He was one of only three US Navy admirals to have been promoted to rear admiral without having first served in
24875-483: The middle of the Confederate defensive works. Sherman deployed the IX Corps under Parke on the Union left to the north. Breckinridge's Division was on the Confederate right, across the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad, opposite Parke's IX Corps. Since Sherman did not want to make a frontal assault against strong resistance, on the night of July 10, he issued orders to the corps commanders to construct artillery positions and rifle pits as close as possible to
25074-437: The morning and late afternoon and early evening, his men suffered from heat, dust and shortage of water on the march to Jackson, where they arrived on July 10, 1863. The Confederates had poisoned wells and streams with dead animals as they progressed to Jackson, which forced the Union troops to haul drinking water from the Big Black River. Historian Jim Woodrick noted that numerous accounts by soldiers of both sides complained about
25273-460: The move, as they believed it would strengthen pro-slavery sentiment in the Confederacy, and thus lead to greater enlistment of soldiers in the Confederate armies. One Confederate soldier from the West in Texas gave his reasons for fighting for the Confederacy, stating that "we are fighting for our property", contrasting this with the motivations of Union soldiers, who, he claimed, were fighting for
25472-551: The naval forces in the difficult Red River Campaign in Louisiana. Late in 1864, Porter was transferred from the interior to the Atlantic coast, where he led the U.S. Navy in the joint assaults on Fort Fisher , the final significant naval action of the war. Porter worked to raise the standards of the U.S. Navy in the position of Superintendent of the Naval Academy when it was restored to Annapolis . He initiated reforms in
25671-439: The naval part of the war was essentially over. In Washington again following the war, Porter saw little chance for professional improvement and none for advancement. In order to gain experience in handling steamships, he took leave of absence from the Navy to command civilian ships. He insisted that his crews submit to the methods of military discipline; his employers were noncommittal about his methods, but they were impressed by
25870-419: The navy under Porter did little to cooperate, and instead often became rivals in a race to seize cotton. Confederate opposition under Major General Richard Taylor succeeded in keeping them apart by defeating Banks at the Battle of Mansfield , following which Banks gave up the expedition. From that time on, Porter's primary task was to extricate his fleet. The task was made difficult by falling water levels in
26069-592: The need to protect or to destroy slavery. Others point to less overtly political reasons to fight, such as the defense of one's home and family, or the honor and brotherhood to be preserved when fighting alongside other men. Most historians agree that, no matter what he thought about when he went into the war, the experience of combat affected him profoundly and sometimes affected his reasons for continuing to fight. Educated soldiers drew upon their knowledge of American history to justify their costs. Historian James M. McPherson says: Confederate and Union soldiers interpreted
26268-514: The next objective of his fleet should be to capture Mobile, but he received direct orders from Washington to cooperate with Banks. After considerable delays caused by Banks's attention to political rather than military matters, the Red River expedition got under way in early March 1864. From the start, navigation of the river presented as great a problem for Porter and his fleet as did the Confederate army that opposed them. The army under Banks and
26467-621: The next year he was detached from the Coast Survey. He had a brief tour of duty in the Mediterranean, and then he was assigned to the U.S. Navy's Hydrographic Office. In 1846, the era of peace was coming to a close. The United States had annexed the Republic of Texas, and the islands of the Caribbean seemed to be likely targets for further expansion. The Republic of Santo Domingo (the present-day Dominican Republic ) had broken off from
26666-567: The north. Except for a brief stand by a Confederate rearguard under Brigadier General John Gregg , the Union attack quickly drove Johnston and the remaining garrison from the city at the Battle of Jackson, Mississippi on May 14. The city was surrendered by militia artillerymen and armed civilians. Since Pemberton was moving to the southeast, Johnston's move northward toward Canton took his force farther from Pemberton's force. Grant left Sherman's corps in Jackson with orders to destroy anything of military value. Sherman's men destroyed infrastructure in
26865-464: The official count of 103,400 deserters is too low. He concludes that most of the desertions came because the soldier felt he owed a higher duty to his own family than to the Confederacy. Confederate policies regarding desertion generally were severe. For example, on August 19, 1862, famed General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson (1824-1863), approved the court-martial sentence of execution for three soldiers for desertion, rejecting pleas for clemency from
27064-421: The operations on May 25. Grant's Special Order Number 140, May 25, 1863, formally initiating siege operations, read: “Corps commanders will immediately commence the work of reducing the enemy by regular approaches. It is desirable that no more loss of life shall be sustained in the reduction of Vicksburg and the capture of the garrison.” On June 22, 1863, Grant received an erroneous report that Johnston had crossed
27263-405: The other, the later Confederacy's soldiers did not, as the Confederate ideology of white supremacy negated any contradiction between the two: Unlike many slaveholders in the age of Thomas Jefferson, Confederate soldiers from slaveholding families expressed no feelings of embarrassment or inconsistency in fighting for their liberty while holding other people in slavery. Indeed, white supremacy and
27462-461: The patriarch to withdraw from about the President with his companions and let us pass on. A few weeks after his visit to Virginia, Lincoln was assassinated. Porter was greatly upset by the news, as he admired Lincoln greatly. Porter said Lincoln was the best man he ever knew and ever would know. He stated that he felt some responsibility for Lincoln's death, feeling that had he been with him that night, he might have prevented his murder. The U.S. Navy
27661-451: The pivotal Battle of Chancellorsville , the average U.S. Army infantry regiment's strength was 433 men, versus 409 for Confederate infantry regiments. Rough unit sizes for CSA combat units during the war: Regiments, which were the basic units of army organization through which soldiers were supplied and deployed, were raised by individual states. They were generally referred by number and state, for example 1st Texas , 12th Virginia . To
27860-469: The popular press of Richmond, including its five major newspapers, sought to inspire a sense of patriotism, Confederate identity, and the moral high ground in the southern population. The southern churches met the shortage of Army chaplains by sending missionaries. The Southern Baptists sent a total of 78 missionaries, starting in 1862. Presbyterians were even more active, with 112 missionaries sent in early 1865. Other missionaries were funded and supported by
28059-435: The qualities of abundant energy, recklessness, resourcefulness, and fighting spirit needed for the trying role ahead. Porter was assigned the task of aiding General John A. McClernand in opening the upper Mississippi. The choice of McClernand, a volunteer political general, pleased Porter because he felt that all West Point men were 'too self-sufficient, pedantic, and unpractical.'" Winters also writes that Porter "revealed
28258-503: The railroad bridge over the Big Black River west of Messinger's Ferry. On June 25, 1863, Grant tried to bring the siege to a close by ordering mine explosions under the Confederate Third Louisiana Redan and a major Union attack on the Confederate positions after the explosion. The assault on the Confederate line failed to take the position. On July 1, another mine explosion was set off under the redan but it
28457-404: The rank of (full) general; the highest-ranking (earliest date of rank) was Samuel Cooper , Adjutant General and Inspector General of the Confederate States Army. Officers' uniforms bore a braided design on the sleeves and kepi , the number of adjacent strips (and therefore the width of the lines of the design) denoting rank. The color of the piping and kepi denoted the military branch. The braid
28656-660: The rank of captain. The others being Richard E. Byrd and Ben Moreell .) He was assigned to command the Mississippi Squadron and left Washington for his new command on October 9, 1862, and arrived in Cairo, Illinois , on October 15. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton considered Porter "a gas bag ... blowing his own trumpet and stealing credit which belongs to others." Historian John D. Winters , in his The Civil War in Louisiana , describes Porter as having "possessed
28855-532: The ranks in the Army. Among the new ranks created were those of commodore and rear admiral. According to the organization charts, the persons in command of the blockading squadrons were to be rear admirals. Another part of the reorganization transferred the Western gunboat flotilla from the army to the navy, and retitled it the Mississippi River Squadron . The change of title implied that it
29054-461: The remainder of the siege. The Confederate cavalry effort to find and attack the Union ammunition wagon train was thwarted by the two infantry brigades that Sherman had sent to protect the wagons. Sherman ordered Colonel Alexander Chambers brigade at Champion Hill to escort the wagon train after having received intelligence that Johnston was planning to send cavalry to intercept it. Sherman also ordered Brigadier General Charles Matthies to reinforce
29253-512: The rest of Parke's IX Corps. Smith had the men bivouac for the night in line of battle because he was concerned they might become isolated. Johnston had not stockpiled supplies or repaired the railroad bridge east of Jackson after the earlier battle. This meant that the Confederates would risk being trapped without sufficient supplies if they held out against an attacking force for any great length of time and could not remove stranded locomotives and railroad cars. Although Sherman limited marching to
29452-480: The results. They asked him to stay in Australia, but his health and the health of his eldest daughter Georgianne persuaded him to return. Back in the United States, he moved his family from Washington to New York in the hope that the climate would benefit his daughter, but she died shortly after the move. His second daughter, Evalina ("Nina"), also died in the interwar period. Once again on active duty, he commanded
29651-443: The right of property in slaves were at the core of the ideology for which Confederate soldiers fought. McPherson states that Confederate States Army soldiers did not discuss the issue of slavery as often as the opposing United States Army soldiers did, because most Confederate soldiers readily accepted as an obvious fact that they were fighting to perpetuate slavery and thus did not feel the need to debate over it: [O]nly 20 percent of
29850-418: The river that night. On the morning of July 6, a Union patrol found and raised an old ferryboat which they repaired. By mid-afternoon, some of Smith's men were able to cross the river and force Whitfield's troopers to withdraw. It was mid-day on July 7 before the floating bridge necessary to allow Parke's men to cross was built; soon it partially collapsed. Park sent his artillery to cross at Messinger's Ferry and
30049-519: The river without Confederate opposition on the night of April 30, 1863 and into the day on May 1. At the Battle of Port Gibson on May 1, Union forces defeated the heavily outnumbered Confederates under Brigadier General John S. Bowen , causing the abandonment of the Port Gibson defenses and securing the Union position east of the river. The Confederate defenses on the Mississippi at Grand Gulf, Mississippi became untenable with Bowen's defeat and
30248-554: The river, but he ultimately got most out, with the help of heroic efforts by some of the soldiers who stayed to protect the fleet. By late summer 1864, Wilmington, North Carolina , was the only Atlantic port open for running the Union blockade , and the Navy Department began to plan to close it. Its major defense was Fort Fisher , a massive structure at the New Inlet to the Cape Fear River. Secretary Welles believed that
30447-409: The same insignia regardless of grade. This was a decision made early in the conflict. The Confederate Congress initially made the rank of brigadier general the highest rank. As the war progressed, the other general-officer ranks were quickly added, but no insignia for them was created. (Robert E. Lee was a notable exception to this. He chose to wear the rank insignia of a colonel.) Only seven men achieved
30646-422: The sample of 429 Southern soldiers explicitly voiced proslavery convictions in their letters or diaries. As one might expect, a much higher percentage of soldiers from slaveholding families than from non-slaveholding families expressed such a purpose: 33 percent, compared with 12 percent. Ironically, the proportion of Union soldiers who wrote about the slavery question was greater, as the next chapter will show. There
30845-444: The sidewheel gunboat USS Spitfire under Commander Josiah Tattnall III . Spitfire was at Vera Cruz when General Winfield Scott led the amphibious assault on the city, which was shielded by a series of forts and the ancient Castle of San Juan de Ulloa. Porter had spent many hours exploring the castle when he had been a midshipman in the Mexican Navy, so he was familiar with both its strengths and its weaknesses. He submitted
31044-532: The small Mexican Navy. Off the coast of Cuba on February 10, 1828, she encountered a flotilla of about fifty schooners, convoyed by Spanish brigs Marte and Amalia. Captain Porter elected to attack, and soon forced the flotilla to seek refuge in the harbor at Mariel , 30 miles (48 km) west of Havana. The Spanish 64-gun frigate Lealtad put to sea. Guerrero was able to break off the action and escape, but overnight Captain Porter decided to circle back and attack
31243-459: The soldiers' regimental commander. General Jackson's goal was to maintain discipline in a volunteer army whose homes were under threat of enemy occupation. Historians of the Civil War have emphasized how soldiers from poor families deserted because they were urgently needed at home. Local pressures mounted as Union forces occupied more and more Confederate territory, putting more and more families at risk of hardship. One Confederate Army officer at
31442-488: The solidarity of the Confederacy was dissatisfaction in the Appalachian Mountains districts caused by lingering Unionism and a distrust of the power wielded by the slave-holding class. Many of their soldiers deserted, returned home, and formed a military force that fought off Regular Army units trying to capture and punish them. North Carolina lost nearly a quarter of its soldiers (24,122) to desertion. This
31641-487: The south. Lauman's division was at the end of the line and farther back from the Confederate line than the other Union divisions. To the northwest of the city, the earlier arriving division of William Sooy Smith waited for other IX Corps divisions to catch up. By mid-afternoon the IX Corps began to move to the east with W. S. Smith's force east of the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad line heading north from Jackson. The divisions went into position after reaching
31840-509: The state capital of Virginia in Richmond. Both the United States and the Confederate States began in earnest to raise large, mostly volunteer, armies, with the opposing objectives: putting down the rebellion and preserving the Union on the one hand, and establishing Southern independence from the northern United States on the other. The Confederate States Congress provided for a regular Confederate States Army, patterned after its parent in
32039-535: The storeship USS Supply in a venture to bring camels to the United States. The project was promoted by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis , who thought that the desert animals could be useful for the cavalry in the arid Southwest. Supply made two successful trips before Secretary Davis left office and the experiment was discontinued. In 1859, he received an attractive offer from the Pacific Mail Steamship Company to be captain of
32238-455: The subsequent acts came before five state supreme courts; all five upheld them. In his 2010 book Major Problems in the Civil War , historian Michael Perman says that historians are of two minds on why millions of men seemed so eager to fight, suffer and die over four years: Some historians emphasize that Civil War soldiers were driven by political ideology, holding firm beliefs about the importance of liberty, Union, or state rights, or about
32437-498: The surrender of Pemberton's army on July 4, 1863, on the same afternoon, Sherman ordered the units assigned for the expedition against Jackson to move to the Big Black River crossings. Sherman ordered the XV Corps to march to Messinger's Ferry, the XIII Corps to march to the Big Black River Bridge where a pontoon bridge also needed to be constructed and the IX Corps to move to Birdsong's Ferry. Sherman's force included
32636-456: The time noted, "The deserters belong almost entirely to the poorest class of non-slave-holders whose labor is indispensable to the daily support of their families" and that "When the father, husband or son is forced into the service, the suffering at home with them is inevitable. It is not in the nature of these men to remain quiet in the ranks under such circumstances." Some soldiers also deserted from ideological motivations. A growing threat to
32835-401: The total Confederate wounded is 194,026. In comparison, the best estimates of the number of Union military personnel deaths are 110,100 killed in battle, 224,580 deaths from disease, and 30,218 deaths in Confederate prison camps. The estimated figure for Union Army wounded is 275,174. The main Confederate armies, the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee and the remnants of
33034-492: The total number of individuals who served in the Military forces of the Confederate States (Army, Navy and Marine Corps) is not possible due to incomplete and destroyed / burned Confederate records; and archives. Estimates of the number of Confederate soldiers, sailors and marines are between 750,000 and 1,000,000 troops. This does not include an unknown number of Negro slaves who were pressed into performing various tasks for
33233-400: The two forces were to exist concurrently, little was done to organize the Confederate regular army. Members of all the military forces of the Confederate States (the army, the navy, and the marine corps) are often referred to as "Confederates", and members of the Confederate army were referred to as "Confederate soldiers". Supplementing the Confederate army were the various state militias of
33432-443: The various forts, arsenals, shipyards and other seized federal installations from the secessionists, to put down and suppress the rebellion and to save the Union. Four more upper border slave states (North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas and finally Virginia) then joined the Confederacy, making eleven seceded states rather than fight fellow Southerners. The Confederacy then moved its national capital from temporary Montgomery, Alabama to
33631-535: The vessels at Mariel. Intercepted by Lealtad , he could not escape. In the battle, Captain Porter was killed, together with many of his crew; the young midshipman Porter was slightly wounded. He was among the survivors who surrendered and were imprisoned in Havana until they could be exchanged. Commodore Porter chose not to risk his son again, and sent him back to the United States by way of New Orleans. David Dixon Porter obtained an official appointment as midshipman in
33830-436: The war to address losses suffered in battle as well as the United States' greater supply of manpower. In December 1863, it abolished the previous practice of allowing a rich drafted man to hire a substitute to take his place in the ranks. Substitution had also been practiced in the United States, leading to similar resentment from the lower classes. In February 1864, the age limits were extended to between 17 and 50. Challenges to
34029-488: The war, more than four were often assigned to a brigade. Occasionally, regiments would be transferred between brigades. Two to four brigades usually formed a division . Two to four divisions usually formed a corps . Two to four corps usually formed an army. Occasionally, a single corps might operate independently as if it were a small army. The Confederate States Army consisted of several field armies, named after their primary area of operation. The largest Confederate field army
34228-590: The war, stated in a letter to a friend that "I've always understood that we went to war on account of the thing we quarreled with the North about. I've never heard of any other cause than slavery." As stated by researcher / authors Andrew Hall, Connor Huff and Shiro Kuriwaki in the article Wealth, Slaveownership, and Fighting for the Confederacy: An Empirical Study of the American Civil War , research done using an 1862 Georgia lottery showed that rich white Southern men actually enlisted at
34427-486: The war. Reports from the C.S. War Department beginning at the end of 1861 indicated 326,768 men that year, 449,439 in 1862, 464,646 in 1863, 400,787 in 1864, and "last reports" showed 358,692. Estimates of enlistments throughout the war range from 1,227,890 to 1,406,180. The following calls for soldiers were issued: The C.S.A. was initially a (strategically) defensive army, and many soldiers were resentful when General Robert E. Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia across
34626-404: The way they had disregarded his orders. Henceforth, he kept Spitfire by his side. On June 13, 1847, Perry mounted an expedition to capture the interior town of Tabasco . Porter on his own led a charge of 68 sailors to capture the fort defending the city. Perry rewarded him for his initiative by making him captain of Spitfire. It was his first command. It brought him no advantages, however, as
34825-564: The “Army of Relief”, was at the Big Black River near Vicksburg. Grant was concerned about a possible attack by Johnston's force against his army and a Confederate attempt to retake Vicksburg. Before Johnston brought his army close to Vicksburg, at Grant's order, Sherman had already deployed the recently arrived IX Corps under Major General John G. Parke and other assigned divisions in an exterior line to defend against attack from outside Vicksburg by another Confederate force. On July 4,
35024-464: Was 10. David Dixon, age 12, was not affected by the disease. He was able to serve on the frigate Libertad , where he saw little action, and on the captured merchantman Esmeralda for a raid on Spanish shipping in Cuban waters. In 1828, David Dixon accompanied his cousin, David Henry Porter , captain of the brig Guerrero , in another raid. Guerrero , mounting 22 guns, was one of the finest vessels in
35223-482: Was a United States Navy admiral and a member of one of the most distinguished families in the history of the U.S. Navy. Promoted as the second U.S. Navy officer ever to attain the rank of admiral, after his adoptive brother David G. Farragut , Porter helped improve the Navy as the Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy after significant service in the American Civil War . Porter began naval service as
35422-424: Was a hero, his warrant as a midshipman would not have been renewed. Porter's last duty as a midshipman was on the frigate USS United States , flagship of Commodore Daniel Patterson , from June 1832 until October 1834. Patterson's family accompanied him, including his daughter, George Ann ("Georgy"). The two young people renewed their acquaintance and became engaged. After Porter returned home, he completed
35621-410: Was a major factor in combat motivation. According to his analysis, the soldiers' faith was consoling for the loss of comrades; it was a shield against fear; it helped reduce drinking and fighting in the ranks; it enlarged the soldiers' community of close friends and helped compensate for their long-term separation from home. In his 1997 book For Cause and Comrades , which examines the motivations of
35820-449: Was a strategic weakness for the Confederacy, and there are only a few examples of its armies acting in concert across multiple theaters to achieve a common objective. One instance occurred in late 1862 with Lee's invasion of Maryland , coincident with two other actions: Bragg's invasion of Kentucky and Earl Van Dorn 's advance against Corinth, Mississippi . All three initiatives were unsuccessful, however. Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown
36019-845: Was an extreme case of a Southern States Rights advocate asserting control over Confederate soldiers: he defied the Confederate government's wartime policies and resisted the military draft. Believing that local troops should be used only for the defense of Georgia, Brown tried to stop Colonel Francis Bartow from taking Georgia troops out of the state to the First Battle of Bull Run. Many of the Confederacy's senior military leaders (including Robert E. Lee, Albert Sidney Johnston , and James Longstreet ) and even President Jefferson Davis, were former U.S. Army and, in smaller numbers, U.S. Navy officers who had been opposed to, disapproved of, or were at least unenthusiastic about secession, but resigned their U.S. commissions upon hearing that their states had left
36218-428: Was being reinforced continuously through June. Having not taken advantage of the small Confederate numerical superiority of Pemberton and his own combined forces in the first week of June, Johnston did not issue orders to move in force to the Big Black River until June 28. The Confederates did not approach the Union lines near Vicksburg until July 1. Instead of scouting approaches to the city when he finally arrived near
36417-436: Was coming and on July 14 he sent cavalry under the command of William H. Jackson to intercept it. The Confederate cavalry failed to stop the delivery to Sherman's forces because Sherman received intelligence that the cavalry had been dispatched and acted to protect the wagon train. Sherman ordered a brigade stationed at Champion Hill to escort the train and another brigade to move to Clinton to protect it. When Johnston heard about
36616-520: Was concerned about Confederate defenders further to the right of his position and he asked the newly-arrived divisions to move to that end of the Union line in that order from north to south. Hovey's and Lauman's divisions were placed last along the Terry Road and on Bailey Hill overlooking Lynch Creek east of the line of the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad entering the city from
36815-473: Was enforced, and even social graces were taught. An honor system was installed, "to send honorable men from this institution into the Navy." To be sure that his reforms would remain in place after his departure, he brought to the faculty a group of like-minded men, mostly young officers who had distinguished themselves in the war. When Porter's friend Ulysses S. Grant became president in 1869, he appointed Philadelphia businessman Adolph E. Borie as Secretary of
37014-460: Was formally equivalent to the other squadrons, so its commanding officer would likewise be a rear admiral. The problem was that the commandant of the gunboat flotilla, Flag Officer Charles H. Davis , had not shown the initiative that the Navy Department wanted, so he had to be removed. He was made rear admiral, but he was recalled to Washington to serve as chief of the Bureau of Navigation . Most of
37213-428: Was heading toward Bolton to try to cut what he thought was the Union supply line. Pemberton had insufficient supplies and on May 15, he had to wait to move forward for rations and ammunition to be brought up from Vicksburg. Then, because of a bridge washout, Pemberton's men had to cross Baker's Creek upstream and camp east of the creek at Champion Hill. Despite the approach of Grant's entire force early on May 16, Pemberton
37412-462: Was in charge of army forces in Louisiana, brought pressure on the Lincoln administration to mount a campaign across Louisiana and into Texas along the line of the Red River. The ostensible purpose was to extend Union control into Texas, but Banks was influenced by numerous speculators to convert the campaign into little more than a raid to seize cotton. Admiral Porter was not in favor; he thought that
37611-514: Was less. Later, he reasoned that it had at least a redeeming feature in that Porter, whose loyalty had been suspect, was henceforth firmly attached to the Union. As he wrote, In detaching the Powhatan from the Sumter expedition and giving the command to Porter, Mr. Seward extricated that officer from Secession influences, and committed him at once, and decisively, to the Union cause. In late 1861,
37810-493: Was neglected and underfunded by Congress, with a reputation for producing cadets who were poorly educated on their duties, prone to misbehavior, and lacking the professionalism expected in the Navy. Porter resolved to change that; he determined to make the academy the rival of the Military Academy at West Point. The curriculum was revised to reflect the reality of naval life, organized sports were encouraged, discipline
38009-455: Was not followed by an assault because the explosion was set off mainly to show the Confederates that their position was hopeless. Despite receiving reinforcements bringing his total force to about 32,000 men by June 1, Johnston made no move to relieve Vicksburg until the end of June. He later would report to Jefferson Davis that he had received men but not the supplies, artillery, horses and wagons needed to move them. While Johnston delayed, Grant
38208-538: Was rapidly downsized at the end of the war, and Porter, like most of his contemporaries, had fewer ships to command and no clear purpose. Some feared that at sea he might provoke a foreign war, particularly with Great Britain, because of what he saw as their support for the Confederacy. To make use of his undeniable talents, Secretary Welles appointed him Superintendent of the Naval Academy in 1865. The academy, despite having been established to train naval personnel,
38407-613: Was sometimes left off by officers since it made them conspicuous targets. The kepi was rarely used, the common slouch hat being preferred for its practicality in the Southern climate. Branch colors were used for the color of chevrons—blue for infantry, yellow for cavalry, and red for artillery. This could differ with some units, however, depending on available resources or the unit commander's desire. Cavalry regiments from Texas, for example, often used red insignia and at least one Texas infantry regiment used black. David Dixon Porter David Dixon Porter (June 8, 1813 – February 13, 1891)
38606-421: Was strongly criticized for his failure to control his subordinate, and after three months he resigned. The new secretary, George Robeson , promptly curtailed Porter's powers. In 1866, the rank of admiral was created in the U.S. Navy. Naval hero David G. Farragut , Porter's adoptive brother, was selected as the nation's first admiral, and Porter became vice admiral at the same time. In 1870, Farragut died, and it
38805-509: Was the Army of Northern Virginia , whose surrender at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865 marked the end of major combat operations in the U.S. Civil War. Companies were commanded by captains and had two or more lieutenants. Regiments were commanded by colonels. Lieutenant colonels were second in command. At least one major was next in command. Brigades were commanded by brigadier generals although casualties or other attrition sometimes meant that brigades would be commanded by senior colonels or even
39004-439: Was the highest rate of desertion of any Confederate state. Young Samuel Clemens (1835-1910, later to be known as Mark Twain ) soon deserted the Southern army long before he became a world-famous writer, journalist and lecturer, but he often commented upon that episode in his life comically, even writing a book about it. Author Neil Schmitz has examined the deep unease Twain felt about losing his honor, his fear of facing death as
39203-464: Was to be commanded by Porter's adoptive brother Captain David G. Farragut . The bombardment of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip began on April 18, 1862. Porter had opined that two days of concentrated fire would be enough to reduce the forts, but after five days they seemed as strong as ever. The mortars were beginning to run low on ammunition. Farragut, who put little reliance on the mortars anyway, made
39402-422: Was unable to care for all his children. Commodore David Porter offered to adopt James, to which the boy and George agreed. In 1811, James started serving a midshipman under Porter in the U.S. Navy, and changed his first name to David. He had a distinguished career as David G. Farragut , serving as the first man to attain the new rank of admiral , instituted by the U.S. Congress after the American Civil War. After
39601-408: Was unaware of the full threat. The Confederates were soundly defeated at the Battle of Champion Hill , 18 miles west of Jackson, and retreated to Vicksburg. Following the Battle of Champion Hill, Sherman's corps also rejoined Grant's force. Grant's army then defeated a Confederate rear guard of about 5,000 troops at the Battle of Big Black River Bridge on May 17, 1863. The Confederates withdrew into
#303696