[Doug64]

May 20, Wednesday

Grant sets his men to preparing siegeworks around Vicksburg. On the northern front, Sherman needs to find a way across the deep ditch that blocks access to the Rebel works; he thinks of a wooden bridge. Although it is after dark, he sends his men out to find lumber. They report that there is indeed some lumber nearby, in the form of a house. The trouble is that Grant is sleeping in it. After some high-level discussion, it is agreed that Grant must be awakened. When the situation is explained, Grant rises, dresses, and watches as his headquarters is disassembled and turned into a bridge across the moat.

Another vital construction project is the building of a road to the steamboat landing at Chickasaw Bluffs; the need for supplies is becoming urgent. For almost three weeks the Union soldiers have subsided well enough off the populace of Mississippi. They have raided Southern kitchens, gardens, smokehouses, hen houses, wine cellars, and gristmills. But there are too many mouths to feed, and the countryside is soon picked clean. For several days, food has been increasingly hard to come by. While Grant is inspecting his lines, he hears a soldier nearby say in a low voice: “Hardtack.” Then others, politely but firmly, let their general know that they are hungry. In a moment, the cry is taken up all along the line, “Hardtack! Hardtack!” He tells the nearest men that when the supply road is finished there will be plenty of bread and coffee. The men cheer.

President Davis has been ill for several weeks but is improving.

Two blockade runners arrive safely at Charleston, South Carolina, from Nassau with valuable cargoes. But two others are captured, one off the Neuse River, North Carolina, the other near Nassau.

Confederates fight with Federals near Fort Gibson, Indian Territory. Skirmishing occurs at Salem and Collierville, Tennessee, and near Cheneyville, Louisiana. Troops begin to gather for Banks’ major Federal push toward Port Hudson on the Mississippi. For the next three days there are demonstrations at Kinston, North Carolina, and skirmishes at Gum Swamp and Batchelder’s Creek, North Carolina. A Federal scout operates for the next two days from Clarksville, Tennessee; and Union troops move to Yazoo City, Mississippi, at the same time. In Virginia minor operations in the Northern Neck and in Middlesex County last until the twenty-sixth.

[Doug64]

May 21, Thursday

A portion of Banks’ Federals move out of Baton Rouge on the Clinton Road toward Port Hudson. The main army, coming from Alexandria, approach Bayou Sara on the west side of the Mississippi. Minor action occurs at Plains Store near Port Hudson. Although Federal operations are not complete, the siege of Port Hudson can be said to have begun.

At Vicksburg, Grant issues orders for a carefully coordinated general assault on Pemberton’s lines tomorrow. By all accounts, the soldiers themselves—most of whom were not heavily engaged in the first attack on the city—want to make another try. A Federal flotilla goes up the Yazoo to Yazoo City, Mississippi. Before the flotilla arrives, Confederates destroy their shops and the navy yard, including two steamboats and an unfinished gunboat.

Federal guerrillas operate on the Santa Fe Road near Kansas City, Missouri. Today and tomorrow a Federal expedition moves from Murfreesboro to Middleton, Tennessee, and fights a skirmish; through the 26th another Federal expedition probes from La Grange, Tennessee, to Senatobia, Mississippi, and operations on the Teche Road between Barre’s Landing and Berwick, Louisiana. A Federal scout from Cassville through northwestern Arkansas, into Newton and Jasper counties, Missouri, lasts until the 30th and includes several skirmishes.

[Doug64]

May 22, Friday

At Vicksburg the second Federal assault begins with an artillery barrage from every battery in position. Simultaneously, skirmishers begin sniping at the defenders while Porter’s gunboats open up on the Vicksburg entrenchments from the river. The firing lasts for four hours. As the Federal batteries thunder away, the infantrymen gird for the assault. Men congregate in little groups conversing in undertones. Letters conveying a last farewell to loved ones are hurriedly written. Officers, outwardly calm but dreading the coming task, move aimlessly about, anxiously consulting their timepieces. Then at 10 am every gun and rifle stops firing. Suddenly dense masses of Federal troops, in numerous columns of attack, and with loud cheers and huzzahs, rush forward at a run with bayonets fixed, not firing a shot, headed for every salient along the Confederate lines. The defenders hold their fire until the Federal soldiers are well within range. Then they deliberately rise and stand in their trenches pouring volley after volley into the advancing enemy.

An Illinois regiment targeting the so-called Railroad Redoubt, which guards the passage of the Southern Mississippi through the town’s eastern defenses, charges down into an abatis of fallen timber and brush, comrades falling thickly on all sides, scrambling up the hill through the brambles and brush, over the dead and dying. Only a handful of the regiment manage to reach their objective, where they are joined by survivors of regiments from Iowa and Ohio. But the Federal success is short lived, before a counterattack by an Alabama regiment clears the parapet.

Just north of the Railroad Redoubt, a Texas regiment faces the onslaught of McClernand’s Federals, “the earth black with their close columns.” But the Texans are ready for them, each man with five loaded muskets at hand, and half the force standing ready to reload while the front rank fires. When the attackers come within 100 yards of the parapet the Confederates open fire, cannon belching canister, the men yelling and shouting as they open fire themselves. Soon the blazing musketry ignites the cotton bales lining the Confederate works, but the Texans’ fire doesn’t abate. It seems no Federal can cross that open space and live. Suddenly, out of a pall of smoke comes a lone blueclad figure, Private Thomas H. Higgins of Illinois, carrying the Stars and Stripes. At least a hundred men take deliberate aim at him, but he never falters in spite of stumbling over the bodies of his fallen comrades. Some Texans begin shouting not to shoot him, while others shout encouragement to him. Higgins carries his flag right up to the Confederate line, where he is pulled inside the works and captured. Word of his deed spreads through the Confederate ranks, and come night he is brought before an admiring General Pemberton. Later, Higgins will be awarded the Medal of Honor, with a citation based in part on the testimony of his Confederate foes.

To the north, on General Sherman’s front, a 14-year-old drummer boy, Orion Howe also of Illinois, embarks on a mission that will also win him the Medal of Honor. When his regiment’s ammunition runs low, Howe volunteers to go to the rear and order more. As he leaves, the regiment’s commander calls out to the boy, reminding him to request .54-caliber ammunition, the only kind the regiment can use. His regiment watches as he runs through what seems a hailstorm of canister and musket balls, each throwing up a little puff as it strikes the dry hillside. Once the watchers despair to see the youngster fall, but he has merely tripped. Soon, he disappears from sight. Sherman, who is watching the battle, has the boy brought to him wounded and bleeding—Howe has just been struck in the leg by a Minié ball. In clear tones the boy delivers his message. Sherman promises to see to it, then orders Howe hurried off to a hospital. Just before he vanishes from Sherman’s sight, he turns and calls out as loud as he can, “Calibre .54.”

By now, Grant’s attack is floundering all along the line. In some cases soldiers refuse to advance, despite the curses and entreaties of their officers. Those regiments that do go forward are pinned down in front of the Confederate works under a scorching sun. The men lie prone; to raise one’s head is to die. By early in the afternoon it is becoming abundantly clear to Grant that the assault is doomed. He is about to call a halt when he is handed a scrawled note from McClernand: “We have part possession of two forts and the Stars and Stripes are waving over them. A vigorous push ought to be made all along the line.” Grant, standing with Sherman, hands over the note and says, “I don’t believe a word of it.” Still, more urgent requests follow the first, and Grant finally and reluctantly sends more troops to McClernand and orders Sherman and McPherson to renew their attacks. They do so, and suffer heavy casualties. McClernand has lost his tenuous grip on the Confederate fortifications. He cannot break through, and this failure will come back to haunt him.

For the Federals, the second attack on Vicksburg is the bloodiest battle of the campaign. Of 45,000 Federals, 502 were killed, 2,550 wounded, and 147 missing for 3,199 casualties. Confederate losses were under 500. As the sound of firing dies down along the tortured Vicksburg hillside this Friday, Grant sits on his horse whittling a piece of wood. It has been a savage day, and the Federals are still outside the fortifications of the river port. A newspaper reporter hears Grant say quietly, “We’ll have to dig our way in.”

In Washington Lincoln has just heard of Grant’s successful campaign in approaching Vicksburg.

In Richmond Davis wires General Braxton Bragg at Tullahoma, Tennessee, “The vital issue of holding the Missi. at Vicksburg is dependent on the success of Genl. Johnston in an attack on the investing force. The intelligence from there is discouraging. Can you aid him? ...”

Skirmishes occur at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory; on Yellow Creek, Tennessee; near Barre’s Landing, Bayou Teche, and at Bayou Courtableau, Louisiana. Banks’s army nears Port Hudson.

Lincoln greets a group at the White House known as the “One-Legged Brigade.” He tells the convalescent veterans that there is no need for a speech “as the men upon their crutches were orators; their very appearance spoke louder than tongues.”

The War Department of the United States establishes a bureau in the Adjutant General’s Office to organize Black troops.

Brigadier General Alfred Pleasonton assumes command of the Cavalry Corps of Hooker’s Army of the Potomac, replacing Stoneman.

The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society holds an anniversary meeting in London, and expresses strong support for the Union.

[Doug64]

May 23, Saturday

Near Bayou Sara, Banks’ main Federal force crosses the Mississippi at night and in a heavy storm heads for Port Hudson, with skirmishing on the Springfield and Plains Store roads. At Vicksburg, Grant’s army begins to receive reinforcements. There is a brief skirmish at Haynes’ Bluff.

Other fighting breaks out at Hartville, Missouri; Warrenton, Virginia; and West Creek, West Virginia. Two Federal expeditions, lasting several days, operate from Helena to near Napoleon, Arkansas, and from Memphis to Hernando, Mississippi. Federals counter guerrilla activities and Confederate raids in Union-occupied Southern territory with almost continuous expeditions, scouts, and reconnaissances.

Lincoln confers with military and naval officials about the unsuccessful attack on Charleston, South Carolina.

Davis wires J.E. Johnston, who is outside Vicksburg and unable to aid Pemberton, that he is “hopeful of junction of your forces and defeat of the enemy.” To Pemberton, Davis wires, “Sympathizing with you for the reverse sustained.”

In Ohio petitions circulate protesting the “arbitrary arrest, illegal trial, and inhuman imprisonment of Hon. C. L. Vallandigham.”

[Doug64]

May 24, Sunday

After a month of major military activity, the war enters a period of comparative quiet. The lesser actions continue, as always, but on principal fronts the armies rest and wait. In Virginia Hooker faces Lee at Fredericksburg; in Tennessee Rosecrans’ Federals regroup at Murfreesboro while their opponent, Bragg, remains near Tullahoma, Sparta, and Wartrace. And of course at Vicksburg the siege is only beginning. At Port Hudson various units of Banks’ army join for another siege.

Skirmishing occurs at Woodbury, Tennessee; Mill Springs, Kentucky; Mechanicsburg, Mississippi; and at Mound Plantation near Lake Providence, Louisiana. A Federal expedition operates through the end of the month up the Yazoo and Big Sunflower rivers of Mississippi. Federal marines burn Austin, Mississippi, in reprisal for Confederate firing on their boat.

Major General John A. Schofield is ordered to supersede Samuel R Curtis in command of the Federal Department of Missouri.

President Lincoln spends the day visiting hospitals in and near Washington.

President Davis wires Johnston that he knows Pemberton will hang on tenaciously at Vicksburg, “but the disparity of numbers renders prolonged defence dangerous. I hope you will soon be able to break the investment, make a junction and carry in munitions.”

[Doug64]

May 25, Monday

Confederates fail to evacuate Port Hudson and Federal efforts to surround the post get fully underway. There is a skirmish at Thompson’s Creek near Port Hudson, and Federals capture the Confederate steamers Starlight and Red Chief on the Mississippi.

Other fighting is at Polk’s Plantation near Helena, Arkansas; Centreville, Louisiana; and Woodbury, Tennessee.

CSS Alabama takes two prizes in raids off Bahia, Brazil.

Federal military authorities in Tennessee turn over former Ohio congressman Clement L. Vallandigham to the Confederates. His prison sentence has been changed by Lincoln to banishment from the US after his conviction of expressing pro-Confederate sentiments.

[Doug64]

May 26, Tuesday

A Federal expedition from Haynes’ Bluff to Mechanicsburg, Mississippi, through June 4 includes skirmishing. Other Federal expeditions move from Corinth, Mississippi, to Florence, Alabama, through the 31st and from Bolivar to Wesley Camp, Somerville, and Antioch Church, Tennessee, through the 29th. Both involve skirmishing. A Federal scout from Fort Heiman, Kentucky, lasts until June 2. In Missouri fighting erupts at Mountain Store and Bush Creek; and a Federal expedition moves from Memphis, Tennessee, toward Hernando, Mississippi.

In Alder Gulch, in what will become Montana, gold has been discovered and, despite the war, a wild boom follows. Alder Gulch, renamed Virginia City, will become the epitome of a frontier mining town. The spectacular strike relieves Federal authorities, who have feared a threat to the California gold mines.

President Davis, discussing army problems and command changes with General Lee, also writes him that “Pemberton is stoutly defending the entrenchments at Vicksburg, and Johnston has an army outside, which I suppose will be able to raise the siege, and combined with Pemberton’s forces may win a victory.”

[Doug64]

May 27, Wednesday

In the rolling, ravine-cut, heavy-timbered country near Port Hudson, Louisiana, General Johnston’s order to General Gardner to evacuate his last 4,500 men has arrived too late, General Banks’ Federal army of about 13,000 effectives has cut off retreat. Now Banks orders the first assault on the beleaguered post. In a somewhat disorganized attack, the Federals, including Black troops, get close to the Confederate parapets. But the disjointed movements fail along the entire lines, with heavy losses. Federal casualties are 293 killed, 1,545 wounded, and 156 missing for a total of 1,995. Confederate killed and wounded together are about 235. Assaults on fortified Confederate areas has again proved costly.

A Federal scout moves from Memphis toward Hernando, Mississippi, and May 27-28 a Federal reconnaissance operates from Murfreesboro on the Manchester Pike in Tennessee. In Virginia Federals scout May 27-28 from Snicker’s Ferry to Aldie, Fairfax Court House, and Leesburg.

North of the Rappahannock, the sorely perplexed commander of the Union’s Army of the Potomac ponders his situation. After Chancellorsville, General Hooker has quickly recovered some of his old bluster, insisting in a letter to President Lincoln that “no general battle was fought at Chancellorsville.” That being the case, Hooker concludes, “we lost no honor at Chancellorsville.” But Hooker has destroyed his credibility, not only with the government, but with his own army as well. His senior corps commander, Major General Darius N. Couch, was so outraged at Hooker’s vacillating conduct during the battle that he has refused to serve any longer under “Fighting Joe.” Couch has been transferred to command of the Department of the Susquehanna, with headquarters at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and replaced at the head of II Corps by Major General Winfield Scott Hancock. At least two other corps commanders, Major Generals Henry W. Slocum and John Sedgwick, are manuevering to have Hooker replaced. But President Lincoln, who has had little luck with his command changes in the Army of the Potomac, seems in no hurry to make another. He has told a visiting general that he is “not disposed to throw away a gun because it missed fire once.” In fact, Hooker’s downfall has been ordained since shortly after his retreat from Chancellorsville. President Lincoln, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, and General in Chief Halleck all agree that Hooker’s conduct has been inexcusable and that he must not be allowed to lead the army in another major battle. But they have also decided that to remove him immediately would have political repercussions they cannot afford; they will wait until the explosive general tenders his resignation over some dispute, and accept it.

General Hooker’s intelligence chief has reported that “the Confederate army is under marching orders” and will probably “move forward upon or above our right flank.”

An anxious President Lincoln wires Hooker at the Rappahannock, “what news?” and to Rosecrans at Murfreesboro, “Have you any thing from Grant? Where is Forrest’s Head-Quarters?”

In the Vicksburg theater Confederates attack Union gunboats near Greenwood, Mississippi, and skirmish near Lake Providence, Louisiana.

General Grant orders Admiral Porter to send the ironclad gunboat Cincinnati, commanded by Lieutenant George M. Bache, down the Mississippi to bombard Fort Hill, the westernmost Confederate bastion at Vicksburg. Both Grant and Sherman believe mistakenly that the fort’s battery of heavy guns have been moved elsewhere in the defenses. If the rifle pits there can be silenced, they reason, a way might be cleared for Sherman to smash through. But the current is so strong that the Cincinnati is forced to turn upstream to hold her position; in the process she exposes her unarmored stern to the Confederate batteries. She is hit repeatedly, and sinks in twenty feet of water. Thirteen of her 200-man crew drown, and nineteen are killed or wounded by Confederate fire. The vessel is later burned by the Confederates, but her guns will be recovered by Federal forces and added to those ringing the town.

CSS Chattahoochee blows up accidentally on the Chattahoochee River, Georgia; eighteen men die.

[Doug64]

May 28, Thursday

From Boston the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers leaves for Hilton Head, South Carolina. It is the first Black regiment sent from the North.

There is a skirmish near Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, and another near Austin, Mississippi.

[Doug64]

May 29, Friday

Although Vicksburg remains to be taken, General Grant’s successes have given him new confidence—and an unaccustomed celebrity. His superiors, his soldiers, and the Union public all hail his achievements. Newspapers fill their pages with Grant’s praises. Horace Greeley’s New York Tribune, which has hammered Grant mercilessly ever since Shiloh, now writes in awe of the general’s tireless, near-flawless campaigning. General Sherman draws a cynical lesson from the sudden change in his friend’s public image. “Grant is now deservedly the hero,” he writes to his wife. “He is now belabored with praise by those who a month ago accused him of all the sins in the calendar, and who next week will turn against him if so blows the popular breeze.” Sherman concludes caustically, “Vox populi, vox humbug.” The audacious May campaign has no more watchful analysts than the soldiers who fought it, and the approbation is evident. In a June dispatch, the correspondent of The New York Times will write: “The soldiers observe him coming and, rising to their feet, gather on each side of the way to see him pass—they do not salute him, they only watch him curiously, with a certain sort of familiar reverence.”

General in Chief Halleck, who treated Grant with icy reserve a few months ago, now begins eagerly to comply with his requests for reinforcements, sending Grant great numbers of men to help strengthen his hold on the river port. Among them are the 8,000 men of IX Corps, dispatched from the Department of the Ohio, and a division of 5,000 men from the Department of the Missouri. The reinforcements are sorely needed. The Union ring around Vicksburg is twelve miles in length, and Grant’s 50,000-man force is stretched thin. In fact, though General Pemberton writes General Johnston today that escape from Vicksburg is impossible, two of the eight roads leading out of town are virtually unguarded by Federal troops. That situation will not last long. Grant will use the first of the reinforcements to plug the gaps a few days from now, and will soon have more than 70,000 men in his command. In this iron grip, a Confederate soldier will observe grimly, “a cat could not have crept out of Vicskburg without being discovered.”

Grant receives a letter from General Banks asking him to send 10,000 men downriver to assist in the ongoing siege of Port Hudson. Of course Grant can’t comply with the request, nor does he feel Banks needs them. Grant judges that Banks’ army is in no danger of an attack from the garrison on his front, and there is no army organizing in his rear to raise the siege.

Major General Burnside, in command at Cincinnati, offers his resignation to Lincoln as a result of the arrest, conviction, and banishment of Vallandigham. Lincoln, however, refuses the resignation. Governor Oliver P. Morton of Indiana and others have also protested the arrest on grounds that it increases opposition to the war effort in the states on the Ohio.

A skirmish breaks out near Mill Springs, Kentucky, scene of a major battle early last year.

[Doug64]

May 30, Saturday

Before setting out on the march north into Pennsylvania, General Lee needs to reorganize his army—using the sad imperative of replacing Stonewall Jackson to make some long-needed changes—and today he announces his appointments. The Army of Northern Virginia has been organized in two corps, one under Jackson and the other commanded by Lieutenant General James Longstreet. Each corps has comprised about 30,000 mean—too many, Lee now thinks, for one officer to handle. He decides to divide his army into three corps. The Confederate I Corps will remain under the command of Longstreet, whom Lee calls “my old warhorse.” In fact, Longstreet finds the risks involved in Lee’s invasion plan appalling. But he agrees to the campaign, provided it should be offensive in strategy but defensive in tactics. Longstreet believes that Lee has accepted that stipulation. The selection of Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell to take Jackson’s place as head of II Corps is no surprise. Ewell has served doughtily under Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley and elsewhere. He lost a leg in the Second Bull Run Campaign, and has been absent from the Army for nine months. Now he is ready to fight again. To lead the new III Corps, Lee chooses a man whom he praises as “the best soldier of his grade with me.” Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill is indeed a fierce fighter. Yet he is also high-strung and impatient, and more than once he has gotten in trouble by attacking without waiting for orders. How he will respond to higher responsibility remains to be seen.

Lee also strengthens Stuart’s cavalry by placing under his command four cavalry brigades that have been operating independently—including that of Brigadier General William E. Jones, whose quarrelsome, complaining ways have earned him the nickname “Grumble.” In stark contrast to the gaudy, gregarious Stuart, Jones wears blue jeans and a homespun jacket. Stuart and Jones detest each other.

Skirmishes occur at Jordan’s Store, Tennessee; near Greenwich, Virginia; and at Port Isabel, Texas.

At Newark, New Jersey, a large meeting of Democrats protests the earlier arrest and conviction of Vallandigham.

[Doug64]

May 31, Sunday

There is a small affair on James Island, South Carolina, and a skirmish at Warrenton, Virginia. The Union spends today and tomorrow evacuating West Point, Virginia.

President Davis discusses army appointments and dispositions of units with Lee and at the same time states that “General Johnston did not, as you thought advisable, attack Grant promptly, and I fear the result is that which you anticipated if time was given.” He is less and less hopeful over affairs at Vicksburg.

[Doug64]

June 1863

As the month begins, the war-weary eyes of both nations are turned toward the town on the bluffs of the Mississippi. Pemberton’s Confederate forces and the citizens of Vicksburg are beginning to tighten belts and endure the siege guns of Grant’s army encamped outside. At the same time the only other strongpoint held by Confederates on the Mississippi, Port Hudson, also lies under siege. At Murfreesboro and Tullahoma, Tennessee, Union and Confederate armies are relatively inactive, but action of some sort is expected and urged. In Virginia it is obvious there will be a new campaign in the near future, but where and by whom is the question. Problems of the home front plague both North and South as the war enters its third summer.

June 1, Monday

At Vicksburg, profiteering is already rampant with some speculators making incredible profits while supplies last. During this night, an entire block of stores in the heart of the town, including a number of shops owned by alleged speculators, burns to the ground. The fire causes the worst damage suffered in the town during the siege, and everyone knows why it happened.

General Burnside, now in command of the Department of the Ohio, issues a general order: “On account of the repeated expression of disloyal and incendiary sentiments, the publication of the newspaper known as the Chicago Times is hereby suppressed.” Suppression of the anti-Administration paper arouses immediate excitement in Chicago and elsewhere. A group of Chicago’s leading citizens, including Mayor F.C. Sherman, asks the President to rescind the order. Lincoln confers with Stanton on the problem of shutting down various newspapers.

In Philadelphia a meeting protests the treatment of C.L. Vallandigham.

Heavy bombardment continues at Vicksburg and Port Hudson, while fighting elsewhere is limited to skirmishes near Rocheport, Doniphan, and Waverly, Missouri; Snicker’s Gap, Virginia; and Berwick, Louisiana.

[Doug64]

June 2, Tuesday

President Lincoln, uncertain about Hooker’s ability to command the Federal Army of the Potomac properly, is said to have conferred with Major General John F. Reynolds regarding that command and possibly even offered it to Reynolds.

Equally concerned with events in the West, Lincoln wires Grant, “Are you in communication with Gen. Banks? Is he coming toward you, or going further off?” Washington has urged the two forces to join up. However, Banks wisely continues his siege of Port Hudson and Grant is fully occupied at Vicksburg.

Grant’s strategy, as he puts it, is to “outcamp the enemy” until their supplies give out. He is also applying constant pressure: Artillery bombards the Confederates around the clock, and the Union infantry keep pushing their lines closer to the town. Troops are sent out each night to dig approach trenches, or saps. These are constructed in the traditional zigzag pattern, to prevent the enemy from shooting straight down their length. The earth displaced by the digging is piled up on the side of the trench nearer the Confederates, and to provide further protection the earthworks are strengthened with cotton bales, sandbags, and logs. The art of laying siege calls for some special equipment that Grant’s army has not been furnished, but the general improvises ably. Lacking heavy siege guns, he bombards the town with field artillery and with naval guns borrowed from Admiral Porter. Sap rollers—large cylindrical devices used to protect the trench diggers from enemy fire—are fashioned by weaving branches into large baskets and filling them with earth. Trench mortars are fabricated on the spot by shrinking iron bands around short lengths of tree trunks, which are then hollowed out to take 6- and 12-pound shells. A crude periscope for looking into Confederate entrenchments is made by mounting a mirror on a pole.

Confederate sharpshooters make the work hazardous, but the troops maintain a certain humor about it all. A favorite amusement of the soldiers is to place a cap on the end of a ramrod and raise it just about the head-logs, betting on the number of bullets that pass through it in a given time. As if sharpshooters are not enough, the Confederates have the annoying habit of firing turpentine-soaked projectiles into the sap rollers, setting them afire and sending the diggers scurrying.

But the Federal forces inexorably press forward, until the lead trenches are within a few yards of the Confederate earthworks. As has happened before in this brother-against-brother war, the close proximity of the rival forces at a time when there is no immediate battle to fight fosters an interlude of reduced tension and even a kind of camaraderie. There is a steady interchange of shouted jokes and taunts between the Federal and Confederate soldiers. At one point, the lines are so close together that the Federal pickets often have a cup of coffee or a chew of tobacco with the Rebel pickets at night. A favorite meeting place between the lines is an abandoned house that has a good well. There is a severe water shortage in both armies, and thirsty pickets from the two sides congregate there. Sometimes they become engaged in heated political arguments, but when the discussions grow too vehement the groups break off—“to avoid a fight on the subject.”

President Davis orders C.L. Vallandigham sent to Wilmington, North Carolina, and put under guard as an “alien enemy.”

Federals raid Confederate property and stores on the Combahee River, South Carolina. Skirmishing occurs at Upperville and Strasburg, Virginia, and at Jamestown, Kentucky. A Federal expedition operates from Haynes Bluff to Sataria and Mechanicsburg, Mississippi through the 8th.

[Doug64]

June 3, Wednesday

General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia is on the move. The first elements of the Confederate army of about 75,000 men leave the Fredericksburg area in a westerly direction toward Culpeper Court House, first stop on the way north. McLaws’ division of Longstreet’s corps is in the van. Other units prepare to follow. One of the first actions is a minor skirmish near Fayetteville, Virginia.

IX Corps from Kentucky is ordered to Vicksburg to augment Grant’s army.

There are operations during the week in northern Louisiana and a Federal expedition to Clinton, Louisiana, as part of the Port Hudson campaign. In Tennessee action includes a small Federal expedition from Jackson and skirmishing at Murfreesboro; fighting also occurs near Simsport, Louisiana.

Democrats, led by Mayor Fernando Wood, meet at the Cooper Institute in New York to urge peace.

At Sheffield, England, a meeting honors Confederate General Stonewall Jackson.

The 54th Massachusetts, a Black regiment under Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, arrives at Port Royal, South Carolina.

[Doug64]

June 4, Thursday

Lee, moving out from Fredericksburg toward Culpeper Court House, sends Ewell’s corps to follow Longstreet’s, leaving only A.P. Hill at Fredericksburg. General Hooker, on the north side of the Rappahannock, learns from observers in balloons that some of the enemy’s camps around Fredericksburg have been abandoned but is not sure whether it is a major movement or just a change of camps.

In Tennessee, Confederates operate on the Shelbyville Pike near Murfreesboro. Fighting breaks out at Snow Hill and Franklin, and Federals scout around Smithville. In Virginia a two-day Federal expedition moves from Yorktown to Walkerton and Aylett’s. Skirmishes occur on Lawyer’s Road near Fairfax Court House and at Frying Pan. Other action includes a Federal expedition from Fort Pulaski, Georgia, to Bluffton, South Carolina; skirmishing at Fayetteville, Arkansas; at Atchafalaya and at Lake Saint Joseph, Louisiana.

Lincoln suggests to Secretary of War Stanton that the order suspending publication of the Chicago Times be revoked and the Secretary so orders.

Siege life is entering the droning stage at Vicksburg.

[Doug64]

June 5, Friday

Federals from Hooker’s Army of the Potomac make a reconnaissance at Franklin’s Crossing, above Fredericksburg, and find Confederates in position. Hooker, at Falmouth, and Lincoln and Halleck exchange telegrams on how to counter the apparent shifting of at least part of Lee’s army. Hooker proposes that he cross the Rappahannock and “pitch into” the troops Lee has left behind. The President wastes no time in scotching that notion. Within an hour, he wires Hooker that any such move against an entrenched enemy, with another Confederate force of unknown size possibly operating north of the Rappahannock, could result in the army’s being “entangled upon the river, like an ox jumped half over a fence and liable to be torn by dogs front and rear, without a fair chance to gore one way or kick the other.” Baffled and frustrated, Hooker seeks more information. Washington indicates Hooker should try to attack the moving Confederates rather than cross the Rappahannock and engage those still at Fredericksburg. Skirmishing between Sedgwick’s Federals and A.P. Hill’s Confederates continue at Franklin’s Crossing or Deep Run for several days. but there is no real opposition to Lee’s progress.

In North Carolina a Federal reconnaissance moves through Gates County and down the Chowan River.

[Doug64]

June 6, Saturday

As Lee’s army marches from Fredericksburg toward Culpeper Court House, Hooker’s Federals seek to determine their destination. Meanwhile, at a whistlestop on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad a few miles north of Culpeper called Brandy Station, eight thousand sabers flash and horses prance as Jeb Stuart’s cavalry spread in review along the railroad track, displaying their colorful movements to the assembled dignitaries and their ladies in carriages and in “cars” on the railroad.

But the real fighting goes on, with skirmishing at Berryville, Virgina; near Richmond, Louisiana; on the Shelbyville Pike, Tennessee; at Waitsborough, Kentucky; and in Kansas at Shawneetown. From this day to the twentieth there is skirmishing about Fort Gibson, Indian Territory.

With no one to fight, Grant finds himself with time on his hands. The siege has settled into a routine that doesn’t require his constant attention. And during this respite, the general’s old nemesis—his fondness for alcohol—reasserts itself. A reputation for periodic overindulgence in whskey has dogged Grant since he resigned from the Army in 1854—allegedly to avoid a court-martial for drunkenness on duty. His offense had been neither unusual nor particularly serious (hard drinking was an occupational hazard in the Regular Army), but as Grant has risen to prominence, the charge overshadows him. Allegations that he was drunk at Shiloh almost ended his Army career again. Grant does seem to like alcohol and to have a poor head for it. There is ample testimony that he never takes the field while under the influence of liquor. But when his attention isn’t fully occupied, and when he is away from his wife, he turns from time to time to alcohol for comfort. Nor is boredom the only possible cause, in the case of a possible bender during a short cruise up the Yazoo River on a small steamer reserved for Grant’s personal use. He occasionally suffers from migraines resulting in blinding pain, extreme nausea, and apathy. Earlier this year he received the ill-advised medical advice from his doctor, of combating the migraines with a glass of brandy. He apparently suffers from a migrain on this trip and may well have attempted to use alcohol again to combat it.

President Lincoln wonders how the investment of Vicksburg is succeeding as reports are delayed for several days.

[Doug64]

June 7, Sunday

Before dawn, a force of 1,500 Texans commanded by Brigadier General Henry E. McCulloch approach the Federal outpost at Milliken’s Bend, a short distance above Vicksburg on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi. the outpost is manned by 1,061 troops—one regiment of Whites and three regiments of recently recruited Black soldiers, known as the African Brigade. Sensing an easy victory, McCulloch’s Confederates charge, shouting “No quarter!” A desperate hand-to-hand struggle ensues. The outnumbered Federals, wielding bayonets and using their guns as clubs, contest each foot of territory as they are driven back toward the Mississippi. Many of the Union soldiers fall before the Texans; others are captured. Then the tide of battle suddenly shifts. Two Federal gunboats dispatched from upriver by Admiral Porter, the Lexington and Choctaw, begin to pour fire into the Confederate ranks, compelling them to retreat.

Of the 652 Federals lost at Milliken’s Bend (to the Confederates’ 185), 566 are from the Black regiments. Most of the freedmen taken prisoner during the battle are returned to slavery. But the bravery of those troops leaves an indelible impression on their fellow Federals. An admiring officer declares, “I never more wish to hear the expression ‘The N****rs won’t fight’.”

Below Vicksburg, Federals burn and sack the Brierfield Plantation of Jefferson Davis and his brother Joseph. Other action includes a skirmish near Edmonton, Kentucky, and an expedition from Gainesville, Virginia, through tomorrow.

General Hooker learns from his intelligence service that General Stuart’s Confederate cavalry has concenctrated in the Culpeper area, and dispatches Brigadier General Alfred Pleasonton’s Cavalry Corps toward Brandy Station. Fearing that Lee plans to strike northward, Hooker has decided to take preemptive action.

[Doug64]

June 8, Monday

On a clear, crisp morning, General Lee arrives at Brandy Station a few miles north of Culpeper, Virginia, where most of his army is concentrating. There Lee is greeted by General Jeb Stuart, resplendent in a brand-new uniform topped by a long, black ostrich plume fastened to his slouch hat with a golden clasp. Lee’s chief of cavalry sits astride a horse bedecked with garlands of flowers. The amused Lee will later write to his wife, “Stuart was in all his glory.” Stuart has reason for pride: His command—now five brigades comprising 9,536 officers and men—has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to ride rings around the Federal cavalry. Today Stuart will put his superb force on display for Lee. The horsemen are arrayed in double ranks on a plain just west of the Rappahannock River. Lee rides the three-mile line at a brisk trot. During his inspection he quietly notes some deficient carbines and saddlesore horses, and orders corrective action. Then, his inspection complete, Lee, along with other officers and dignitaries, takes up station on a nearby hillock flanked by General John Bell Hood’s division. (There is some high jocularity between the infantry and cavalry.) In response to a signal from Stuart, bugles blare, and the 22 cavalry regiments wheel into a column of fours. With horses prancing to the airs of three bands, the troopers move out beneath rippling flags. As Stuart leads the parade past the admiring Lee, an immense cloud of dust arises from the churned ground.

The dust cloud is seen by many of General Pleasanton’s men—three cavalry divisions supported by two infantry brigades—that is at this moment descending on the Rappahannock from the east, bent on destroying Stuart’s corps. As evening approaches and Stuart’s troopers are walking their horses back to their encampments after the grand review, Pleasanton’s command of about 11,000 men move silently into the woods on the opposite side of the river. Forbidden to light fires, the Federal troopers eat a cold supper, then sleep with the reins of their still-bridled horses looped around their wrists. Four miles northeast of Brandy Station, at Beverly Ford, Brigadier General John Buford is preparing to lead the attack of the right wing—three brigades of cavalry supported by one of infantry. More than five miles downstream, southeast of Brandy Station, an even larger Federal force—a division under Brigadier General David McMurtrie Gregg and another commanded by French-born Colonel Alfred Duffié—is moving into position at Kelly’s Ford. According to Pleasanton’s plan, Buford will make a frontal assault on the Confederate camps north of Brandy Station, while Duffié, and then Gregg, swing around and strike the enemy’s right flank and rear. But as it nears time to attack, Duffié’s men get lost in the dark, and Gregg delays his crossing of the river to wait for them.

On the other side of the Rappahannock, most of Stuart’s men are blissfully unaware of the wrath about to descend on them. A single company of the 6th Virginia Cavalry patrols the riverbank near Beverly Ford, while the rest enjoy “a last sweet snooze.”

Fighting includes an affair near Brunswick, Georgia; skirmishes at Camp Cole, Missouri; Fort Scott, Kansas; Triune, Tennessee; and a Federal scout from Suffolk, Virginia, to South Mills, North Carolina. In the West, Federal expeditions operate from Glasgow, Kentucky, to Burkesville, and from Pocahontas, Tennessee, to Ripley, Mississippi.

President Lincoln writes General John A. Dix that all is going well at Vicksburg and that there is nothing new from Port Hudson. A resident of Vicksburg writes of the bombardment: “Twenty-four hours of each day these preachers of the Union made their touching remarks to the town. All night long their deadly hail of iron dropped through roofs and tore up the deserted and denuded streets.”