|
"I was a good deal disappointed that Gen. Hamilton should have countermanded the order for the expedition which you had fitted out for the purpose of cutting the road east from Vicksburg, particularly on such flimsy grounds. We do not expect the Miss C[entral]. R.R. and Mobile & Ohio rail-roads to be left entirely unprotected and the number of troops shown to be there by Gen Dodges dispatch is as few as could be expected at any time. The way you had the expedition fitted out I think it must have succeeded. I wish you would try it again unless your information is such that you would deem it an act of folly to send them.” Summary: Grant expresses great disappointment that a planned cavalry raid to sever the Vicksburg & Jackson R.R. line was aborted by General C. S. Hamilton, even though it appeared that the defenses were as vulnerable as they might ever be. Destroying it would have deprived Vicksburg of land transport for troops and supplies. Grant asks Hurlbut,
Hamilton’s superior officer and commander of the XVI Corps, to reorder the raid, unless he deems it “an act of folly.” Ulysses S. Grant. Autograph Letter Signed as Major General, to Major General S.A. Hurlbut. “Before Vicksburg," February 27, 1863. 2 pp. Inventory# 21325.01 $13,000 Historical Background:
In February 1863, the Confederates clung to one final stretch of the Mississippi River from Vicksburg south to Port Hudson. The fortifications on the bluffs above the river at Vicksburg covered the river. During the rainy winter of 1862-1863, Union troops dug canals for entry to Vicksburg above the artillery batteries, but the Confederates immediately obstructed the canals with fallen timber. Sherman tried a frontal assault at Chickasaw Bluffs on Dec. 29, 1862, but was repulsed with heavy casualties. As Sherman wrote in February 1863, “Vicksburg is the hardest problem of the War.” Sherman lobbied Grant for a massive overland campaign in central Mississippi, moving south from Memphis, but Grant felt that even temporary retreat would dampen morale. Grant instead changed strategy. In a brilliant departure from conventional military thinking, he shifted most of his troops to the Mississippi River and cut his ties with his lengthy supply line to Kentucky. Hurlbut’s XVI Corps was left to guard Memphis and northern Mississippi. Grant wanted Hurlbut to order this raid in Vicksburg’s rear, but Hamilton, his division commander, had reported “two regiments of infantry at Jackson” and “a brigade of rebel cavalry north of Grenada.” Hurlbut apparently agreed with Hamilton,
even after Grant’s reproach, for the raid never materialized. Grant himself would boldly cross the Mississippi River south of Vicksburg in April, marching overland to seize the state capital at Jackson, and cutting Vicksburg off from the outside world. The siege and final surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, marked a turning point in the Civil War, and in the military career of Ulysses S. Grant. With the loss of Vicksburg, the Confederacy was cut in two. Moreover, the victory hastened Grant’s promotion to lieutenant general and brought him east to lead the fight against Robert’s E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.
|
