The Vicksburg Campaign, March 29–May 18, 1863

5. The First Capture and Occupation of Jackson, Mississippi

96 5 The First Capture and Occupation of Jackson, Mississippi Steven E. Woodworth The surprising encounter between James B. McPherson’s Seventeenth Corps and John Gregg’s oversized Confederate brigade at Raymond, Mississippi, on May 12, 1863, brought the nearby capital city of Mississippi to the forefront of Grant’s thinking. It was clear that Gregg’s troops had marched from Jackson and must have been based there, and Grant could not escape the reflection that the town, which was in any case the rail and transportation hub of the region, might well become a base for further aggressive Confederate action. Such Rebel activity might become a severe nuisance or even threat to his rear as he faced Pemberton’s field army and, later, the defenses of Vicksburg itself. Heightening Grant’s concerns were reports he had recently received indicating that Confederate western theater commander Joseph E. Johnston was on his way to Jackson, along with reinforcements of unknown strength. Like most officers of the prewar United States Army, Grant was highly impressed with Johnston’s intellect and skills as an officer. Grant believed Johnston in Jackson, whatever the force he might have with him, could be a much more serious threat than Pemberton and his army hovering somewhere off to the west near Edwards Station. These reflections led Grant to the conclusion that he would have to neutralize Jackson before continuing with his campaign against Pemberton and Vicksburg. With that goal in mind, Grant on the evening of that same May 12 dispatched orders to his corps commanders changing the direction of his army’s march from north to northeast and placing Jackson squarely in its sights. McPherson’s Seventeenth Corps, which had been on the right front of Grant’s advance, would turn toward the northeast and become the left wing of the advance on Jackson, while William T. Sherman’s Fifteenth Corps, which had been in reserve, bringing up the rear in the march up from Bruinsburg, would forge ahead and move into position on McPherson’s The First Capture of Jackson 97 After the clash at Raymond, Grant decided to take on and neutralize Jackson before turning toward Vicksburg. At his orders William T. Sherman’s Fifteenth Corps attacked the city from the south while McPherson’s Seventeenth Corps stormed in from the west. right, though out of sight, advancing on parallel roads that would lead it to the southwest side of Jackson while McPherson’s corps approached the northwest side of town. John A. McClernand, whose Thirteenth Corps had been advancing on the army’s left front would veer farther left, continuing north to take up a blocking position facing toward Pemberton. Grant and his staff had been riding with Sherman on May 12 and continued to do so as the army turned toward its new target.1 On May 13 McPherson’s Seventeenth Corps marched northeast about eight miles to Clinton, Mississippi, traversing a landscape of prosperous farms and plantations. The weather was hot and dusty, as it had been for the past Steven E. Woodworth 98 several days. Somewhat to the surprise of the Union soldiers, they encountered no significant opposition during the march. They noticed that the white inhabitants eyed their passage sullenly, the blacks hailed their coming joyfully. Clinton lay ten miles west-northwest of Jackson, on the line of the Southern Railroad of Mississippi, which connected Vicksburg with the state capital. Or it did before the blue-coats arrived. McPherson had his men tear up the railroad tracks and cut the telegraph wire that ran alongside them, cutting off Vicksburg from any sort of convenient communication with the rest of the Confederacy. Some of McPherson’s men also captured dispatches that Pemberton had sent to John Gregg, who had commanded the Confederate brigade at Raymond the day before and had retreated back to Jackson afterward.2 Sherman’s command marched to Raymond and after an hour or two of rest there, continued its march directly toward Jackson via the Raymond Road, keeping pace with McPherson, who with his head start from Raymond that morning had shifted north to approach the Mississippi capital via the Clinton Road. Late that afternoon the Fifteenth Corps approached Mississippi Springs, not the modern town of that name but rather a different one located about ten miles southwest of Jackson and about seven miles south of Clinton. Near a plantation about a mile short...