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7. Vicksburg
- University of Iowa Press
- Chapter
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A fter the capture of New Orleans in the spring, Vicksburg, Mississippi, remained the last Southern bastion on the Mississippi River. Confederate guns on the bluffs on the east side commanded the river, and the high, steep banks were ideal for infantry defense. It was not a city that could be captured easily. There were, however, several ways to get at the city. The most obvious way was to simply transport an army downriver by steamer, unload the soldiers, and have them storm the works. Another way was to march troops south from Memphis to the state capital of Jackson, take the capital, and then turn west toward Vicksburg. The least desirable way was to march soldiers down the west side of the river and then transport them across at a good spot. The problem was that the Union boats were north of the city, and if they were to steam south, they could be shot out of the water as they passed the batteries on the bluffs. A well-fortified and well-defended position south of the city, Port Hudson prevented Union boats from steaming upriver. Vicksburg had to be taken from the north, by one means or another. The first person to approach President Lincoln with a plan of action was General John McClernand. McClernand had commanded a division at Shiloh but was more well known as a prominent War Democrat from Illinois. His independent call on Lincoln violated military protocol, for Vicksburg was in Grant's area of command. McClernand wanted to try the direct river approach and even volunteered to use his political influence to personally raise the troops needed. Lincoln listened and, it seemed to McClernand, agreed to let him try. The meeting was secret, and while Grant was shaping his own plans for the city, he was left in the dark about this new operation. Grant had an ally in the White House, General-in-Chief Halleck, who resented McClernand. While the Illinois general was back home raising new troops, Halleck was seeing to it that, once mustered, those troops were sent to Memphis and Helena, both directly under Grant's FROM BLUE MILLS TO COLUMBIA command. Halleck also informed Grant, as much as possible, about McClernand7splans. Both McClernand and Grant complained to Lincoln about what each believed to be interference. Lincoln, a wise and experienced politician, was quite willing to make good use of McClernand. He was not, however, willing to give an operation of such importance to the powerful Democrat. Lincoln upheld Grant's authority and reduced McClernand from an independent commander to a corps commander under Grant. McClernand had been hoping to gain good political mileage out of the preparations for the campaign. He had even planned to begin his honeymoon by taking his new bride and the full reception party down to Memphis, where he would personally take command of his troops. Grant was making his own plans, and they did not include McClernand. He didn't need the general, but he did need his soldiers, so with Halleck's approval, he put them under the command of his trusted friend, General William T. Sherman. While McClernand was busy with his wedding plans, Grant and Sherman were hurrying their Vicksburg plans so as to be on their way by the time he returned from 1llinois.l Between the generals and their ambitious plans were thousands of soldiers, most of them volunteers from Lincoln's call in July. They were, for the most part, inexperienced recruits, and they were expected to carry out one of the most important and difficult assignments of the war. The Cedar Falls Reserves, B Company, 31st Iowa, were among their number. The regiment's river journey from Benton Barracks near St. Louis to Helena, Arkansas, was difficult. The Continental was a large steamer, but it was severely overloaded with men and cargo. The trip gave the men their first taste of a soldier's diet; all they received during the 20-day journey was pilot bread, often called hardtack, a heavy flour cracker that was the infantry's mainstay. The camp at Helena was huge: the ground along the river was white with military tents for over two miles. The Reserves were pleased to find many old friends among the thousands of soldiers assembled there. The 9th Iowa Infantry and the 1st and 3d Iowa batteries, all with members from Cedar Falls, were at the Helena encampment. John Rownd was able to visit his brother, George...