Chikasou Canal Battle

In December 1862, General Grant launched a campaign to capture the fortress of Vicksburg. He divided his army, numbering 70,000 men, into two wings, personally leading one and transferring the second to Sherman . The Sherman Army numbered 32,000 men and consisted of divisions of generals Andrew Smith, Morgan Smith, George Morgan, and Frederick Steele.

On December 20, Admiral David Porter departed Memphis with a fleet of 7 battleships and 59 transports. In Helen (Arkansas), he took on additional forces and arrived on December 24 at the Millikens Bend, near Viksberg. Climbing up the Yazoo River, the transport landed Sherman soldiers near the Johnson Plantation, opposite the Steele Canal. Shortly before this, on December 12, the fleet conducted a sweep of the river from mines, as a result of which the battleship USS Cairo was damaged and sunk by an electric torpedo (galvanically exploded mine).

Sherman was confronted by the forces of the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana under the command of John Pemberton. The direct defense of Vicksburg was carried out by Major General Martin Smith, who commanded the brigades of Seth Burton, John Woon, John Gregg and Edward Tracy. General Stephen Lee commanded the brigades of Colonel William Whiters and Allen Thomas. Lee commanded the defense of Velnat Hills until December 29, when General Carter Stevenson arrived. And although the federal army was about twice as great as the enemy numerically, it had to face serious natural and man-made obstacles. The first obstacle was a blockage of trees in the swamp, the second was the Chikaso duct, 50 meters wide, heavily overgrown with trees, which actually divided the advancing units. Next were the abutments and fortifications of the army brigades of Stephen Lee.

On December 26, Sherman deployed the brigades of Colonel John DeCursi and Generals David Stewart and Francis Blair to conduct reconnaissance and to find a weak spot in the confederate positions. They began to slowly advance on difficult terrain, shooting with Stephen Lee cover troops. On December 28, Steele's division tried to bypass the enemy’s right flank, but was stopped by artillery fire.

On the morning of December 29, he ordered the bombing of enemy positions to weaken them before a decisive assault. An artillery duel went on for the entire front line for four hours, but it did not cause serious damage. At 11:00 the duel stopped and the infantry turned into a battle line. Understanding all the difficulties of storming fortifications, Sherman said: “We will lose 5,000 people while we take Viksberg, but we can also lose them in any other place.”

At noon, began a general assault. Blair’s brigade was on the left, Decursey in the center, and on the right, John Thayer’s brigade. The Thayer Brigade lost its way and only one regiment, the 4th Ioway, joined the battle. The commander of this regiment, James Williamson, subsequently received the Medal of Honor for that day. The regiment overcame water obstacles and abatis, captured several rifle cells, but met with serious resistance from the main line and began to lose order under heavy fire. Stephen Lee ordered a counterattack and the Southerners captured 332 soldiers and four flags.

In another sector of the Southerners position, two divisions of General Smith stormed: they crossed the Chikasou canal to take the Indian Hill in the center of the confederate fortifications. He was held by detachments of Burton and Gregg. Five attempts to take these positions were repulsed.

On the far right flank, a brigade of William Landram from the Smith division was advancing. She was easily beaten off by the Vaughn brigade.

In the evening, Sherman announced that he was satisfied with the courageous actions of his people, even though they could not take the strong fortifications of the enemy on high cliffs. Sherman lost 208 people killed, 1005 wounded and 563 prisoners. Southerners lost 63 people killed, 134 wounded and 10 prisoners. Sherman conferred with Admiral Porter , whose ship's artillery also brought no benefit, and they decided to repeat the attacks the next day, so Porter sent the ship to Memphis for additional ammunition.

On the morning of December 30, Sherman nevertheless decided that a repetition of the attack would not produce results and they, together with Porter, conceived to attack Drumgold Bluff in the northeast, assuming that the steep slopes would hide the enemy from the fire. The offensive was scheduled for December 31, but it was stopped on January 1 because of thick fog.

At this time, the advance on land also stalled. The attacking army’s supply lines were interrupted by the raids of Nathan Forrest and Earl Van Dorn’s cavalry, which destroyed a large warehouse in Holly Springs. Since it was impossible to supply the army without this warehouse, Grand stopped the land offensive. Sherman realized that his body would not be strengthened and decided to take the expedition back, going on January 2 to the mouth of the Yazoo River. On January 5, Sherman sent a letter to Commander Henry Halleck , where he summarized the campaign: “I reached Viksberg at the appointed time, landed, attacked, and retreated” (“I reached Vicksburg at the time appointed, landed, assaulted, and failed”). He and his team later assisted General John McClellan on his expedition up the Arkansas River and at the Battle of Arkansas Post. Grant made several more attempts to reach Vicksberg that winter, but the campaign did not begin in earnest until April 1863.

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