which was worked with deadly skill. The soldiers called it the "Hill of Death:" but it was also the hill of victory; for, in reality, it decided the fate of Vicksburg. "They never fail who die In a great cause: the block may soak their gore; But still their spirits walk abroad.” That no incident might be wanting to render the day remarkable, Grant now received orders from Gen. Halleck, dated the 11th, to move down the river instead of marching into the interior. "If possible," he said, "the forces of yourself and Banks should be united between Vicksburg and Port Hudson. The same thing has been urged on Banks." It was well that Grant had broken up his line of communication with his superior, as well as with Grand Gulf, before these orders arrived. He was now marching back to the Mississippi; but it was to enter Vicksburg as a con queror. Grant and his staff rode on with the pursuing column, until, late in the night, he found himself too far in advance, and rode back to bivouac with his soldiers. He slept on the piazza of a house which was used as a hospital for the rebel wounded. The battle was fought on Saturday: the evening brought the close of the week and the approach of the sabbath. It was a beautiful night. Though yet spring, the air in that Southern clime was touched by the fervors of midsummer; and, not unnaturally, the hearts of all were softened by thoughts of home and loved ones far away. The Twenty-fourth Iowa was called the "Methodist Regiment," as a large portion of its officers and men were of that denomination; and all at once, as if by common impulse, the men began singing "Old Hundred: " others joined; and, as the strains of the grand old hymn went up on the voices of thousands, it seemed both a requiem for comrades slain, and a song of thanksgiving for the victory won. CHAPTER XIV. ON BATTLE AT BIG BLACK RIVER. N the morning of the 17th, McClernand's forces found the enemy strongly posted on both sides of the Big Black River, at the railroad-bridge. In front of the eastern bank was a wide bayou, nearly twenty feet across this was a natural wet ditch, behind which were rifle-pits. The west bank was a high bluff, with twenty pieces of artillery in position to command the east bank and the approaching Federal forces. Trees had been felled to form an abatis. Engineering science could have hardly constructed a more formidable position than Nature here offered for defence. Here Pemberton took his stand with four thousand men. He said, "So strong was the position, that my greatest, almost my only, apprehension was a flank movement by Bridgeport or Baldwin's Ferry, which would have endangered my communications with Vicksburg." But he had against him the men who had been at Donelson, at Corinth, and at Champion's Hill. The artillery-firing and skirmishing continued for two or three hours; when Gen. Lawler - who was rushing around in his shirt-sleeves, determined to cross somewhere discovered a spot on the left of the rebel defences, where, by moving a portion of his brigade through a piece of woods, he thought an assault might be made. The supporting troops, seeing a part of Lawler's men start, animated by their repeated victories, dashed after them without waiting for orders, and rushed over the bayou in the midst of a murderous fire, which swept down a hundred and fifty of their number. On reaching the end of the rebel parapet, a place was seen wide enough for four men to walk abreast through this the assaulting party rushed with fixed bayonets and loud cheers. The astonished rebels, accustomed to defeat, as Pemberton said, "did not wait to receive them, but broke, and fled precipitately." A panic ensued. The rebels fired the western end of the bridge, regardless of their troops on the other side. Many jumped into the river to escape; some attempted to cross amid the flames; some ran wildly up and down the banks of the river; others surrendered. An entire brigade was taken prisoners. The rebel army, now little better than a mob, began its hurried flight to Vicksburg, where their unexpected arrival and utterly demoralized condition filled the city with terror and dismay. Our loss was twenty-nine killed and two hundred and forty-two wounded. Seventeen hundred and fifty-one prisoners were captured, eighteen cannon, five stand of colors, and large quantities of commissary-stores. All the roads to Vicksburg were opened. Grant immediately ordered bridges to be built; and cotton-gins, boards, timbers from the farm-houses, and cotton-bales, were brought into requisition for this purpose. At one point, an ingenious bridge was thrown over by simply felling large trees on both sides so as to unite their tops in the middle of the stream. That night, Sherman, who had the pontoon-train, was ordered to cross the river at Bridgeport, north of the railroad; Grant adding, "We will move in three columns, if roads can be found to move on; and either have Vicksburg or Haine's Bluff to-morrow night." Early the next morning, McPherson and McClernand, with their columns, were moving on Vicksburg, now fifteen miles distant. At daylight, Sherman's division also crossed the river higher up, and struck for Walnut Hills, north of Vicksburg, between it and Haine's Bluff, and commanding the entrance to the Yazoo River. By half-past nine o'clock, the head of Gen. Sherman's columns halted within three miles and a half of Vicksburg for the remainder of the force to come up. During this campaign, for thirteen days the men had only six days' rations and such supplies as the country afforded; grinding their own corn, and marching without tents or cooking-utensils: yet all were prompt and cheerful in the discharge of their duty. * In eighteen days, Grant had marched two hundred miles, fought five battles, taken six thousand and five hundred prisoners, killed and wounded six thousand more, taken twenty-seven cannon and sixty-one pieces. of field-artillery. He had compelled the evacuation of Grand Gulf, captured the capital of the State of Mississippi, and destroyed its network of railroads for more than thirty miles in all directions. His losses were six hundred and ninety-eight killed, three thousand four hundred and seven wounded, and two hundred and thirty missing. He had subsisted his army on the enemy's territory. *McClernand's Report. |