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First Battle of Jackson Mississippi - 1863
May 13 Major General James B. McPherson’s corps moved north through Raymond to Clinton while Major General William T. Sherman pushed northeast through Raymond to Mississippi Springs. To cover the march on Jackson, Major General John A. McClernand’s corps was placed in a defensive posture on a line from Raymond to Clinton.
That night as the Federals were poised to strike at Jackson, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston arrived in the capitol. President Jefferson Davis had ordered him to salvage the rapidly deteriorating situation in Mississippi. In his headquarters at the Bowman House, General Johnston learned of the troop strength and the condition of the fortifications around Jackson. He immediately wired Richmond, “I am too late.” He ordered the city evacuated while Brigadier General John Gregg fought a delaying action.
A torrential rain slowed the Federal advance along roads of mud. As Sherman’s and McPherson’s corps converged on Jackson, McPherson’s men were hit by Confederate artillery posted on the O. P. Wright farm. O.P. Wright was killed in this action, rifle in hand. The Federals’ attack was delayed by sheets of rain that threatened to soak their cartridge boxes and ruin their ammunition. When the rain stopped about 11 a.m., the Federals then advanced with bayonets fixed and banners unfurled. Clashing in bitter hand-to-hand combat, McPherson’s men forced the Confederates back into the fortifications of Jackson.
Sherman’s corps reached Lynch Creek southwest of Jackson at 1 p.m. and was immediately fired upon by Confederate artillery posted in the open fields north of the stream. Union guns moved into position and in short order drove the Confederates back into the city’s defenses. The stream was full, but Sherman’s men were able to cross on a narrow wooden bridge.
Reforming their lines, the Federals advanced at 2 p.m. until they were stopped by canister fire. To avoid exposing his men to deadly fire, Sherman sent McMillen’s 35th Ohio east from his right flank to find a weak spot in the Confederate defense line. When they reached the line, they found only a few state troops and civilian volunteers manning the guns. The Ohio troops advanced without opposition along the railroad into Jackson.
Gregg had evacuated Jackson and headed north out the Canton Road. The Federals captured 17 artillery pieces in the battle. About 3:00 p.m. the Union troops entered Jackson and placed the Stars and Stripes atop the capitol, declaring their victory.
Grant neutralized Jackson militarily by burning the machine shops and factories, cutting telegraph lines, and destroying railroad tracks, He then turned his army west toward his objective: Vicksburg.
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On July 4, 1863 General Sherman received word that Vicksburg had been occupied. This battle was decisive in the war, but Sherman allowed his 46,000 men no time to celebrate. He ordered his men to return to Jackson which by then had been refortified by Confederate soldiers. The return to Jackson would not be as easy as its first occupation.
On July 8, 1863 General Johnson sent his Confederate forces a telegram that was read to all his men. “Fellow Soldiers: An insolent foe, flushed with hope by his recent success at Vicksburg, confronts you, threatening the people, whose homes and liberties you are here to protect, with plunder and conquest. Their guns may even now be heard at intervals as they advance. This enemy is at once the mission and duty of you brave men to chastise and expel from the soil of Mississippi.”
On July 9 General Sherman established his headquarters in Clinton and began the development of a plan to reoccupy Jackson. The next day’s advance toward the city was evidence that the return to Jackson would be difficult. For the next six days, the battle for Jackson was fierce. The union troops positioned their heavy armor to lob shells directly into the city. This was maintained throughout the attack.
After a failed last attempt to capture Sherman’s supply train by General Jackson, General Johnson ordered a pullout of the Confederate troops on the morning of July 16, 1863. The last to leave Jackson were the engineers who before putting the torch to the three bridges planted a number of unexploded shells in the roads. As a gift to the occupying troops, these shells were the civil war version of the 20th century anti-personnel mines. They were successful in slowing the advance as one shell detonated killing one and wounding several men in Brig General Joseph Lightburn’s Brigade.
For the city of Jackson, the war was over. But the hardships had just begun. On July 21, Mayor C.H. Manship of Jackson and a committee of citizens approached General Sherman. Manship appealed for help in feeding the civilian population. He pointed out that the countryside for a radius of 30 miles was devastated and about 800 women and children would probably perish unless they received relief.
After receiving Grant’s approval, Sherman provided the committee with 200 barrels of flour and 100 barrels of salt pork upon their pledge that it would not be provided to the Confederate soldiers and that it be solely used for charity. Sherman also set up a trading post that would allow the citizens the ability to trade cotton, corn and produce for provisions, clothing and family supplies.
On July 23 Sherman’s army marched out of Jackson having carried out their assignment at a very small cost - 129 killed, 752 wounded and 231 missing. On the 25th Sherman disbanded his army and resumed his command of the 15th Corps later to be called to action in his dreadful march through Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The following day Jackson was once again occupied by Confederate troops though little remained for their use.
