Battle of Big Black River Bridge

Big black river. Photo from NPS.

Having been beaten by Grant at Champion's Hill, Pemberton fell back to the bridge over the Big Black River. Grant came up on May 17^th, 150 years ago today, and found the position even stronger than Champion's Hill. Three brigades held fortifications in front of the river to impede the Union advance. McClernand's corps advanced toward the Confederate position, and took shelter from their artillery fire. The position appeared to strong to be captured, but that didn't stop one Union brigadier from trying. An eyewitness wrote:

Col. Mike Lawler commanding the brigade on our right, with its right flank resting on the river, made one of his characteristic dashes across a small cotton field, plunged into the bayou in the line of battle where the mud ranged in depth from the men's knees to their armpits, scrambled through and out of it, stormed the rebel rifle pits and swarmed over their cotton-bale breastworks with irresistible impetuosity. Lawler's men suffered severely from the musketry fire on their advance, and from the rebel batteries on the opposite shore of the river covering the position, but nothing could check them for an instant. It was at the same time the most perilous and ludicrous charge that I witnessed during the war.

 The Confederates were defeated, and hurried to try to cross the river before the Federals were upon them. An entire brigade captured, but the rest of the army was able to cross, and burn the bridges behind them, preventing a fast Union pursuit. The Southerners had lost 1,751, to the Union's 276.